Academic cheating is a pervasive problem in many universities globally. The present double-blind randomized controlled field experiment tested whether reminding university students about academic dishonesty sanction policies would reduce their cheating in an actual exam. Students were assigned to either a Sanction Reminder or a No Reminder…

This study examines the emergent issue of blackmail and contract cheating through a scenario-based online exercise completed by 587 university students in Western Australia. Participants were presented with two consecutive scenarios, each involving a difficult assignment. The possibility of blackmail was introduced prior to (and within) the second…

This paper presents the results of an exploratory study that examined engagement approaches of contract cheating services on the Twitter platform. The literature portrays the grey academic market as an invisible hand that magically delivers academic content at the click of a button, which leaves a wide gap in our understanding of their outreach…

Unethical behaviour has become an increasingly controversial issue in Higher Education institutes. There have been debates about the reasons for the increase in unethical behaviour. But many of those debates contain problems. A key problem has been the lack of empirical results about faculty members' perceptions of their role in the phenomenon,…

Historical trends in plagiarism are often estimated by comparing survey results from a diverse range of samples, institutions, and measures. However, in multi-institution multi-method comparisons changes over time are difficult to separate from differences in methods. We assessed self-reported engagement in, awareness of, and attitudes toward…

Most institutions of higher education presume that the pursuit of truth is central to their missions. However, the status of truth has been seriously challenged in contemporary society--by postmodern critiques, confusion about the goals and methods of scholarly disciplines, and the seductive power of social and other digital media. In this essay,…

Little research has investigated the conditions that lead to research misconduct. To develop effective intervention/prevention strategies, this void must be filled. This study administered a mixed-mode survey (i.e. mail and online) to a stratified random sample of tenured and tenure-track faculty in the natural, social, and applied sciences (N =…

Promoting authenticity and academic integrity in assessment continues to present a priority for educational institutions. Besides providing the foundation for high academic standards and best practice, authentic assessments and academic integrity enrich students with skills that advance their employability. Given the multilayered significance of,…

If media reports are to be believed, Australian universities are facing a significant and growing problem of students outsourcing their assessment to third parties, a behaviour commonly known as 'contract cheating'. Teaching staff are integral to preventing and managing this emerging form of cheating, yet there has been little evidence-based…

University faculty are frequently tasked with promoting academic honesty among students. However, there is little reliable evidence about whether faculty actions can prevent academic dishonesty. The purpose of this study is to examine whether more severe punishments from faculty can reduce academic dishonesty among students. We analyze nationally…

Most previous studies of academic dishonesty have been conducted in North America and Europe, and have focused on the contextual, institutional, and individual factors that influence students' propensity to cheat. While such studies offer useful background and structure to this endemic problem, this study aimed to gain deeper insights into student…

Recent years have seen a steady stream of journal editorials condemning self-plagiarism and other questionable publishing practices. Whilst in the biomedical sciences, redundant publication is condemned for its potential to exaggerate the efficacy of clinical trials, the potential negative consequences of textual recycling are less obvious in the…

Recent Australian media scandals suggest that university students are increasingly outsourcing their assessments to third parties -- a behaviour known as 'contract cheating'. This paper reports on findings from a large survey of students from eight Australian universities (n = 14,086) which sought to explore students' experiences with and…

The results of a large online student survey (n?=?15,304), on academic integrity at six Australian universities, indicate that a majority of respondents reported a good awareness of academic integrity and knowledge of academic integrity policy at their university and were satisfied with the information and support they receive. Response varied…