Examining Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty (AD) has plagued many higher education institutions (HEIs). This chapter examines AD among accounting students in business schools and discusses possible mechanisms to reduce misconduct among students, as well as staff. Today's students are tomorrow's accounting professionals. Yet, some HE students strive to succeed at all costs by using unethical means including being aided by dishonest academic staff. For example, the unethical and corrupt practices in Enron, and the subsequent closure of one of the leading international accounting firms, Arthur Andersen, raised questions pertaining to codes of conduct, ethics, and morality being taught in business schools. This chapter reviews the literature, identifies issues from an internet search of actual cases, and then offers recommendations for reducing such detrimental behaviors.

Everybody's Doing It

Researchers focusing on academic dishonesty (AD) have suggested the power of peer influence in predicting cheating behaviors. Cheating has been found to occur mostly when it is perceived as normative. Students' overestimation of the extent to which their peers cheat, as well as their beliefs that cheating would not lead to consequences, has been found to reinforce AD. Primarily employing Bandura's social learning theory (SLT), the current authors present an in-depth discussion of the variables hypothesized to contribute to the factors involved in the acquisition and maintenance of cheating behaviors. The authors present the results of a 2018 study examining cheating behaviors by students attending a state-supported university in the United States (US). Students' perceptions that their peers cheated, and their belief that cheating was an acceptable means of coping with academic pressure, were significant predictors of cheating. Potential intervention strategies are discussed, as are future research directions regarding peer influences on AD.

A Research Review

Research into academic integrity (AI) has a long history of extensive work to estimate the prevalence of and predictors for academic misconduct in higher education (HE). In addition, concern about the high prevalence of academic misconduct has justified a proliferation of recommendations for reducing academic misconduct. Scholars have lamented, however, the dearth of research investigating the effectiveness of interventions to prevent academic misconduct. This chapter reports on a review of 97 quantitative studies that investigated the effectiveness of interventions related to academic misconduct in HE. The evidence supports the effectiveness of text-matching software and honor code systems in reducing plagiarism and cheating, respectively. The effectiveness of proctoring examinations, providing instruction about plagiarism, and delivering instruction about AI are not supported by the evidence. Recommendations for future research are suggested.

Promoting Academic Integrity

The purpose of this chapter is to foster the development of a healthy academic environment, protected from academic dishonesty, and one that creates favorable conditions for professional development and positive educational outcomes. This chapter deals with the main challenges facing Ukrainian universities in the area of academic integrity (AI). The results of a survey of domestic students' opinions via qualitative narratives regarding AI are presented. Successful cases of the implementation of higher education (HE) systems for ensuring AI in Ukrainian universities are considered. A prototype of AI principles to better ensure honesty and integrity are shown. Mechanisms for working with students to incentivize the principles of AI and the factors that can enable fruitful and ‘honest' communication between teachers and students are also highlighted.

A Critical Analysis

The University of Botswana (UB) has set high standards for student conduct aimed at maintaining its vision to be a leading center of academic excellence in Africa and the world. The institution pursues excellence by establishing high entrance requirements and strict regulations governing academic conduct. Students are expected to uphold the tenets of excellence through (among others) accountability for their performance and honesty in their pursuit of academic goals. Despite the high standards, cases of academic misconduct still occur. This chapter explores the reasons behind unsanctioned academic behavior by students. Further, the meaning of academic misconduct at the UB and how it is addressed will be discussed. This work will also interrogate the gap between institutional expectations and student behavior to find mutually beneficial ways to attain excellence.

Preventing Academic Misconduct

Cheating in academics has been on the increase and it reflects a lack of integrity on the part of students. If no efforts are made to prevent academic misconduct/dishonesty, it will contribute to the image and standing of higher education institutions (HEIs). Cheating is not only an ethical concern, but it also leads to lesser knowledge and competencies acquisition. Equally, when students cheat the faculty feel cheated and efforts wasted. The resultant may be low morale of educators which is dangerous. Hence, HEIs are making efforts to reduce cheating and strengthen academic integrity (AI) through polices, rules, and procedures. Nevertheless, the focus seems to be more on bolting the stable after the horse has left or is largely administrative in nature. Therefore, adopting a mixed method approach the core of this chapter is to focus on preventing cheating through academic approach. The objective is to discuss how student-centered teaching strategies can prevent academic misconduct with focus on management disciple.

A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty (AD) continues to be of great concern in higher education (HE). In this chapter, the authors review literature in this area, with a particular emphasis on preventive interventions. In recent years, with the dramatic increase of international students in HE, the authors also address how cultural diversity may further complicate this issue. A current study of cheating behaviors is discussed comparing a sample of undergraduate college students from the United States (US) with a sample of undergraduate college students from China. With reference to those results, the authors then propose intervention strategies for reducing AD based on the literature and results of this comparative study.

Cheaters Beware

This descriptive chapter tackles the issue of ‘preventing' academic misconduct via effective assessment design. A dearth of literature is focused on ‘detecting' plagiarism, but assessment (re)design can help ‘prevent' the pervasiveness of ‘cheating' if tasks are relevant, authentic, real-world, educative, and career-focused from the outset. While contemporary society is demanding and complex, many educational assessment practices today remain unimpressively straightforward. Academic faculty are central to confronting cheating. In this chapter, the authors focus on a three-pillar system that empowers higher education institutions (HEIs) to better prevent malpractice rather than reacting to it afterwards. The aim of this chapter is to provide a descriptive investigation into why assessment is so important in the fight against academic misconduct, and a three-pillar approach to bolster assessment practices that will help minimize opportunities for students to engage in academic offences. Within this presentation are included author narratives that will help readers understand the many and varied ways tertiary-level students can challenge faculty assessment design.

An ISM Approach to Modeling

Student cheating is a problem that has been plaguing academics globally for decades. With the infiltration of technology, this has taken on a newer more sinister form, termed e-cheating. E-cheating is electronic cheating that encompasses variety of previously known and new practices involving variety of technologies students engage in when breaching academic integrity (AI). This chapter presents the herculean task of compiling and then proposing a comprehensive factor model to pave way for better understanding of antecedents that may influence students' likelihood to e-cheat. This chapter attempts to use interpretive structural modelling (ISM) as a scientific approach towards developing such a proposed model after conducting an extensive content analysis to collate and provide a comprehensive list of factors and models already existing spread across hundreds of academic papers. This chapter is positioned as the first such attempt to provide a model of factors that is of significant benefit to stakeholders such as teachers, students, managements, government, and even employers so that they can develop an understanding of their roles in helping or hindering such behavior in the future.

Fostering Originality

With the rapid increase in the number of international students from different academic backgrounds around the world, college and university educators in the West find it hard(er) to understand the many and complex reasons why these students plagiarize or use sources ineffectively. Reviewing the relevant literature, the author first makes a pedagogical analysis of student plagiarism then shows why educators should shift focus from traditional views about cultural difference toward a multidimensional understanding of plagiarism. The author concludes by recommending pedagogical strategies to help students to adjust to the new academic system rather than ‘policing' their activities and undermining their confidence.