This page features various components of course Honor Codes that the Council has adapted (originally from the Spring 2016 Honor System Working Group Report) to be used for syllabi in Rice undergraduate coursework. Not all components have to be in all Honor Codes, and it’s good to add extra sections as required. If you would like to adapt language from this model, please feel free to do so. Additionally, if you are adding a new section to your syllabus and would like advice on how to structure it, please contact honor@rice.edu with your request for assistance, and we’ll be happy to help!

The Council has defined six types of collaboration in the Council’s Collaboration Guidelines, available on the Council’s website. They can be used in any syllabus, though it is advisable to reproduce the language. You are welcome to alter these as needed, but please set these edits off in some way – either with bolding, italicizing, or placing them on a new line, so that students used to the common definition are aware of these changes. Examples for collaboration are included below.

• Type 1 Collaboration: Discussion of exam/assignment itself “Discussion of any piece of the assignment falls under this level of collaboration. This includes contacting anyone (including people not taking class) about assignment parts, including general facts about the assignment, such as chapters covered, books required, or topics to study.”
• Type 2 Collaboration: Specific concepts and content of the exam/assignment “This level of collaboration involves communicating specific concepts or content on this assignment from or to anyone. This can include referring to required sections or pages, or discussing the broad topics needed to approach the problem.”
• Type 3 Collaboration: Discussion of approach/design of problem without reference to specific sources/answers/equations “This level includes conversations with anyone about approaches to problems or arguments, such as laying out analyses, discussing lab procedures, or proposing high level code design.”
• Type 4 Collaboration: Discussion of problem with reference to specific figures and equations without comparing answers or syntax; acknowledgement optional “At this level of collaboration, students can work together to set up problems before solving them individually. This includes constructing outlines together, taking data together in lab, doing research together and sharing references, laying out the steps required to solve a problem, without checking answers or intermediate steps, or conversing on algorithm or registry implementation without discussing syntax or code implementation. At this level, the Honor Council recommends that assignments acknowledge all collaborators, but this requirement can be specified in class-specific Honor Codes.”
• Type 5 Collaboration: Solving together sharing steps, intermediate solutions and final answers; acknowledgment recommended “Type 5 Collaboration means that individuals work through a problem together, frequently checking each other’s work. Students can compare their work, and are free to compare their results with the answers or writings of others, including the TAs for the course. This includes writing code together, working out derivations together, or writing reports together. At this level, the Honor Council strongly recommends that assignments acknowledge all collaborators, and indicate the areas where collaboration occurs, but this requirement can be specified in class-specific Honor Codes.”
• Type 6 Collaboration: Use of answers; citation required “Students are allowed to adapt and use the work of other students in writing their assignments. At this level, the Honor Council requires collaboration credit that indicates where adaptations occurred, and where they were sourced from, to prevent plagiarism.”

Syllabus Examples

• For all exams in this class, a violation is any action that falls under Honor Council’s Type 1 guidelines: “Discussion of any piece of the assignment falls under this level of collaboration. This includes contacting anyone (including people not taking class) about assignment parts, including general facts about the assignment, such as chapters covered, books required, or topics to study.” Anything at or beyond this level of collaboration is a violation.
• All problem sets use the Honor Council’s Type 4 guidelines: “At this level of collaboration, students can work together to set up problems before solving them individually. This includes constructing outlines together, taking data together in lab, doing research together and sharing references, laying out the steps required to solve a problem, without checking answers or intermediate steps, or conversing on algorithm or registry implementation without discussing syntax or code implementation. At this level, the Honor Council recommends that assignments acknowledge all collaborators, but this requirement can be specified in class-specific Honor Codes.” Anything beyond this level is a violation, and I require you to acknowledge who you collaborate with.
• All labs use the Honor Council’s Type 2 guidelines: “This level of collaboration involves communicating specific concepts or content on this assignment from or to anyone. This can include referring to required sections or pages, or discussing the broad topics needed to approach the problem.” Any collaboration beyond this level, such as anything covered in Types 3-6, is a violation.
• Your essays must be written by yourself. I’ve defined this as following the Honor Council’s Type 3 guideline: “This level includes conversations with anyone about approaches to problems or arguments, such as laying out analyses, discussing lab procedures, or proposing high level code design.” If you collaborate more than this, you are in violation.

