Cheating and plagiarism are both forms of academic misconduct, but they refer to different violations. Cheating typically involves dishonesty during an assessed activity, such as copying from another student during an exam, using unauthorized materials, or falsifying data. Plagiarism specifically involves presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own without proper attribution.
The two can overlap. For example, submitting a purchased essay is both cheating (submitting work that is not yours) and plagiarism (presenting another person's writing as your own). Most institutional policies cover both under the broader umbrella of academic misconduct, with penalties applied based on the severity and intent of the violation. Our post on how universities check for plagiarism explains how institutions identify and respond to both. Quetext's Plagiarism Checker and AI Detector help catch both types of integrity violations before submission.