Academic Integrity: Weinberg College - Northwestern University

Academic Integrity

The importance of academic integrity

A university is an institution dedicated to the cooperative search for knowledge and understanding. The success of this effort depends on the openness with which individuals share ideas with others. Openness is enhanced when members of the community feel certain that they will receive credit for their contributions.

A university is also an institution in which the performance of students is evaluated. This evaluation is fundamentally related to future prospects for employment, as well as admission to graduate and professional schools. So that evaluations can fairly reflect a student’s learning and accomplishments, adherence to standards of academic integrity is of the utmost importance.

On this page:

Academic integrity policies and procedures
Violations of academic integrity
Reporting a suspected violation

Academic integrity policies and procedures

The Northwestern Provost's Academic Integrity webpage provides information on relevant policies and ways to recognize and avoid violations of academic integrity.
Read Weinberg College procedures for handling a possible Academic Integrity violation, including information on the appeals process.

Violations of academic integrity

Northwestern’s academic integrity policy contains a non-exhaustive list of behaviors that violate standards of academic integrity. Plagiarism includes more than just copying someone’s work. Northwestern's "Principles Regarding Academic Integrity" defines plagiarism as "submitting material that in part or whole is not entirely one's own work without attributing those same portions to their correct source." The “How to Avoid Plagiarism” page contains a discussion of the proper citation of sources. Northwestern's Writing Place provides more tips for avoiding plagiarism.

Reporting a suspected violation

A student who suspects that another student has violated academic integrity standards is encouraged to bring his or her concern to Dean Ricardo Court (court@northwestern.edu). The student can be assured that the conversation regarding the matter will occur in the strictest confidence and that nothing will happen unless the student reporting the incident gives their consent for the dean to act on the report.

A faculty member who suspects that a student has violated academic integrity standards should report this to Dean Ricardo Court (court@northwestern.edu) as soon as possible. If the faculty member is unsure whether what occurred constitutes a violation, they should feel free to discuss the concern with Dean Court to explore the question. For additional information, faculty can consult the handbook Teaching in Weinberg College (see Teaching Guides and Resources), or the Chairperson’s Handbook, which also provide suggestions for minimizing instances of academic integrity violations.