AMERICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL
BEIRUT-LEBANON
ACS IB Academic Honesty Policy
and
Referencing guidelines
*Last updated on September 2013
The IB diploma program aims to develop learners who live up to the attributes of the IB Learner
profile. The attribute that particularly pertains to the academic honesty is 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”. (“IB learner profile” 5)
At the American Community School at Beirut, we place a high value on academic honesty. We
support the IB regulations and guidelines of academic honesty as detailed in the IB publication
Academic honesty, September 2011.
The purpose of this policy is to explain the expectations for honest academic practices for all
students taking IB courses and to outline the consequences of any dishonesty. This policy is fully
adapted from the IB Academic honesty handbook (2011).
Definition of authentic work:
Article 1.5 in the IB Academic Honesty handbook (2011) defines authentic work as:
An authentic piece of work is one that is based on the candidate’s individual and original ideas with the
ideas and work of others fully acknowledged. Therefore, all assignments for assessment, regardless of
their format, must wholly and authentically use that candidate’s own language, expression and ideas.
Where the ideas or work of another person are represented within a candidate’s work, whether in the
form of direct quotation or paraphrase, the source(s) of those ideas or the work must be fully and
appropriately acknowledged. (2)
Acknowledgment includes:
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Ideas and work of other persons.
Paraphrased or summarized work of another person’s words presented in a new style
and integrated grammatically into the writing.
Verbatim quotes including quotations used on official IB scripts or oral exams.
All sources of information including:
o Electronic media: DVDs, CD ROMs, email messages, websites, etc.
o Sources of all photographs, maps, illustrations, computer programs, data,
graphs, etc.
o Works of art including music, film, dance, theatre arts and visual arts.
Authenticity Declaration:
“Every candidate must sign a coversheet for each externally assessed component (except
examination scripts) and all internally assessed components to confirm that his or her work is authentic
and that the work being submitted for assessment constitutes the final version of the work. In the case
of internal assessment, the coversheet must still be signed even if the work is not being submitted as
part of a sample for the purpose of moderation”. (12)
The coversheet signature is also required for the assessments that are submitted to IB through an
electronic environment. In this case, the students digitally sign a version of the conventional
coversheet. (12)
“If the IB identifies a coversheet that has not been signed by the candidate and/or teacher (although
this is not possible in the case of electronic coversheets), the grade for the candidate in the subject
concerned will remain pending until the signature(s) has been received”. (13)
Malpractice:
Article 2.1 in the Academic Honesty handbook (2011) defines malpractice as:
behaviour that results in, or may result in, the candidate or any other candidate gaining an unfair
advantage in one or more assessment component. Malpractice includes:
•
Plagiarism: this is defined as the representation of the ideas or work of another person as
the candidate’s own
Collusion: this is defined as supporting malpractice by another candidate, as in allowing
one’s work to be copied or submitted for assessment by another
Duplication of work: this is defined as the presentation of the same work for different
assessment components and/or diploma requirements
Any other behaviour that gains an unfair advantage for a candidate or that affects the
results of another candidate (for example, taking unauthorized material into an
examination room, misconduct during an examination, falsifying a CAS record). (3)
•
•
•
Plagiarism:
“Candidates must understand that passing off the work of another person as their own is not
acceptable and constitutes malpractice, regardless of whether the act was intentional”. (3)
The acknowledgment of ideas and work of others includes:
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All ideas taken from others including quotes, summaries and paraphrases.
All information taken from the internet.
Works of art, whether music, film, dance, theatre arts or visual arts.
Maps, photographs, illustrations, data, graphs and so on.
Information taken from electronic media such as CDRoms, DVDs, email messages, etc.
Translated text from another language. “Many candidates for the Diploma Programme
are fluent in two or more languages and are therefore able to conduct their research in
more than one language, perhaps with the aid of the internet. Such candidates must be
aware that copying a passage of text, translating this passage into another language,
then using the translated text in their work without acknowledging its source still
constitutes plagiarism”. (5)
Please refer to Appendix A “scenarios for malpractice cases” to find examples of plagiarism
scenarios and the penalty that is normally applied for each scenario.
