EXIT COURSE

Section 1 - A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

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WorldQuant University

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

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At WorldQuant University, we are committed to maintaining the value of the degree that you are
pursuing, and we make an effort to ensure that every student adheres to the Academic Integrity
Policy and avoids plagiarism. The following video explains what plagiarism is, why it is harmful,
and how to avoid it.

Plagiarism is a common practice and widely accepted where I live. Can I be exempted from
penalties?

No, WQU is compliant with U.S. higher education regulations. This means that plagiarism is not
acceptable under any circumstances, including a student’s cultural background.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research, or writing as your own.
Sometimes, plagiarism can be avoided by simply giving yourself enough time to do your own
assignments, being honest, and submitting your own work. Other times, plagiarism can be
unintentional, and in these situations, it’s important to learn effective writing strategies in order
to avoid accidentally plagiarizing another person’s work.

Plagiarism often stems from the following issues: the ratio of source material to original work,
inadequate paraphrase, and missing or incorrect citations. Also an improper use of AI (Artificial
Intelligence) where entire paragraphs are copied verbatim from the AI tools to the submitted
assignment results into plagiarism.

Ratio of Source Material to Original Work

If you use too much material from outside sources in your assignment, then it is considered
plagiarism — even if you include quotation marks around direct quotations, paraphrase
adequately, and include all the necessary citations and references. Why? Remember that when
you are writing an assignment, the expectation is that it is your own original work. If the majority
of what you submit is actually from an outside source, then you’re misrepresenting your work.
It’s important that you balance the use of outside source material with your own original
thoughts, ideas, and analysis. Otherwise, your assignment isn’t a genuine reflection of your
understanding of the material.

To learn how to balance source material with your own work, download the anti-plagiarism
guide here(opens in a new tab).

Improper use of AI

Recently AI has become ubiquitous and access to free AI applications is universal. The
University recognizes the value of AI as an aide to complete some preliminary steps for your
assignments more quickly (i.e., collect a higher volume of raw information more quickly and
organize it) and therefore it encourages this type of use.

However, if you copy entire paragraphs directly from an AI chat to the submitted assignment
with no further elaboration, this is considered plagiarism because you are presenting work from
another source as your own. AI cannot replace your critical analysis, reflection, and
interpretation of your research. These are the skills that you will earn while completing the
program and that your instructors measure when grading your assignments.

To learn how to properly use AI and avoid plagiarism, download the Academic Policy on the Use
of AI here(opens in a new tab).

Inadequate Paraphrase

If you need to paraphrase an author’s idea, you’ll need to strike a balance between accurately
and precisely capturing their intended meaning while using your own words. When paraphrasing,
you can’t add anything that wasn’t originally expressed by the author. But you also have to be
careful because if your paraphrase too closely resembles the author’s wording, it can be
considered plagiarism. Also, remember that even if you are putting another person’s idea into
your own words, you are still referencing someone else’s work, and as such, you need to use an
in-text citation. For these reasons, paraphrasing can be a difficult skill to master, but with
practice, you can learn to paraphrase like a true scholar.
To learn how to paraphrase with steps and examples, download the anti-plagiarism guide
here(opens in a new tab).

Citations

In academic writing, especially at the graduate level, citation is a standard practice that shows
what you have read and how it informs your own research. Whenever you cite a source, it shows
that you have conducted research on a topic and that you have considered a variety of relevant
ideas and viewpoints in your discipline. In-text citations and references help your reader
understand who and what you’ve read and what sort of larger discussions and debates you
considered as you developed your own ideas and arguments. Citations also help your reader
differentiate between your ideas and the ideas of the researchers you’ve read and incorporated
into your arguments. When you cite the authors you’ve read and used in your work, you’re also
giving them credit for their research, which is how you avoid plagiarism. Note that you must cite
every source you include in your paper. Even if it’s from a blog post or any other site on the
internet. This includes free, open-access materials and even content in the public domain.

In order to appropriately give an author credit for their work, there are two key components to
citation: in-text citations, which you use in the body of your report, and a references or works
cited page, which is a list of references to all the sources you cited in your report. Whenever you
use the ideas or research from an outside source, you must include both an in-text citation and
a reference for that source in order to avoid plagiarism. In-text citations are required whether
you quote the source directly or paraphrase the source material.

To learn how to create a reference and an in-text citation with steps and examples, download
the In-text Citations and References Guide

Turnitin

Turnitin is anti-plagiarism software that has been integrated into the group work submissions of
all courses in the MScFE Program, as well as some of the submissions in the Capstone course.

Upon assignment submission, Turnitin creates what is called a “similarity report” that allows us
to identify if a student has submitted plagiarized work. In order to create this report, the
software matches your paper against its database (books, articles, theses, websites, etc.) as
well as papers previously submitted by WQU students.

Before submitting your assignment for grading, you will have the chance to check the similarity
report and make the necessary changes in case you haven’t cited your sources appropriately or
included sufficient original content in your work.

Turnitin also generates an "AI writing" report that shows what percentage of the submission has
likely been directly generated by AI. This report is only available to instructors, who will use it to
determine whether the improper use of AI can be considered plagiarism.

This Quick Guide(opens in a new tab) has been designed to help you understand how to use
Turnitin.

University Catalog

The University Catalog is your go-to document whenever you have questions about academic
policies. The Catalog is always available to you on the platform under the My Path dropdown
menu. You can also download it here(opens in a new tab).

