Honor Code Violations
Academic Integrity
To ensure the honesty, fairness, and fundamental values of the intellectual environment at Wilmington University, students are expected to pursue learning with integrity, dignity, and responsibility toward others. Students are expected to be attentive to proper methods of documentation and acknowledgement in all academic work. Any situation involving violation of Academic Integrity Policy demeans the violator, degrades the learning process, deflates the meaning of grades, discredits the accomplishments of the past and present students, and undermines the integrity of the degree and the University. Acts of academic dishonesty are serious offenses and are of major concern to the University.
Academic Integrity Policy | Wilmington University (wilmu.edu)
Types of Academic Conduct Violations
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as the submission of information without properly acknowledging the source through complete, accurate, and specific references. Plagiarism applies to the use of published and unpublished sources. Examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to the following:
- Directly quoting another person’s words without the use of quotation marks and/or acknowledgement of the source
- Paraphrasing, restating, another person's ideas, opinions, or theories without acknowledging the source
- Using facts, statistics, or other material taken from a source without acknowledging the source
- Submission of the student’s own work which has previously been submitted for other assignments (self-plagiarism)
Students are urged to consult with individual faculty members, department heads, or recognized handbooks in their discipline if they are in doubt as to whether their work may contain plagiarized material. This should be done before the work is submitted.
Fabrication
Fabrication is the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or other findings with the intent to deceive. Examples of fabrication include, but are not limited to the following:
- Citing information not taken from the source indicated
- Inventing data, facts, or sources for an academic assignment
- Listing sources in a bibliography or reference list that were not used in that assignment/project
- Listing hours worked or activities performed during a clinical or service-learning experience that did not occur
Cheating
Cheating is an act or an attempted act of deception by which the student seeks to misrepresent that they have mastered information on an academic exercise. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to the following:
- Attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in an academic exercise
- Copying from another person’s work or allowing another person to copy your work
- Collaborating with another person during an examination or graded assignment without permission by the instructor
- Utilizing online paper mills and/or study websites for the purpose of buying, selling, or bartering exams and assignments
- Unauthorized sharing of examination answers with others
- Falsification of data such as constructing data results as if statistics were genuine data
Grade and Test Tampering
Test tampering is obtaining, distributing, communicating about, or receiving a test or examination without consent of the instructor. It is also a violation of the Academic Integrity policy if a student takes a test for another student.
Tampering with grades in a grade book or assisting with changing any academic record in the university is prohibited.
Character & Fitness Reporting
A student is under a duty to disclose matters of character and fitness when applying to, matriculating and during enrollment at the School of Law. These include matters of personal involvement or any knowledge of or witness to such actions occurring within the law school community. Failure to report matters of integrity and misconduct is a violation of the highest standards of professionalism and the highest ethical principles required by the Honor Code.
Impeding the School of Law Honor Code Process
A student who engages in the following misconduct shall be considered to be impeding the Honor Code process:
- Failing to reveal fully any knowledge or evidence concerning an alleged violation on proper request of the Honor Code Review Board.
- Knowingly misstating or misrepresenting a material fact in testimony or a written statement given during an investigation or a hearing of an alleged violation of this Code.
- Knowingly filing a false complaint of a violation of this Code.