September 2023

Table of Contents

Policy statement - Requirements and expectations        2

Academic dishonesty        3

Use of AI at ISB        3

The use of AI tools        4

Consequences for academic dishonesty or misconduct        4

Consequences of academic dishonesty or misconduct in Secondary        4

Consequences for academic dishonesty or malpractice - High School        5

Integrity & Honesty in the context of IB education        6

IB DP Student - academic integrity declaration        6

Prevention of malpractice in the Diploma Programme        7

Procedure for Investigating Suspected Cases of breach of Academic integrity        8

Role of PYP teachers (homeroom and specialists)        8

References        10

Policy statement - Requirements and expectations

ISB mission statement “We learn and grow in unique ways to become lifelong learners and responsible global citizens.” is directly linked with the Academic integrity policy.

We feel that the principles of academic honesty and honesty in general, are an inevitable component of responsible global citizenship and international mindedness.

Academic integrity in the advancement of knowledge requires that all students and instructors respect the integrity of one another's work and recognize the importance of acknowledging and safeguarding intellectual property.

At ISB, Academic integrity is an essential element for the future success of our students as well as the school’s standing in the global academic community.

The International School of Brno conducts all tests and examinations in line with the rules and regulations that apply to all international examinations.

Academic integrity at ISB means that all work* submitted by students (homework, coursework, projects, examination scripts and even oral work) must be the student’s own work. Where sources - including AI - are used or referred to, they must be fully and appropriately acknowledged. Ignorance of academic honesty regulations does not excuse misconduct.

* student’s own writing AND ideas

Academic dishonesty

Academic dishonesty or misconduct can involve any of the following:

• Plagiarism: this is defined as the representation of another person’s work as your own. This could mean copying another student’s work or copying from a book or the internet. It can also mean paraphrasing another person’s work without acknowledging the source. This applies to even small amounts of text such as sentences and phrases.
• Collusion: this is defined as working with another student to produce a piece of work where the cooperation has not been authorized by the teacher. Allowing another student to copy your work is also regarded as collusion. This also applies even to small amounts of text such as sentences and phrases.
• Taking unauthorized material into an examination: notes, mobile phones, electronic dictionaries, unauthorized calculators, ‘smart’ glasses or watches.
• Exchanging information during an examination or looking at someone else’s work.
• Duplication of work: this refers mostly to IB work (please see further). For example, a student cannot do an extended essay on the same theme as any of their internally assessed coursework.
• Any failure to comply with an invigilator’s instructions during an examination.
• Fabricating data for an assignment.
• Stealing examination/testing papers.
• Inappropriate use of Artificial Intelligence (generating ideas and writing)

Use of AI at ISB

The International School of Brno recognizes the potential benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. AI tools can aid in refining students’ ideas and writing in their academic pursuits. But AI use must be guided by ethical principles to maintain academic integrity and stop academic cheating. This policy outlines the acceptable use of AI tools in academic work and the consequences of violating academic integrity.

The use of AI tools

1. The use of AI tools to directly produce, plagiarize, rewrite, or rephrase academic work, including copying and pasting text generated by AI, is prohibited.
2. AI tools can be used to generate lists of topics that they can choose to pursue, help students refine research questions, and suggest areas for further study; all work must be the student's original writing and reflect the student's ideas and voice.
3. Students must disclose the use of AI tools in their academic work, including the name of the tool used and how it was used. This is compulsory. There should be a reflection section after the essay, but before the bibliography that details the use of AI in the essay, if any.

Consequences for academic dishonesty or misconduct (including inappropriate use of AI tools)

Consequences of academic dishonesty or misconduct in Secondary

• The teacher informs the principal; an incident report is filled out and presented to the family.
• ZERO points will be awarded for the entire given task on which a student is caught cheating. This can severely affect the final grade for that subject.

• The student is still expected to complete the work so that they have the opportunity to learn and receive feedback.

• The student will not be given the opportunity to do extra work at the end of the semester to improve his/her final grade.
• If it is the first case of breach of academic integrity, the parents will be informed of the incident and consequences (via an incident report)
• If a second offense occurs, the student’s parents are invited to the school to discuss the problem and to be informed of the escalating consequences.  This is documented in an incident report.
• If a third incident occurs, it is again documented with more meetings held as appropriate
• The report for a fourth incident will state that the student has one last chance before ensuring that they will not be at ISB the following year.  Meetings happen as necessary.
• Upon the 5th incident, the student and their family are officially informed that no Education contract will be signed by the school for the following school year.

Consequences for academic dishonesty or malpractice - High School

If students receive academic strikes in Secondary, they are not carried forward into high School (unlike Behaviour strikes, which do).

• ZERO points will be awarded for the entire given task on which a student is caught cheating. This can severely affect the final grade of that subject.

• The student is still expected to complete the work so that they have the opportunity to learn and receive feedback.

• If the assignment is a mock exam, the student will be allowed to complete the exam without the unauthorized material/device.  The exam will be marked so as to provide the student with feedback that will help them prepare for the exam but they will receive a grade of 0 in their gradebook.
• The student will not be given the opportunity to do extra work at the end of the semester to improve his/her final grade.
• The subject teacher will inform the division Principal, who will contact the student and the parents.

• If it is the first case of breach of academic integrity, the parents will be informed of the incident and consequences (via an incident report)
• The report for the 2nd incident will state that the student has one last chance before ensuring that they will not be at ISB the following year.  Meetings happen as necessary.
• After the 3rd incident, the student and their family are officially informed that no Education contract will be signed by the school for the following school year.

