Updated: June 2016

DP Academic Honesty Policy of Chengdu Meishi International School (CMIS)

As anIB WorldSchool,CMISembracesthe IB missionandphilosophy,whichholds asa basic tenet,AcademicHonesty. CMISmustalso ensurethatall ofitspolicies tieintotheIB LearnerProfile. The CMIS community of learners actswith integrityandhonesty,with astrongsense offairnessandjustice, andwith respectforthedignityand rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences. As an IB World School, CMIS students are encouraged to develop the ten attributes of the IB Learner Profile. The academic honesty policy is designed to aid students in becoming:

  • Inquirers who actively seek information, but do so both critically and responsibly. We encourage our students to develop the skills to engage with the world around them through responsible research practices.
  • Knowledgeable in the use of proper methods of citing the sources of any ideas/works that are not their own.
  • Thinkers who can make responsible and ethical decisions.
  • Communicators who are able to properly, thoroughly, and clearly cite the sources of any ideas/works that are not their own.
  • Principled students who are able to act honestly and fairly, giving credit where it is due. We strive to cultivate students who have the integrity to differentiate between their own ideas/works and those of others.
  • Open-minded students who are able to explore ideas and perspectives different from their own. When this exploration encourages them to seek out ideas/works that are not their own, they are expected to cite the sources consulted.
  • Caring students who can show respect for the ideas/works of others.
  • Risk-takers. As stated in the IB Learner Profile, risk-takers are able "to explore new ideas and innovative strategies." When this exploration involves the consultation or use of another person's ideas/works, students are expected to clearly state these source(s).
  • Balanced students. According to the IB Learner Profile, balanced students can "recognize our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live." Part of recognizing this interdependence with others involves using or extending the ideas/works of others. These source of these ideas/works must always be clearly identified.
  • Reflective students who can learn from previous experiences, ultimately strengthening their understanding of academic honesty.

As a school community we promote academic honesty in a positive and practical way across our school, and stress the benefits of properly conducted academic research and a respect for the integrity of all forms of work/assessment. These practices will also be clearly articulated in "Parent & Student Handbook" and "DP Guide to Parents & Students", and they will be appropriately modified and implemented at CMIS. The academic honesty policy is reviewed as a working document during the 2nd semester of a school year by the Head of School, the Assistant Head of School, the DP Coordinator, and DP teaches. The learning community is informed of the academic honesty policy through its posting on our school's website and "DP Guide to Parents & Students". All of the DP teaches have access to turnitin.com in order to detect plagiarism.

The Head of School, the Assistant Head of School, the DP Coordinator, DP teachers, the school librarians, DP students and parents understand and actively encourage academic honesty. Academic posters are displayed in all DP classrooms and in the library. Librarians teach academic honesty during the library workshops. The Extended Essay Coordinator make every effort to promote academic honesty at CMIS.Teachers give specific requirements as well as written examples of proper citation of a variety of sources in all subject areas. The need to acknowledge the sources of data, works of art, computer programs, photographs, diagrams, illustrations, maps, etc is also made clear to students by their subject teachers. CMIS students are instructed in the correct conventions of academic honesty and encouraged to show ethical behavior and they take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.

DP students and the parents receive a copy of the "General regulations: Diploma Programme", which is embedded in the "DP Guide to Parents & Students", and they understand its content.

In today's world, the teaching and learning process for doing so has become extremely complex. Our rapid transformation into a technology driven, information society has dramatically altered the teaching and learning landscape. Thus, we need to ensure IB learners develop information literacy skills set that will provide them with a host of opinions and opportunities, esp. research & library skills (e.g. searching) and information ethics (e.g. copyright).

What is academic honesty?

Academic honesty means that one’s own work is authentic and not a reproduction of other people’s work or ideas. Intellectual property rights must be respected and are often protected by law (copyrights on music, patents, movies, published books).

What is academic misconduct?

Behavior (whether deliberate or inadvertent) that results in, or may result in, the candidate or any other candidate gaining an unfair advantage in one or more components of assessment. Behavior that may disadvantage another candidate is also regarded as academic misconduct. Academic misconduct is a breach of these regulations and includes, but is not restricted to, the following:

Plagiarism

The representation, intentionally or unintentionally, of the ideas, words or work of another person without proper, clear and explicit acknowledgment. For example, for multilingual students, this includes reading something in one language and translating it into another and presenting it as one's own ideas. It is required that all sources should be clearly acknowledged on all student work.

Collusion

Supporting academic misconduct by another candidate. For example, allowing one's work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another student; allowing another student to copy your homework; allowing another student to see your exam paper during the exam period; helping another student with their Internal Assessment.

Duplication of Work

The presentation of the same work for different assessment components and/or DP core requirements. For example, students are not allowed to use their Extended Essay topic for their IA or TOK presentation.

Misconduct during an IB examination

For example, taking unauthorized material, such as non-approved calculators, phones or other electronic devices, into an examination, behavior that disrupts the examination or distracts other candidates, or communicating with another candidates or sharing answers during an exam.

Any other behavior that gains an unfair advantage for a candidate or that affects the results of another candidate. For example:

  • falsifying a CAS record
  • disclosure of information to or receipt of information from candidates about the content of an examination paper within 24 hours after a written examination via any form of communication/media.