Sources

The sources section should define what citation style is appropriate in the class, what sources are acceptable to use, and when these sources should be cited. A few examples are below:

• In this class, you may use the required text, posted slides and notes, and your own notes without citation. Additionally, you may refer to sources not specified in class, including online sources, but only with proper citation (MLA format). Finally, you may not contact people not in this class for information on any assignment.
• You can refer to any source, including the required text, posted notes, your own notes, texts not assigned in class, or people not in this class, as long as you properly cite any and all information used in APA format.
• To write your responses in this class, you may only refer to the assigned class texts, and you must cite all quotes correctly, using MLA citations.

Past work and assignments

This section defines how previous work and solutions may be used. It’s worth noting this section encompasses work from previous semesters of the same class, and work that the student has previously done. Examples are below:

• This is a coding class, and we recognize that you may have existing sections of code that may be useful. If you wish to use these, that is acceptable. However, you must note from where you got this code – it’s acceptable to add a comment noting the class and assignment from which you got it. However, it is a violation to refer to any previous solutions from this class.
• You may not use any previous work in your essays. All your writing must be new. You also cannot refer to any previous essays or responses, from any semester.
• For the most part, this class presents you with new material. However, if you feel a piece you previously wrote relates to an assignment, please contact me and we can discuss using it. You are welcome to use exams from previous years to study, but consulting problem sets from years prior is a violation of the Honor Code.

Solution Manuals

In this section, it’s appropriate to state what solutions manuals students may use to solve problem sets, such as numerical answers in the back of the book, solutions manuals, previously posted solutions, or online sources such as Chegg, which often provide fully worked and solved answers for every problem in a book. There are a few examples below – as always, please feel free to adapt them as needed:

• In this class, it’s a violation to refer to any solutions manual. This includes, but is not limited to, numerical answers in the back of your required text, the solutions manual for this course, any solutions available from previous semesters of this course, and any online sources. Fundamentally, if it contains the solved form of any problem relevant to this class, and is not an example problem in the book, you cannot consult it. Furthermore, distribution of these sources is also a violation – sending any of these resources, or receiving them without reporting them to me, is a violation.
• When you solve problems in this class, you may consult the numerical answers in the back of the book to check your answer. If you submit a problem with only the answer, and no work, you will receive no credit. All other solutions manuals, including online sources of solutions, are forbidden, as is their distribution. If you locate or receive one, please contact me immediately.
• You may refer to any solutions manual you like – however, you must cite it, and note that you used it.

Professor Contact

This sets the guidelines for any questions students may have. It’s good to have information here, simply because ignorance of the Honor Code is not an excuse – if students don’t understand something, they must contact you. An example is below:

• If you have any questions about the Honor Code for this class, or are wondering if a certain course of action is acceptable, please send me an email before you assume something. It is advisable for you to save this email or otherwise keep track of it, as it could be considered as evidence if an Honor Code accusation is made against you. Ignorance of the Honor Code is not an excuse, and the Honor Council will not consider it.

These guidelines are put together and updated by the Honor Council to assist in the creation of class Honor Codes. It is worth noting that these guidelines govern only collaboration on assignments, and may be modified by professors. They are arranged from most stringent to least, and different types of collaboration can be used on different assignments. For example, a test may fall under type 2 collaboration, while problem sets for a class could be under type 4. Class policies on the usage of solution manuals, online guides (such as Chegg), and other sources of aid are not defined below. Do not attempt to extrapolate these policies to other aspects of a class. If you have questions about a class Honor Code, email your professor. It is your duty to understand and clarify the class Honor Code.