Skip to main content

What is the University Academic Integrity Policy?

Written by Kate Porter
Updated over a week ago

Academic Integrity and Student Responsibilities

Commitment to the principles of academic honesty and integrity is essential to the mission of WorldQuant University. To maintain an academic climate that is conducive to each student’s success, WQU requires students to adhere to a set academic integrity policies and standards.

The following actions constitute a violation of the WQU Academic Integrity Policy: plagiarism; self-plagiarism; cheating; fabrication; engaging in or facilitating academic dishonesty; republishing or redistributing any course materials, student’s own work, or another student's work; uploading WQU content to websites or linking to it through services. Refer to the Academic Catalog for additional detailed information and definitions.

Plagiarism is defined as the act of presenting the words, ideas, research, or writing from another individual, entity or artificial intelligence source as your own and is considered a violation of the academic integrity policy.

Examples of committing plagiarism include, but are not limited to:

  • copying a statement or paragraph created by another person without using quotation marks and a reference to the original author’s source material and without explaining why the copied statement supports their original work;

  • presenting the ideas of another person in your own words without giving credit;

  • using information that is not considered common knowledge without giving credit to the source;

  • purchasing a paper from the internet or a vendor and submit it as a personal paper.

  • Utilizing AI tools to represent critical analysis, reflection, interpretation, or application of knowledge including copying and pasting entire paragraphs of AI generated text.

Depending on the severity and nature of the infraction, penalties may include significant assignment point deductions, course failure, or termination from the program. Refer to the University Catalog for a detailed list of consequences for academic integrity violation.

WorldQuant University encourages the ethical and responsible use of generative AI tools to assist students with their coursework and assignments (i.e. to collect raw information, create an outline, etc.). This requires students to declare the use of AI through in-text citations and references and to follow all plagiarism guidelines. To gain a deeper understanding of plagiarism and how to avoid it, watch this video tutorial, read these Help Articles, and use this Anti-Plagiarism Guide to learn how to include in-text citations and references. Pay close attention to the WQU Academic Policy on the use of AI.

Below, you can find some tips on what you should and should not do to avoid plagiarism:

DO

  • Include statements (1-2 lines at most) from books or articles published by others, as long as: 1) you use quotation marks (“ ”); 2) you add an in-text citation to ensure the reader knows that it is not yours; and 3) include a complete reference at the bottom of the paper. The statement should be used to boost or amplify your personal opinion or argument.

  • Paraphrase the idea of another person as long as it is used to bolster your own ideas and cite the original work with both in-text citation and reference.

DON’T

  • Copy and paste from articles, books, AI generated content or other sources without proper citations and references.

  • Extensively cite or paraphrase entire paragraphs, even if the paragraph is within quotation marks and cited.

  • Include a graph or a table with data from a work published by others.

  • Use AI language improvement tools to edit your work. These tools are built on AI and your work will be flagged as AI generated.

Use of Turnitin

At the time of submission, all group work assignments are run through Turnitin, which is a plagiarism detection software. Turnitin creates a similarity report that matches the submitted paper against its database (peer-reviewed journals, textbooks, internet resources, etc.) as well as papers created by other students at WQU or in other institutions. Before the submission deadline, you can download and make use of the Turnitin similarity report to revise your final paper for grading. The Turnitin similarity report shows a similarity score equal to the percentage of matching found with the resources described above.

To maintain a high standard of academic honesty and rigor, the University also uses Turnitin’s AI Writing Indicator, which detects the percentage of AI-generated content in student submissions. Your instructors have access to the Turnitin AI writing indicator highlighting the portion of your submission that might be developed by AI, and they will use it as a tool to support decisions to properly apply penalties.

You are responsible to:

  • Understand what constitutes plagiarism. In addition to the tips provided in this syllabus, extensive information and tutorials are provided in the Student Resource Center, in the Orientation Course you have completed before starting the Program, and in the Course Overview section of each course;

  • Review the Turnitin similarity report for each assignment before the submission deadline, keeping in mind that Turnitin’s AI Writing Indicator will not show up on this report but will be assessed by instructors and administrators;

  • Edit your work prior to the final submission to ensure that any statements from other authors are properly quoted, cited, and mindfully used to support your original work rather than forming the basis of the argument itself.

Based on the Turnitin similarity report, the Instructional Team will evaluate whether you have committed plagiarism and may decide to give you a failing grade for the assignment or for the entire course (see WQU Academic Integrity Policy in the University Catalog). Consequences for improper use of AI in assignments range from the deduction of points in cases where the percentage of AI-generated content is between 20% and 50% to a 0 grade or course failure if the use of AI-generated content exceeds 50%.

Keep in mind that when you commit plagiarism, your Academic Integrity status is changed to “Probation,” and a note is added in your records describing the violation. This note may prevent you from receiving recommendation letters or alumni opportunities.

Ensure you review and become familiar with WQU's Student Code of Conduct Policy

Did this answer your question?