Pontifical Biblical Institute

Registrar’s Office & Student Services

This academic integrity policy provides the faculty and students of the Pontifical Biblical Institute with general guidelines for proper academic conduct and it outlines the academic conduct that is prohibited. Faculty and students are expected to act ethically and with integrity in their research, demonstrating conduct that adheres to the academic values ​​of the Institute. Justice and truth are values essential to our common mission in which we read, interpret and proclaim the Holy Scriptures.

  1. In order to avoid violating this policy of academic integrity, the students agree to familiarize themselves with the correct methods for citing and referencing bibliographic sources as taught in the pro-seminar on methodology. They agree to adhere to the volume by Stanisław Bazyliński, Guida alla Ricerca Biblica (Subsidia Biblica 35; Rome: GBPress 2016) = A Guide to Biblical Research (Subsidia Biblica 36; Rome: GBPress 2016).
  2. In an academic context, plagiarism involves borrowing into one’s own written work the words or ideas taken from another author without proper notation and a precise reference to the source.
  3. Plagiarism above all regards the submission of a final copy of a written work that is part of an academic exam. This includes not only the licentiate or doctoral theses but also any written paper, exam, or seminar paper (including mid-term exams that a professor may require). Even a written draft still in development but submitted to a professor should adhere to the above guidelines. A case of plagiarism in such a draft, even though it is not a final draft, undermines the relationship between professor and student.
  4. The various types of plagiarism are listed below according to their gravity:
    • (a) to present as your own another person’s work even if it was obtained with the author’s consent;
    • (b) to cite another author’s text (however brief or translated from another language) without identifying it as a citation (for example, without quotation marks and bibliographic reference, or with quotation marks but without the bibliographic reference);8.
    • (c) to paraphrase another author’s text without indicating the source, when the paraphrase appears to be willfully intentional and not merely accidental.
  5. The discovery of plagiarism in a written work submitted for a course or seminar requires the application of this policy of academic integrity that has been established between the Institute and the students. The written work will not be accepted. In any case where plagiarism has been discovered the student must rewrite the written work and the professor will inform the Dean of the Faculty. If plagiarism is found a second time, the Dean will decide whether to annul the course and inform the Rector of the eventual expulsion of the student from the Institute. If plagiarism is found in a licentiate thesis or doctoral dissertation after the conferral of the academic degree, the written work is annulled which in turn voids the degree conferred. This action will be communicated to the student and to the Congregation for Catholic Education.
  6. These and any other additional penalties, depending on the seriousness of the plagiarism, will be imposed with justice, taking into account the integrity of the Institute and the academic formation and moral conduct of the student. The student is entitled to a hearing and, after the first instance of plagiarism, to appeal to the Dean. After the second instance, the student can appeal to the Rector and, after the third, to the Academic Senate.
  7. The candidate for the licentiate or doctorate will sign a form that will be submitted with the written work. By signing this form the student attests to be the sole author of the entire text submitted in accordance with the above guidelines.