Notes:

• The consequence for cases of clear breach of academic integrity on assignments that are externally marked or moderated by the International Baccalaureate Organisation can be immediate expulsion from ISB.  
• Behaviour incidents and academic honesty incidents are counted separately.  

Integrity & Honesty in the context of IB education

IB learners strive to be principled, meaning that candidates 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 (ref: IB Learner profile, revised in August 2013). Misconduct or dishonesty may put the student’s IB Diploma in jeopardy. Repeated misconduct or malpractice can lead to the ultimate exclusion of the student from the IB Diploma programme.

Prevention of Malpractice in the Diploma Programme

Awareness

Students and their guardians are provided with a copy of the General Regulations: Diploma Programme and access to key academic integrity resources, including Effective Citing and Referencing and Ten Tips for Acting with Integrity. These materials outline the importance of academic honesty and the expectations for all students in the Diploma Programme.

Education & Academic integrity declaration

At the start of the Diploma Programme (DP1), all students participate in a formal workshop led by the school's librarian or Extended Essay (EE) coordinator. During this session, students receive instruction on research and study skills, as well as a copy of the school's Academic Integrity Policy. Every student is required to sign a declaration affirming their commitment to upholding the principles of academic integrity.

Academic integrity education is an ongoing process throughout the two years of the programme. The DP coordinator, EE coordinator, and librarian ensure that students continue to receive guidance on maintaining academic honesty. Teachers are also available throughout the programme to provide additional advice and support as needed.

Verification of Work

In accordance with IB guidelines, ISB may submit random or selected pieces of student work to external bodies for verification and source evaluation. Students should be prepared to submit electronic copies of their work to teachers or the curriculum coordinator for this purpose at any time. It is recommended that students keep all drafts, rough notes, and research materials to defend their work if questions about authenticity arise.

Turnitin

At ISB, we use Turnitin anti-plagiarism software to ensure the originality of student work. All Extended Essays, Theory of Knowledge (ToK) Essays, and Internal Assessments must be submitted through Turnitin. Additionally, subject teachers may require other assignments to be submitted through Turnitin, and they will inform students if this is necessary.

Google Docs

Students are required to use Google Docs for all essays and research projects. When submitting their work, they must provide a link to the original Google Doc used for drafting, along with the final copy in PDF format. The linked Google Doc must be the original document where the work was created, not a new document with copied and pasted content.

Students are expected to use APA citation 7th edition style. Google Docs provides a built-in citation tool that supports various citation styles, including APA 7th edition. Students can use this feature to insert in-text citations and generate a bibliography directly in their documents using the APA format.

Procedure for Investigating Suspected Cases of breach of Academic integrity

If a teacher, or another member of staff, suspects that a student may have breached the school’s standards of academic integrity, he or she will inform the IB DP or MYP Coordinator. The matter will be investigated, and the student will be informed of the concerns of the teacher, giving the student the chance to reply to the accusations. If it can be shown that inappropriate work has been submitted, the  IB Coordinator will make a recommendation to the division principal as to whether or not the case is one of academic disintegrity, or of an academic infringement. Again, in line with the IB’s policy and practice, the determining difference between these two possibilities will be one of intent. The Principal will decide the outcome of the case.

Role of PYP teachers (homeroom and specialists)

• Raise students’ awareness of what academic honesty is
• Create inquiry based assessments which encourage opportunities to cite work
• Teach ways for students to learn to cite other’s words
• Provide reflective writing opportunities to describe what was useful and why
• Give clear criteria for different age groups on how to cite work
• Lead by example through modeling personal integrity in classroom

Early Years 1 and 2- Students should be encouraged to verbally show that it is positive to share ideas with each other and try to steer away from the concept of ‘ copying each other’ as a negative statement

Year 1- Students should be able to show fairness by acknowledging support they have received from friends and by holding up a book they have read that is linked to their summative assessment.

Year 2- Students should be able to cite at least one source they have read in each summative assessment

Year 3- Students should be able to cite at least two sources they have read in each summative assessment

Year 4- Students should be able to cite at least three sources they have read in each summative assessment ( one being an online source or article)

Year 5-Students should be able to cite at least four sources they have read in each summative assessment ( one being an online source or article)

Year 6- Students should receive a workshop about academic honesty at the start of the year. In addition, they should sign an academic honesty declaration before embarking upon their Exhibition projects. Students should be able to cite at least 5 sources they have inquired into for their summative assessments.(Two being an online source)

References

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, Handbook of procedures, 2016

Academic honesty – principles to practice. Retrieved November 14, 2023, from https://www.ibo.org/contentassets/71f2f66b529f48a8a61223070887373a/academic-honesty.-principles-into-practice---celina-garza.pdf

B1 General regulations: Diploma Programme. (n.d.). International Baccalaureate. Retrieved November 14, 2023, from https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/become-an-ib-school/pdfs/general-regulations-diploma-programme-en.pdf

Effective citing and referencing. (n.d.). International Baccalaureate. Retrieved November 14, 2023, from https://www.ibo.org/contentassets/76d2b6d4731f44ff800d0d06d371a892/effective-citing-and-referencing-en.pdf

Learner profile for IB students. (2023, June 6). International Baccalaureate. Retrieved November 14, 2023, from https://www.ibo.org/benefits/learner-profile/

Last update: September 8, 2025 (Dylan Vance, Barbara Albrechtová)