ACADEMIC POLICY ON THE USE OF AI

The purpose of the Academic Policy on the Use of AI(opens in a new tab) is to provide
guidelines on how to properly use AI tools to complete your assignments.

The University's Academic Policy on the Use of AI encourages the proper use of generative AI
tools to complete some initial steps in your assignments (i.e., collect raw information, create an
outline, etc.). However, it does not allow you to use the output generated by AI tools verbatim. In
other words, it cannot be used to replace your work. This is considered plagiarism, which, as
you know, is a serious violation of the Academic Integrity Policy. Further, you should be aware
that the output generated by AI tools is not always accurate and can be misleading and/or
insufficient.

WQU utilizes an AI detection integration via Turnitin that indicates what percentage of text in a
submitted assignment has been generated by AI. This makes proper use of AI and appropriate
in-text citations and references paramount in avoiding Academic Integrity Policy violations.

Links to guidelines on how to add in-text citations and references, academic writing, and how to
avoid plagiarism are provided in the Student Resource Center (SRC)(opens in a new tab), which
is accessible via the dropdown menu under your name in the top right corner of the platform.

STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT POLICY

The WorldQuant University's Student Code of Conduct Policy (University Catalog(opens in a new
tab), page 40-42) sets forth the standards of conduct expected of students at WQU. This code is
not exhaustive, and you may be subject to disciplinary actions for other behavior and/or
activities deemed unacceptable or disruptive to the goals and mission of WQU and the
expectation of professionalism in the online learning environment.

Note that the Student Code of Conduct must be observed at any time when you are
collaborating with your peers, regardless of the platform you are using to connect. When you
and your peers use communication channels external to he WQU platform (i.e., WhatsApp,
Telegram, Discord, etc.), all participants must continue to communicate in the same
professional, respectful, and ethical manner as it would be expected in the University’s official
communication channels. Any unprofessional or offensive conduct reported to the University by
any student will be investigated as a possible violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

If you violate the Student Code of Conduct, you will be subject to disciplinary actions

including issuance of a warning, probation, termination, or permanent dismissal from

the University. Any and all disciplinary actions will be recorded in your student academic

record.(opens in a new tab)

Violations of the Student Code of Conduct*

All forms of violation of academic integrity including the following: cheating;

fabrication; plagiarism; engaging in or facilitating academic dishonesty; republishing or

redistributing any course materials, student’s own work, or another student's work; and
uploading WQU content to websites or linking to it through services

Sharing personal account information to access the online platform with anyone

Use of any religious, inflammatory, offensive, or flagrant language in the online learning
environment, including discussion forums, or in private communications with the Instructional
Team, the Academic Dean, or WQU Staff

Use of any religious, inflammatory, offensive, or flagrant language related to WQU or WQU
representatives on social media or on WQU social media accounts

Endangering, threatening, or causing harm to any member of the WQU community, causing
reasonable apprehension of such harm or engaging in conduct or communications that a
reasonable person would interpret as a serious expression of intent to harm

Unauthorized use of University property and/ or resources

Engaging in retaliation, harassment, or repeated contact that a reasonable person would

understand to be unwanted, including stalking and/or sexual harassment

Engaging in any discriminatory activities as prohibited by applicable law or University policy

Engaging in any illegal sexual offense, including, but not limited to, sexual assault, public sexual
indecency, or indecent exposure

Violation of any other University policy

Conduct that is illegal under state or local law

*Refer to the University Catalog(opens in a new tab) for a complete list of actions constituting
violation of the Academic Integrity and Student Code of Conduct.

EARN 39 SEMESTER CREDIT HOURS

You will earn four (4) credit hours for each course that you successfully complete while
progressing through the Program and three (3) credit hours for the Capstone course for a total
of 39 semester credit hours. This is to say that completion of all the Program courses in the
prescribed sequence is mandatory.

UPHOLD SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS (SAP) REQUIREMENTS

You must be in good academic standing by meeting the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
requirements. The SAP is measured through two different parameters:

Maintain a cumulative average score of 80%: Although the minimum passing grade for a course
in the MScFE program is 70%, you must maintain a cumulative average score of 80% in order to
graduate. As you progress through the program, be sure to check your grades regularly and take
action to ensure you meet the minimum required average score.

Complete the program within the Maximum Time Frame (MTF) of 3 years: WorldQuant
University expects its students to maintain continuous enrollment. With nine 7-week or 8-week
courses and one 10-week Capstone course, the MScFE program can be completed within two (2)
years. The additional year allowed within the MTF of three (3) years gives you the possibility to
cancel, withdraw from, or fail a course when you cannot focus on your studies for a brief period
of time. While progressing through the courses, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are
able to complete the program within the permitted time.

COMPLETE THE CAPSTONE

The last course in the Program, the Capstone, consists of the completion of a capstone project
where you will demonstrate your understanding of the knowledge and skills that you have
learned throughout the program.

At the beginning of the course, you will identify your topic of interest among a wide variety of
project tracks made available by WQU. The final project will consist of a paper in article format,
working source code, and a recorded presentation. You will complete the capstone project
through incremental steps:

Develop a problem statement,

Identify the required technology to find a solution to the problem,

Submit multiple drafts for peer review and instructor feedback, and

Finalize and present your fully developed project.