Collusion:
For most assessment components, students are expected to work independently under the
guidance of their subject teacher or supervisor in the case of the extended essay. The degree of
support depends on the nature of the assessed component. Examples of such components are
Math exploration, Math Studies project, Extended Essay, Literature assignment, music
investigation, Economics portfolios, etc.
For example, in Group 5 “Candidates must be aware that the written work they submit must be
entirely their own. When completing a piece of work outside the classroom, candidates must work
independently. Although group work can be educationally desirable in some situations, it is not
appropriate for the mathematics HL or mathematics SL exploration.” (4)
For Math Standard Level and Math HL, “group work should not be used for explorations. Each
exploration is an individual piece of work. It should be made clear to students that all work
connected with the exploration, including the writing of the exploration, should be their own.”
(“Mathematics SL Guide” 44)
“For mathematical studies SL, group work must not be used for projects. Each project must be
based on different data collected or measurements generated”. (4)
However, there are some assessment components that entail collaborative work such as practical
work in science and the Psychology experiment. Unfortunately, many students are unclear about
the framework of authorized collaboration, thus, confuse collaboration and collusion. While
collaborative work is authorized, collusion is a form of plagiarism.
Authorized collaborative work versus collusion
In some subjects, students work together in groups on the internal assessment. In these groups,
students participate equally to collect data, or locate and share sources of information. However,
the final work presented by each student is produced independently in his/her own words.
For example, in the science practical work, students work in groups to conduct an experiment and
gather the data. Within each group, all members will have the same raw data. However, in writing
the laboratory report, each student should work on his/her own. The layout of the report, the
presentation of the raw data, the processing of the data as well as the formulation of the
conclusion and evaluation must be the student's own work
Another example, in the Psychology internal assessment, students work together in groups to
conduct interviews, surveys, and collect data for their experiment. However, from this point
onwards, each student works alone. The abstract, the introduction, the content and the
conclusion/summary of the essay must be written in each student’s own words. If, for example,
two or more students have exactly the same introduction to an assignment, the final award
committee will interpret this as collusion (or plagiarism), and not collaboration. In this case, all
involved students will be found guilty of malpractice and no grade awarded for the subject
concerned.
Collaboration becomes collusion when a student:
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Collaborates with one or more other students to produce work that is presented as
his/her own.
Collaborates with one or more other students to produce work that is presented as theirs.
Provides a copy of his/her work to another student who takes advantage of the ideas
presented in this work to produce his/her own.
Another form of collusion occurs when a student works secretly with other students to
produce a work that is presented as his/hers.
Please refer to item 12.2 of Appendix A “scenarios for malpractice cases” to read about a
possible scenario of collusion and the penalty that is normally applied for such a scenario.
Duplication of work:
Duplication of work is when a student submits the same work for two different assessment
components and/or diploma requirements. For example, submitting the same or a very similar
piece of work for history internal assessment and for an extended essay in history.
However, “depending on the specific requirements of a subject, a candidate may use the same topic
for different assessment components, but that topic must be researched, written or otherwise
presented using an entirely different approach. Using work that is the same or substantially similar for
two different components is not acceptable”. (20)
Other forms of malpractice:

Falsifying data: fabricating or altering data. For example falsifying CAS records or
manufacturing data for tables. “If a candidate manufactures data for a table, survey or
other such requirement, this will be interpreted as an attempt to gain an unfair advantage
in an assessment component. Consequently, the final award committee will find the
candidate guilty of malpractice. Using authentic data is a matter of academic honesty”.
(5)

Examples of malpractice related to the written examinations:
 Exam cheating: taking unauthorized material into an examination room (such as
cell/mobile phone, written notes).
