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2025-2026 Academic Honesty Policy.docx
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PHS International Baccalaureate

Academic Honesty Policy

2025 - 2026

“IB learners strive to be principled: They act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.”

In education, we are continually studying the ideas of others.  It is important, in our speaking and writing, that we acknowledge these ideas and give credit where it is due.  Plagiarism is using other people’s words or ideas without clearly stating the source of that information.  Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and will be treated accordingly.  The following are examples of plagiarism and cheating:

  1. Copying someone else’s assignment or allowing someone else to copy your assignment. This includes sharing and/or collaborating on work on-line or through social media such as Facebook, and then passing off this work as your own.

  1. Substituting synonyms for someone else’s word choice or restating someone else’s ideas in your own words without citing the source and providing documentation in the form of a bibliography/works cited.

  1. Handing in another individual’s work as your own.

  1. Utilizing any form of AI to create, develop, or write an assignment or assessment without citing the source or proper acknowledgement of the technology.

  1. Dividing questions on an assignment so that students answer only a portion of the assignment and then use each other’s answers to complete the assignment.  Although group work and cooperative learning are often encouraged, individual assignments must remain the work of the individual student.  Always ask your teacher if an assignment may be completed with others and turned in as such.  Do not assume it is allowed.

  1. Copying sentences, phrases, paragraphs, or pages from books, web sites or other sources without citing the source and providing documentation in the form of a bibliography/works cited. This includes paraphrasing.

  1. Using plots, characters, theories, opinions, concepts, designs, and ideas from other sources (people, books, films, music recordings, television, websites or any other media) and presenting them as your own work.

  1. Copying answers from a classmate’s quiz or test paper, using a cheat sheet, or sharing answers during a testing situation.

  1. Falsifying data, conclusions, and answers and presenting them as fact.

Statement on Generative AI

IB is a program that values innovation and curiosity, and encourages the exploration of new technologies.  We also recognize the growing importance of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT; however, students need to be aware that the IB does not regard any work produced—even only in part—by such tools to be their own. Therefore, as with any quote or material from another source, it must be clear that any AI-generated text, image or graph included in a piece of work has been copied from such software. The inclusion of a reference at the end of the paper is not enough; the citation must be included at the point of use and linked to a full reference in the bibliography. If this is not done, the student would be misrepresenting content—as it was not originally written by them—which is a form of academic misconduct.

 

In language and language acquisition courses, the use of AI tools is not permitted. The IB allows students to use basic tools to support their spelling and grammar when this is not what is being assessed.

Plagiarism and cheating have no place in the academic arena, and they are in violation of the PSD Code of Conduct. The following actions may be taken by PSD, IB, and/or PHS:

  1. Incidences of plagiarism and cheating will be reported to an ad hoc committee of teachers who will review the nature and circumstances of the infraction and determine the appropriate disciplinary action to take place. Such disciplinary actions include, but are not limited to, requiring the student to complete a new/alternative assignment/project/test, loss of all credit for the assignment/project/test, and/or a 10% penalty to the semester grade. Parents or guardians will be notified, and both the IB Director and the appropriate counselor(s) will be informed.
  2. Two incidents of plagiarism or cheating may result in being dropped from the IB Program. Incidents are cumulative from grades 9 –12.
  3. In accordance with the PSD Code of Conduct, students found guilty of plagiarism or cheating may be suspended.
  4. IB Diploma Program (DP) students found guilty of plagiarism/cheating on IB DP Internal or External Assessments and/or their Extended Essay, and/or of falsifying any CAS information are not eligible to earn an IB Diploma. See “General Regulations: Diploma Programme” for specifics.

Parents/Guardians,

After reading the Academic Honesty Policy, please sign and have your student return to the IB office (IB 9th graders, please return to your Freshman Seminar teacher).    

PRINT Student’s Name                                                Class of                         

______________________________________________                        ___________________________________        ________________

Student’s Signature                                                            Parent’s/Guardian’s Signature

DATE: ______________________________                                DATE: _____________________________