Discusses the issue of students buying papers on the Internet. Considers how educators reconcile their ability to teach effectively with their students' ability to cheat and steal without the teacher's knowledge. Suggests a solution by assigning essays that cannot be bought. (SG)

One hundred and ninety-six Israeli middle-school students participated in a study that explored the effects of moral orientation (moral versus conventional) and of three situational variables on attitudes toward two types of cheating in school exams--copying from others ('active') and letting others copy ('passive'). Several vignettes that were…

Academic dishonesty is a fundamental issue for the academic integrity of higher education institutions, and one that has lately been gaining increasing media attention. This study reports on a survey of 1206 students and 190 academic staff across four major Queensland universities in relation to student academic misconduct. The aim of the survey…

Although cell phones keep kids in touch with families and personal digital assistants (PDA's) help organize assignments and give Internet access, when they are added to the school climate, educators must reassess policies so technology does not interfere with instruction time. This article discusses the several effects of cell phones to K-6…

Describes the results of a 3-year investigation into cheating by school personnel in Chicago and the design of a technique that will help to bring the problem under better control. The goals of the research were to measure the prevalence of cheating by teachers and administrators and to analyze the factors that predict cheating. (MLF)

Plagiarism is an issue of increasing concern to educators, yet students are not always clear on the boundaries between acceptable and unacceptable practice. Presents an exercise to help bioscience students make this important distinction. (Author/SOE)

The perception that Internet plagiarism by university students is on the rise has alarmed college teachers, leading to the adoption of electronic plagiarism checkers, among other responses. Although some recent studies suggest that estimates of online plagiarism may be exaggerated, cause for concern remains. This article reviews quantitative…

The Internet, coupled with technology, has enabled institutions of higher learning to offer online distance education classes to a worldwide student body at an increasing rate. In the next 5 years it is estimated that nearly 90% of universities will offer online classes. Unfortunately, the news is not all that good. Students are now cheating at an…

In a 16-year study involving more than 4,800 students, fewer than 2% of students were caught cheating in introductory science classes. The most common type of cheating was plagiarism in lab reports (50% of incidents), followed by altering exams (41%) and submitting falsified lab data (9%). Cheating occurred among students earning all grades in the…

Recent years have seen a growing awareness of the incidence of plagiarism, though the response has largely been to focus on deterrence through detection and punishment. However, student plagiarism is a much more complex issue than suggested by a one-solution response and this paper argues for a more holistic institutional approach that recognises…

Academic dishonesty is an issue of concern for teachers, students, and institutions of higher education. Because students and faculty do not interact directly in web-based classes, it is often perceived that cheating will be more abundant in these classes. Using data from a survey administered to students who had an online course during the 2001…

In this article, the authors investigated academic dishonesty and how business students stand on the issue as compared with other college students. They found in their study that nonbusiness students are more likely to cheat than are business students. In general, students who are members of Greek social organizations, undergraduates, male, and…

In the context of reviewing an article for this journal (van der Linden & Sotaridona, this issue, pp. 283-304) the topic of unconditional and conditional hypothesis testing came under consideration. While this is hardly a new issue (consider, for example, arguments regarding the chi square vs. Fisher exact test of independence for a 2 x 2…

The U.S. Senate held a hearing to address two issues facing the nation's armed service academies--honor systems and sexual harassment. This was the first of several oversight hearings to be held regarding the service academies. Two events prompted the Senate to hold these hearings: (1) a cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy that began in…

In an attempt to get an idea of students' perceptions of cheating and the frequency with which cheating occurs, a study examined 203 students currently enrolled in public speaking classes from two-year and four-year schools on the East Coast and in the Midwest. The survey was divided into four parts which: (1) gathered biographical information…