 Leaving and/or accessing unauthorized material in a bathroom/restroom that may be
visited during an examination
 misconduct during an examination, including any attempt to disrupt the examination
or distract another candidate
 exchanging information or in any way supporting the passing on of information to
another candidate about the content of an examination
 failing to comply with the instructions of the invigilator or other member of the
school’s staff responsible for the conduct of the examination
 impersonating another candidate
 stealing examination papers
 using an unauthorized calculator during an examination, or using a calculator when
one is not permitted for the examination paper
 disclosing or discussing the content of an examination paper with a person outside
the immediate school community within 24 hours after the examination. (5)
Documentation Style and guidelines
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MLA is the main style used at ACS.
Note: The IB requires the inclusion of a URL address for information retrieved from
the internet; MLA does not. Therefore, students are required to include the URL
address when working on IB assignments.
In addition to The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, seventh edition,
the following websites provide good examples of MLA citations for various kinds of
resources:
o http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/
o http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/mla.php
The ACS library has developed a reference guide for the most commonly used
resources, see Appendix B.
In developing your “Works Cited” page, citation machines make your work easier.
Please be aware they always need to be checked against one of the above style
guides.
o http://www.easybib.com/
o http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php
Acknowledging ideas taken from discussions, classes, other students, etc.
 At all times, the students should acknowledge “as honestly and accurately as
possible the ideas and work of others. When the source cannot be stated with
absolute accuracy the candidate must declare this in an appropriate way, such as in
a footnote”. (11)
o For example, the student can use footnotes or endnotes to acknowledge the
source of an idea that is not his/her own and that has emerged “as a result of
discussion with, or listening to, a fellow student, a teacher or any other person:
“The basis of this idea was originally expressed by a fellow student during a
theory of knowledge seminar.”” (10)
Paraphrasing:

Good paraphrasing requires practice. It is a condensed version of another person’s
ideas and must be cited. Not only should the wording be changed but the sentence
structure also. It is best to read the section you want to paraphrase closely and then
not looking at it as you try to condense its meaning so that it ends up being your own
words and style. It is worth looking at examples of good and bad paraphrasing. some
sites that show examples are listed below:
o www.indiana.edu/~istd/example1paraphrasing.html
o http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/plagiarism/Examples%20of%20paraphrasin
g.html
o http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase.html
o http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/comp2/samppara.htm
Roles and responsibilities
The Principal and the IB coordinator are responsible for:
 ensuring that the students:
o understand what constitutes academic honesty and an authentic piece of work
o understand what constitutes malpractice and the related consequences
o receive guidance on the skills of academic writing and acknowledging sources
 support the IB fully in the prevention, detection and investigation of malpractice.
Teachers are responsible for:
 confirming that,” to the best of his or her knowledge, all candidates’ work accepted or
submitted for assessment is the authentic work of each candidate”. (7)
 detecting any plagiarism, collusion or duplication of work.
 supporting and acting “on the school’s policy on good academic practice and providing
candidates with advice whenever necessary”. (7)
 fostering good academic practice in all their course work components and not only the
ones that will be assessed by IB. Examples of such course work include homework, class
work, projects, etc.
 act themselves as role models for academic integrity
 creating turnitin.com accounts for their courses so that students submit drafts and final
papers to this site before turning them in.
Students are responsible for:
 seeking guidance from their teachers, the IB coordinator and/or the Head-Librarian to
clarify any aspect of the academic honesty guidelines.
 submitting their drafts and final papers to turnitin.com and providing turnitin.com
originality check reports to their teachers.
 ensuring that all work submitted for assessment is authentic with the work and ideas of
others fully and correctly acknowledged. Therefore, students are “expected to review their
own work before submission for assessment and before the coversheet is signed to identify
any passages, data, graphs, photographs, computer programs, etc. that still require
acknowledgment”. (11)
 Complying with all the internal deadlines as specified in the IB internal calendars.
