Public health practice requires the highest degree of responsibility and integrity. Violations of the Honor Code are viewed very seriously by the Mailman School of Public Health. To prevent misunderstanding and to assure the highest possible standards of conduct, all Mailman faculty and students must agree to abide by the following tenets.

To promote academic integrity, all course requirements and expectations should be clearly specified by the instructor at the beginning of the course. Included should be attendance requirements, performance expectations in writing assignments, exams, and oral presentations, and criteria for evaluation. In addition, any deviations from the expectations outlined below should be explicitly addressed and clarified by the instructor. If there is any ambiguity in course requirements or expectations, it is the responsibility of the student to seek clarification from the instructor.

The following standards and expectations apply to all written assignments, examinations, and oral presentations, unless the instructor specifically directs otherwise. These rules should not, however, be construed as mandatory; variations from these rules are at the instructor's discretion, so long as variations are clearly stated in the course syllabus or other document (e.g., written instructions for a particular assignment). Individual faculty members may well experiment with alternate formats, being careful to present clearly the specifications in advance of the assignment.

• With regard to any assignment:
• If you use or paraphrase another person's ideas, you are to acknowledge the source in a proper citation.
• If you use the actual words of expressions of another person or source, including the Internet, you must indicate such use by incorporation of quotation marks and a proper citation. If questions arise concerning proper use of quotations, citations, or bibliography, students should contact instructors.
• You are to provide your own work, not someone else's, unless explicitly directed by the instructor. Examples of using someone else's work include: submitting essays, or portions of essays, written by other people as one's own; or collaborating with others on an assignment or examination without specific permission from the faculty member to do so.
• Students should obtain the permission of their instructor before seeking editorial assistance with assignments. In addition, if editorial assistance is received, the name of the person providing that assistance should be indicated in the academic work submitted.
• Students may not submit material prepared for one course to fulfill the requirements for a second course without having received prior written permission from both instructors.
• With regard to written assignments:
• Unless otherwise specified by the instructor, all written assignments (e.g., papers, essays, homeworks, theses, dissertations, and take-home examinations) are to be the original work of each student, being completed by the student alone, using only appropriate and approved resources. If there is any question as to what constitutes an approved resource or reference tool, the student should request clarification from the instructor.
• All sources must be referenced and quotations identified. If there is any doubt about proper procedures, students should consult the instructor.
• Students may not work with another student on any part of a written assignment, nor may they consult with any faculty member or other individual without the express permission of the course instructor.
• Written assignments should not be shared with fellow students or others prior to submitting the assignment to the instructor.
• Take-home examinations are to be considered "closed book" exercises (i.e., no course or outside materials are to be consulted), unless directed otherwise by the instructor.
• In-class examinations:
• Unless otherwise specified by the instructor, no assistance may be sought or given by any student, and no notes, texts, or other written material may be consulted during the examination.
• With regard to oral presentations:
• All audio-visual materials used in presentations must be appropriately referenced and sources/quotations identified.

Note that if a student is accused of violating the Honor Code in a particular assignment, and if Honor Board determines that the infraction occurred, then the Honor Board may recommend that the student receive a failing grade or grade of "0" on that assignment, which could be incorporated in the calculation of the final course grade.