Political Science

Statement on Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct

The Winthrop University Political Science department abhors all forms of academic misconduct, and faculty members aggressively investigate all incidents of suspected cheating. This includes,
but is not limited to, using turnitin.com.

Plagiarism, whether intentional or unintentional, is by far the most common form of academic misconduct in the Political Science department. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  • Using the words or ideas of others as one's own;
  • Reproducing, in whole or in part, principal ideas from a fellow student's work;
  • Granting a fellow student permission to copy one's paper, or to reproduce some or all of its principal ideas; Quoting or paraphrasing material from sources without any citation;
  • Quoting or paraphrasing material without sufficient and/or proper citation;
  • Omitting some or all sources used in a paper; and
  • Submitting a paper written for one course -- whether in Political Science or another discipline -- to meet a course requirement in a second course, without the express permission of all instructors involved.  This is the case even though many paper topics may be relevant to several different courses.

All incidents of suspected academic misconduct are investigated with equal vigor.

When a faculty member suspects that a student engaged in academic misconduct, the faculty member will follow the appropriate procedures outlined in the Student Handbook. The faculty member will apply whatever sanctions s/he deems appropriate. Possible sanctions include, but are not limited to:

  • Failing the assignment;
  • Requiring a student to repeat an assignment for reduced credit;
  • Requiring a student to repeat an assignment for no credit; or
  • Failing the course.

Academic misconduct applies equally to required assignments and extra credit assignments.

Human Subjects Research and IRB Approval: Consistent with University Level Competency #2, Personal and Social Responsibility, all students engaging in research on human subjects will undergo CITI training, and apply for approval by the Winthrop University Institutional Review Board, even if their projects are exempt under 45CFR46. The applications must be complete and include all necessary signatures.

Any student seeking IRB approval may not begin to collect data for her/his research until s/he has received IRB approval or been informed that the research is exempt. Collecting data prior to receiving IRB approval is grounds for an academic misconduct charge.

All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to the Department Chair, the Dean of Students, the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the student's academic advisor. The University may impose its own sanctions in addition to sanctions imposed by the faculty member or the department. The University may impose sanctions even after a student has graduated, and may include revoking a student's diploma. 

In addition, students who engage in more than one incident of academic misconduct may be declared ineligible for departmental awards, ineligible for employment in the department or its affiliated programs, and ineligible to volunteer as a peer advisor.

Adopted August 14, 2007