Teaching support:

Teachers are expected to support the students in the following ways:
o explaining the framework of appropriate collaboration in their subject matters
o providing students with clear instructions on the assessment requirements in
terms of collaborative or independent work.
o providing students with examples of conventions for acknowledging sources in
their subject matter.
o providing students with the appropriate guidance on acknowledging sources and
paraphrasing during the drafting of work and before the final submission.
o fostering good academic practice in all their course work including homework,
class work, projects, etc.
Preventive measures:
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All IB student and their legal guardian(s) receive a copy of the General Regulations: Diploma
Programme which is also posted on Moodle and the ACS webpage
The ACS academic honesty policy is shared with students, legal guardians, and
teachers. It is also posted on Moodle and on the ACS webpage.
At the beginning of each academic year, students sign an Honor Code pledge stating that
all work they submit for assessment will be their own authentic work.
o In the Group 4 subjects, students are required to submit a signed authenticity
declaration with each submitted lab report.
All Gr.11 students receive workshops on:
o academic honesty and the consequences of malpractice run by the IB
coordinator.
o the skills of academic writing and acknowledging resources run by the Head
Librarian.
All Gr. 11 students are required to complete a free online plagiarism tutorial by the
University of Southern Mississippi
http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/plag/plagiarismtutorial.php and submit a certificate
that they have passed the post-test.
The IB coordinator and the teachers remind the students and parents throughout the two
years of the IB program of the academic honesty expectations and guidelines.
All students are required to submit their drafts and final papers of extended essay,
historical investigation, ToK essay, etc. to turnitin.com. This will allow them to revise any
doubtful plagiarism before final submission of the work.
Official submission:
Official submission is when a student submits the final version of his/her work to his teacher or to
the IB Coordinator for an internal or external assessment together with a signed coversheet. This
submission is according to the school internal calendar and not to the IB external deadlines.
Consequences of malpractice related to an IB internal or external
assessment
1. Malpractice detected after the official submission:
According to the IB regulations: “Once a candidate has submitted his or her work to a teacher (or
the coordinator) for external or internal assessment together with the coversheet signed to the
effect that it is the final version of the work, neither the work nor the coversheet can be retracted
by the candidate”. (12).
“Any suspicion of malpractice that arises after the candidate has signed the coversheet must be
reported to the IB information desk for investigation”. (12)
When a teacher believes there has been malpractice on any internal or external assignment that
has been officially submitted, the incident will not be referred to the Honor Council. Instead, the
teacher, the principal, and the IB coordinator will follow up on the incident. The incident will be
reported to the IB and an investigation will be initiated. If the IB “decides that a case of
malpractice has been established, no grade will be awarded in the subject concerned. However,
a Diploma Programme courses results will be awarded for other subjects in which no malpractice
has occurred” (18). The candidate will be permitted to register for future examinations including
the November examination session that follows six months later. (18)
2. Malpractice detected prior to final submission:
A. Externally Assessed components that require drafting and that are not included in
school grade.
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The student will be provided with the appropriate guidance and will be asked to
revise the work and submit it on the scheduled time.
B. Internally assessed components that require drafting and that are included in
school grade.
 The student will be referred to the Honor Council which will determine the
consequences on school grade for the assignment.
 The student will be asked to repeat the assignment or to complete an equivalent
assignment if applicable.
C. Internal assessment in group 4:
 The student will be referred to the Honor Council which will determine the
consequences on the school grade for the lab assignment.
 The lab assignment will not be selected to be sent to IB.
Second instance of malpractice in any subject
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The parents will be called in for a meeting with the principal
The violation will be documented and filed.
The student may be off the IB diploma program.
Works Cited
“Academic Honesty." Online Curriculum Center. International Baccalaureate Organization.
September 2011. Web. 4 Jan. 2012.
<http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/documents/general/specific_interest/malpractice/g_0_malpr_sup
_1107_1_e.pdf>.
"Mathematics SL Guide- First Examinations 2014." Online Curriculum Center. International
Baccalaureate, Mar. 2012. Web. 09 Sept. 2013.
<http://occ.ibo.org/ibis/documents/dp/gr5/mathematics_sl/d_5_matsl_gui_1203_1_e.pd
f >.
