ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

University School places a premium on honesty in academia.  All students must do their own work. Copying of any form – including lack of citations - on any assignment, including tests, papers, or projects, is a violation of school rules and is counter to your growth as a student and person. Any student caught cheating could receive a zero for that assignment and may be subject to school disciplinary action.

Papers

  1. Do not submit any paper not written wholly and exclusively by you.
  2. Do not claim to have read a literary or other written work if, instead, you have merely seen the movie, read summary study notes, or taken some other “short cut.”

  3. Do not consult, collude, or collaborate with any other individual unless your teacher has given you written permission to do so for a specific assignment.

  4. Be sure to use quotation marks and to cite the source correctly when you use a direct quote.  Be sure to quote exactly, word for word, reproducing even the exact punctuation marks.  With a direct quote, you will need parenthetical reference and a work cited entry, in addition to quotation marks.
  5. Even if you paraphrase completely (see #7 below), you must document ideas, opinions, and interpretations not wholly your own.  You will need a parenthetical reference and a work cited entry each time you paraphrase.
  6. Generalized or common knowledge does not need to be documented; specialized knowledge does.  When in doubt, it is safer to document. 
  7. When you paraphrase, you must express the material in an entirely new way AND you must still cite the source.  You are guilty of plagiarism if you change only a few words and/or if you fail to cite the source.

Homework

  1. Do not submit any homework assignment not written wholly and exclusively by you unless your teacher has given you permission to do so for a specific assignment.
  2. Homework, including Blackboard Discussion Board assignments, should be written entirely in your own words (IYOW).  It is acceptable to ask other students questions about difficult concepts, but working on assignments together is not acceptable.

Tests/Quizzes

  1. Do not ask students who have recently taken a test or quiz to discuss specific questions or concepts pertaining to that test or quiz.

  2. Do not disclose any information about a test or quiz to a student who has not yet taken that test or quiz.

  3. Do not copy test/quiz questions in any way for the purpose of redistributing them to students who have not yet taken the test/quiz.

  4. Using or attempting to use unauthorized assistance, material, or study aids including but not limited to cell phones, personal digital assistants, watches, cheat sheets, calculators and laptops is prohibited.  Looking at and/or using another student’s work is prohibited.  Do not reveal your work to other students; do not display your work in a tempting manner.

  5. Students will write, “I pledge my honor” and sign their name on all quizzes and tests.