Details of the College’s honor system, and procedures for dealing with violations
are given in the Student Handbook.
The search for truth, the transmission of knowledge, and the facilitation of moral
development are the goals of higher education. These goals cannot be achieved unless the
people who participate in their achievement are honorable persons with a common desire for
the highest level of academic integrity. As members of this academic community, Sweet
Briar’s psychology students are expected to maintain the highest level of honesty in
every phase of their academic lives. Their willingness to respect and comply with this
code should depend less on an expectation of punishment for violation than on a sincere
commitment to intellectual and ethical integrity. The department has a positive obligation
to protect this commitment by stating its code of academic integrity clearly. Below is a
nonexclusive list of ethical violations that students may face.
1. Cheating: Using or attempting to use unauthorized materials or
information to gain an unfair advantage over other students in any academic exercise.
a. Using crib notes during an exam.
b. Copying answers from another student's paper during an exam.
c. Receiving information from others who have taken the exam at an earlier time.
2. Plagiarism: Representing the words or ideas of another as one's own in
any academic exercise.
a. Failing to enclose a direct quotation within quotation marks.
b. Paraphrasing another's words or ideas without proper citation or documentation.
3. Multiple Submission: Submitting the same assignment in two or more
courses without obtaining prior permission of both instructors.
a. Submitting the same or essentially the same term paper, speech, or computer program
in two classes without obtaining both instructors' permission.
4. Fabrication: Falsifying or inventing information in any academic
exercise.
a. Reporting false data in a laboratory assignment.
b. Padding a bibliography with references not cited in the text.
5. Misuse of Materials: Abusing or unauthorized removing of academic
materials from the library or any other campus location.
a. Removing pages from a book or magazine in the library.
b. Taking a book from the library without checking it out.
6. Misrepresentation: Presenting false excuses or using deception to
receive a higher grade or to avoid fulfilling the requirements of an assignment or course.
a. Giving a false excuse to miss a test.
b. Obtaining unauthorized help from another student on a take-home exam.
7. Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty: Helping another student to
violate any provision of this code.
a. Allowing another student to copy from your paper during an exam.
b. Informing another student of the contents of an exam before he/she takes it.
c. Writing a paper for another student who then submits it for course credit.
d. Transmitting a false excuse for another student to a faculty member.