Appendix A
Scenarios for malpractice cases (IBO 19-22)
Appendix B
Works Cited Page
Format
General
• Add only the works you cited in your paper.
•
Place at end of paper/ start a new page/ continue the page numbering from your text,
start at ½ inch from top
•
Center the title Works Cited 1 inch from top
•
Double space
For individual entries
• Double Space between and within each entry
•
Start an entry flush with margin
•
Use hanging indentation (1/2 inch) format
•
Alphabetical Order by author
•
Two or more works by the same author, use ---,
Samples of commonly used sources
Print
Book
Author’s name. Title of book: Subtitle. Edition Statement. Publication information. Medium of
publication. Series title if there.
Lessig, Lawrence. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. New
York: Random House, 2001. Print.
Multiple Authors
Same as one author except:
Two to three authors:
List the authors in the order that the names a on the title page of the book, for the first author
enter last name first, for additional authors enter first name first
Four or more
List the first author on the title page of the book followed by et al.
Abram, David, et al. South India. 1st. ed. London: Rough Guides, 1999. Print. The Rough Guide.
Editor, Compiler, Translator
Same as the author except add: ed. after name for an editor,comp. after name for an compiler
and/or trans. after name for an translator
Wiener, Tom, ed. Voices of War: Stories of Service from the Home Front and the Front Lines.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2004. Print.
Magazine
Author’s name. “Title of the article.” Name of the periodical Date of publication: Inclusive page
numbers. Medium of publication.
Morrow, Matthew P., and David B. Weiner. "DNA Drugs Come of Age." Scientific American July
2010: 49-53. Print.
Work in an Anthology
Author. “Title of the work.” Name of book. Compiler. Publication information. Page numbers of
work. Medium of publication.
Washington, Irving. “Rip Van Winkle.” Best Shorts: Favorite Short Stories for Sharing. Selected
by Avi and Caroly Shute. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 68-95. Print.
Encyclopedia
Author. “ Title of article.” Name of encyclopedia. Year of publication followed by ed. Medium of
publication.
Segal, Charles P. "Homer." Encyclopedia Americana. 2006 ed. Print.
Electronic Sources
Web Publication
Author. “Title of work.” Title of website. Publisher or sponser of site or N.p., Date of publication or
n.d. Medium of publication. Date of access.
" Economics of Education." The World Bank. World Bank, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
<http://web.worldbank.org/>.
Online Newspaper
Same as website
"Text of President Obama's Speech on Afghanistan." The New York Times - Breaking News,
World News & Multimedia. NY Times, 22 June 2011. Web. 23 June 2011.
<http://www.nytimes.com>.
Online Database
Same as website but add the following at the end:
Gajewski, Karen Ann. "Policy to Bar All Books, Magazines, and Newspapers-- except the Bible-from Prisoners Was Declared Unconstitutional by the U.S. Department of Justice." The
Humanist May-June 2011: n. pag. Gale Student Resources in Context. Web. 12 June
2011. <http://icgalegroup.com/>.
Blog
Author’s name. “Title of individual blog entry.” Weblog entry. Title of Weblog. Publisher or sponser
of site or N.p., Date of publication or n.d. Medium of publication. Date of access.
Rachael. "Re: Confessions of a Closet Trekkie." Reply to Jamahl Epsicokhan. Jammer's
Reviews. N.p., 5 Aug. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.jammersreviews.com/articles/confessions.php>
Wiki
Author’s name. "Title of the individual article." Title of website. Publisher or sponser of site or
N.p., Date of publication or n.d. Medium of publication. Date of access.
"Cultural Influence of Star Trek." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d.
Web. 15 Mar. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_influence_of_Star_Trek>
PowerPoint Presentation (and other digital files such as Word documents, PDF, etc.)
Author. “Title of work.” Title of website. Publisher or sponser of site or N.p., Date of publication or
n.d. Medium of publication. Date of access.
