Academic Integrity
All students should have a copy of "Academic Integrity at Tufts," Which is available from the Office of Undergraduate Education. When an examination, essay, term paper, or report bears the student's name as the author, this is taken by the instructor to guarantee that it represents the student's own work and ideas, apart from indicated acknowledgements. The use of source materials of any kind in the preparation of essays or laboratory reports must be fully and properly acknowledge through footnotes and bibliographies. Note that even where there may be no conscious intention to deceive, the failure to make appropriate acknowledgements may constitute plagiarism. Any quotation must be place in quotation marks and the precise source(s) cited. Any material which is summarized or paraphrased must be specifically acknowledged and footnoted even if it is thoroughly reworded. All sources that have been consulted should be listed in a bibliography.

Other examples of academic dishonesty include handing in an identical or substantially similar paper for two or more courses without consent of the instructors involved, dishonesty in examinations, and the purchase of term papers for submission in the course as one's own work. Faculty members will report instances of academic dishonesty to the Department Chairperson and then to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action. When appropriate, infractions will be considered by the Committee on Student Life, whose decisions may result in expulsion, suspension, disciplinary probation, or letter of reprimand.

Grades
A grade of C- or better is required for a course to count within the IR major, whether it is taken at Tufts or at another institution. No course taken pass/fail may be used within the IR major.

Honors
Students may graduate with Honors in International Relations through either the Thesis Honors Program or through general university honors.

Thesis Honors
Admission to the Thesis Honors Program is restricted to students whose names have appeared on the Dean's List at least once. To pursue a senior honors thesis, students must follow steps outlined here. For further information on university policy regarding thesis honors, consult the annual Tufts University Bulletin.

Students who successfully complete the Honors Thesis requirement will be formally acknowledged at graduation. Based on the quality of thesis work, degrees are designated bachelor of arts with highest thesis honors, with high thesis honors, or with thesis honors.

General University Honors
A second way in which students may earn distinction is through general university honors. Requirements for cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude are described in the annual Tufts University Bulletin.

Grades in courses taken at institutions other than Tufts shall not be considered as criteria for honors, both in the calculation of cumulative grade-point-average and in counting the total of "A" and "A-" grades within the major. Likewise, courses applied toward the IR Language Requirement do not count toward the "A/A-" totals required within the 12-course IR Major.

PLEASE NOTE: If students are concerned about how their IR record will be evaluated with respect to honors, they should keep this in mind when completing their degree sheet. For example, if a student can fulfill a certain requirement with a course that was graded highly, this would work in the student's favor--as opposed to a non-graded course.

Double Majors
A significant number of IR majors choose to double major- from the May 2008 graduating class, over 50% were double majors. Most students double major in Economics or a foreign language; however, a growing number of students are double majoring in Community Health and History. Additional double majors include: Anthropology, Art History, Asian Studies, Child Development, Comparative Religion, Drama, English, Environmental Studies, Latin American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Music, Peace and Justice Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Russian/ Eastern European Studies, Sociology, Studio Art, and Women's Studies.

Students who choose to double major should be aware of university restrictions on overlap permitted between majors outlined in the annual Tufts University Bulletin. Only 50% of the courses taken in one major may be applied toward completion of requirements in a second major. The number of courses permitted toward double-counting is reached by taking half the total of the major with the fewest courses required.