Other Examples of Malpractice

  • Fabricating data for a table, a survey
  • Using someone else's visual representations (photos or paintings) and presenting them as your own.

Distinction between valid collaboration and unacceptable collusion

Collusion / Collaboration / Examples
This is defined as supporting malpractice by another candidate, as in allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another. / This may be loosely defined as working together on a common aim with shared information, which is an open and cooperative behavior that does not result in ‘allowing one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another’ as defined in the regulations. / Group 3: In geography, for example, candidates might be presented with a research question by the teacher and then be required to work as part of a group to collect data together in the field. However, each candidate must write up their report of the fieldwork individually. The reports will have a similar research question and may have the same information collection in the appendices, but the way the information collection is described, analyzed and evaluated must be different from the work of other candidates with whom they collected the information and must be entirely their own work.
Group 4: In group 4 subjects, including design technology, no collaboration is allowed in assessment tasks except in the area of data collection. Although there are different requirements depending on the subject, candidates ideally should work on their own when collecting data. When data collection is carried out in groups, the actual recording and processing of data must be undertaken independently if this criterion is to be assessed. For more subject-specific details, refer to the appropriated subject guide.
Group 5: Candidates must be aware that the written work they submit must be entirely their own. When completing a piece of work outside the classroom, candidates must work independently. Although group work can be educationally desirable in some situations, it is not appropriate for the mathematics HL or mathematics SL portfolio. For mathematical studies SL, group work must not be used for projects. Each project must be based on different data collected or measurements generated.

What constitutes intellectual property and authentic authorship?

Three separate categories are used by CMIS to determine whether a student violates academic honesty or not.

Category / Description / Status
A / The student work does not include elements of the work or ideas of others. All elements of the student work are the original creation of the students. / No violation
B / The student work includes elements of the work or ideas of others, however, the essential nature of the work is the original creation of the student. / No violation if:
All instances of the use of work or ideas of others are properly acknowledged.
And
The student does not apply for or seek academic credit for the work or ideas of others.
C / The student work is comprised of the work or ideas of others with little or no authentic work or ideas coming from the student. / Violation

Consequences

If a student is found guilty of malpractice, the following steps will be taken:

  • The student may receive a mark of zero for the assignment or test in question.
  • Eligibility for term awards will be under review.
  • The respective teacher will inform parents of the infraction.
  • Each of the student’s teachers will be informed of the infraction and will be asked to report any similar incidents to the administration.
  • Repeat offenders will face more serious consequences.

The IB will investigate a case of suspected malpractice when there is clear evidence to justify an allegation of misconduct. In the case of plagiarism, the evidence must be in the form of a source that appears to have been copied by a candidate. In cases of collusion, an investigation will be pursued if the other candidate’s work is available and shows clear similarities.

What action will be taken by the IB if a candidate is suspected of academic misconduct?

Type of Academic Misconduct / Maximum Penalty
Plagiarism /
  • no grade awarded in the subject concerned

Collusion /
  • no grade awarded for the subject concerned (both candidates)

Duplication of work /
  • no grade awarded in the subject concerned

Misconduct during an Examination /
  • no grade awarded in the subject concerned

Miscellaneous /
  • no grade awarded in the subject concerned
  • notification of university that the candidate's grade has been withdrawn (in the event that the misconduct was discovered after the issuance of the official transcript)

Citing and referencing

Following good academic practice, it is expected that we appropriately acknowledge any ideas, words, or work of other people. When we cite, we:

  • show respect for the work of others
  • help a reader to distinguish our work from the work of others who have contributed to our work
  • give the reader the opportunity to check the validity of our use of other people’s work
  • give the reader the opportunity to follow up our references, out of interest
  • show and receive proper credit for our research process
  • demonstrate that we are able to use reliable sources and critically assess them to support our work
  • establish the credibility and authority of our knowledge and ideas
  • demonstrate that we are able to draw our own conclusions
  • share the blame (if we get it wrong).

As creators/authors, we are expected to acknowledge any materials or ideas that are not ours and that have been used in any way, such as quotation, paraphrase or summary. The term “materials” means written, oral or electronic products, and may include the following.

Text / Artistic / Letters
Audio / Lectures / Broadcasts
Visual / Interviews / Maps
Graphic / Conversations

Examples:

Sources: "General regulations: Diploma Programme (April 2014)", IBO

"Effective Citing and Referencing (August 2014)", IBO

"Academic Honesty (August 2009)", IBO

IB Learner Profile (2013), IBO

I, ,bysigningthis Declarationof AcademicHonesty,hereby declarethat allworksubmitted bymefor assessmentwillbemy own authenticwork.

I alsodeclarethatI haveread, understand andagreetoabidebyallof thetermsof CMIS’sAcademic HonestyPolicyandthe IBGeneral Regulations:Diploma Programme.

I understandthatif,atanytime, I amunclear astothemeaningand/orimplicationof anyiteminthepolicies, oram unclearastowhatconstitutes malpractice, itismyresponsibilitytoaskfor clarificationfromeithermy teacher(s)ortheIB Coordinator.

Furthermore,I fullyunderstandthatif Iviolateanytermsof CMIS’s AcademicHonestyPolicy, Imayfacetheriskof disciplinaryconsequences,includingbeingexpelled fromtheIB Programme.

Student's SignatureDate

Parent's/Legal Guardian's PrintedName

Date

Parent's/Legal Guardian's Signature Date