Oard, Douglas W. "Bringing Star Trek to Life: Computers That Speak and Listen." TerpConnect.
U of Maryland. Office of Information Technology. 3 Apr. 2001. Microsoft PowerPoint file.
21 Mar. 2010. <http://www.qdocuments.com/Bringing-Star-Trek-to-Life-Computers-thatSpeak-and-Listen--PPT.html.>
Other Sources
DVD
Title. Screenplay if there. Director. Performers. Distributor, Year of release. Medium consulted.
Misery. Screenplay by William Goldman. Dir. Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman. Perf. James
Caan, Kathy Bates. Castle Rock Entertainment, 1990. DVD.
Internet Video
Schnell, Jason, dir. "Twilight Fan: Harry Potter vs. Twilight." Reckless Tortuga's Channel.
YouTube, 8 June 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dtjo2Zt88s
Performance
Lysistrata. By Aristophanes. Dir. Barbara Karger and Michael Preston. Goodwin Theater, Austin
Arts Center, Hartford. 20 April 2006. Performance.
Digital file of a Professional Recording
Jones, Norah. “Light as a Feather.” The Fall. Blue Note Records, 2009. MP3 file.
Image on the web
brandychloe. "Great Horned Owl Family." Photograph. Webshots. American Greetings, 22 May
2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. <
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2883912790042687404YoHPTg>
Klee, Paul. Twittering Machine. 1922. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Artchive. Web. 22
May 2006. <http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/klee/twittering_machine.jpg.html>
Personal Interviews
Lebanon, Joseph. Personal interview. 1 Dec. 2011.
Lecture, Speech or Reading
Libris, Lola. "Introduction to Online Databases." 2003 Arkadelphia Library Association.
ZaZa Hotel, Arkadelphia. 28 March 2003. Lecture
Maps and charts - found on the web
"Idaho Rivers." Map. Visit Idaho. Idaho Department of Commerce. Web. 3 March 2010.
<http://www.visitidaho.org/assets/images/maps/Idaho_rivers.gif>
"Verb Tenses." Chart. The OWL at Purdue. Purdue U Online Writing Lab, 2001. Web. 31 May
2009.<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_categor
y_id=1&article_id=39>
Sample Works Cited Page
Abram, David, et al. South India. 1st. ed. London: Rough Guides, 1999. Print. The Rough Guide.
Washington, Irving. “Rip Van Winkle”. Best Shorts: Favorite Short Stories for Sharing. Selected
by Avi and Caroly Shute. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 68-95. Print.
Crosher, Judith. Technology in the Time of Ancient Egypt. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn,
1998. Print.
---, Technology in the Time of Ancient Greece. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1998. Print.
" Economics of Education." The World Bank. World Bank. 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
<http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,contetMDK:
20264769~menuPK:613701~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html>
.
Gajewski, Karen Ann. "Policy to Bar All Books, Magazines, and Newspapers-- except the Bible-from Prisoners Was Declared Unconstitutional by the U.S. Department of Justice." Gale
Student Resources in Context. The Humanist May-June 2011. Web. 12 June 2011.
<http://icgalegroup.com/ic/suic/AcademicJournalsDetailsPage>.
Lessig, Lawrence. The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World. New
York: Random House, 2001. Print.
Misery. Screenplay by William Goldman. Dir. Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman. Perf. James
Caan, Kathy Bates. Castle Rock Entertainment, in Association with Nelson
Entertainment, 1990. DVD.
Morrow, Matthew P., and David B. Weiner. "DNA Drugs Come of Age." Scientific American July
2010: 49-53. Print.
Segal, Charles P. "Homer." Encyclopedia Americana. 2006 ed. Print.
"Text of President Obama's Speech on Afghanistan." The New York Times - Breaking News,
World News & Multimedia. NYTimes, 22 June 2011. Web. 23 June 2011.
<http://www.nytimes.com>.
Wiener, Tom, ed. Voices of War: Stories of Service from the Home Front and the Front Lines.
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2004. Print.