Academic integrity policies and processes vary from institution to institution and between countries. The last 30 years has seen increased attention on policies that provide a process focused on educating students and reintegrating those who cheat into their institutions rather than punitive and permanent sanctions, such as expulsion.

Throughout the history of academics, cheating in various forms has coincided, evolving alongside university advancements. This paper explores the concept of academic dishonesty as a critical issue facing higher education in a modern context, establishes the cause of the problem, and concludes with potential solutions. The idea of academic…

McCabe, Butterfield, & Treviño (2012) recently proposed a model for helping universities cultivate a moral culture of academic integrity. This qualitative study examined how a national sample of 75 students perceived the moral culture within their university using the McCabe et al. model as a basis for analysis. The analysis revealed that…

Cheating is highly prevalent in American high school students and across the globe. Although numerous approaches are in place to combat this issue, most character education approaches have focused primarily on fostering moral integrity (a strength of moral character). Here, we argue that a broad character education approach to addressing cheating…

Epidemic is an apt adjective for describing the problem of academic dishonesty. When asked if they have cheated in the past year, a "disproportionately large number" (i.e., the majority) of secondary and tertiary students in the United States (and in every other country in which it's been studied) report having done so. The problem of…

For anyone concerned about students' moral development, academic dishonesty presents a pervasive problem but also a promising possibility. The present paper describes the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of process-oriented, four-component model approach to promoting students' "moral functioning" related to academic integrity, and…

Research indicates that approximately 70% of college students engage in some form of cheating (Austin, Simpson, & Reynen, 2005; Bowers, 1964; Leming; 1978; McCabe & Trevino, 1993, 1996; McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield, 2001a). College students overwhelmingly agree that cheating is morally wrong; yet, their actions are not reflective of…

The public expects its educational leaders--from instructional leaders and principals to college administrators and deans--to be moral exemplars. Nowhere is moral behavior more central to the central mission of teaching and learning than in the realm of academic integrity, where decisions are made daily about grading, testing, promotion,…

Research has shown that academic misconduct is an issue of concern in most subject areas across both secondary and post-secondary education. However, variation in both investigators' research interests and definitions of the behaviors being investigated leave many unanswered questions regarding the seriousness and nature of the problem, as well as…

Academic policies that require medical excuses are based on mistrust of students and conflict with institutional honor codes. Such policies undermine the philosophical and educational foundations of higher education; namely, to model and nurture honesty, integrity, and citizenship in emerging adults. Instead, they encourage hypocrisy and…

Discusses adolescent cheating at school, highlighting how parents can help them resist the temptation to cheat by: asking what stopped them from listening to the part of themselves that knew it was wrong to cheat and what it felt like to ignore that message; listening while they talk it over; determining the appropriate consequences; and modeling…

A consideration of college honor codes examines why academic integrity is one of the most effective vehicles for teaching about moral responsibility, how honor codes are distinguished from codes of conduct, how students reason about academic integrity issues, the role of penalties and punishments, and steps campuses can take. A discussion of the…