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This archived information is dated to the 2010-11 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

The Honor Code

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Judicial Affairs and Student Conduct

The Honor Code is the University's statement on academic integrity. It is essentially the application of the Fundamental Standard to academic matters. Provisions of the Honor Code date from 1921, when the honor system was established by the Academic Council of the University Faculty at the request of the student body and with the approval of the President. The Honor Code reads:

  1. The Honor Code is an undertaking of the students, individually and collectively:
    1. that they will not give or receive aid in examinations; that they will not give or receive unpermitted aid in class work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other work that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of grading;
    2. that they will do their share and take an active part in seeing to it that others as well as themselves uphold the spirit and letter of the Honor Code.
  2. The faculty on its part manifests its confidence in the honor of its students by refraining from proctoring examinations and from taking unusual and unreasonable precautions to prevent the forms of dishonesty mentioned above. The faculty will also avoid, as far as practicable, academic procedures that create temptations to violate the Honor Code.
  3. While the faculty alone has the right and obligation to set academic requirements, the students and faculty will work together to establish optimal conditions for honorable academic work.

Examples of conduct that has been found to be in violation of the Honor Code include:

For more information, see the Interpretations and Applications of the Honor Code at http://stanford.edu/dept/vpsa/judicialaffairs/guiding/honorcode. The standard penalty for a first offense is a one quarter suspension from the University and 40 hours of community service. In addition, many faculty members issue a 'No Pass' for the course in which the violation occurred.

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