The extent and reach of commercial cheating opportunities is ever present; thousands of websites promote differing business models offering assignments in multiple languages and currencies. In addition to commercial companies, students are known to outsource their assignments from friends and family. Assignment outsourcing and contract cheating…

The highest estimates of the prevalence of commercial contract cheating in Australia come from self-report surveys, which suggest that around 2% of students engage in commercial contract cheating during their higher education studies. However, self-report surveys are limited in that participants under-report socially-undesirable behaviours. In…

Prevalence of contract cheating and outsourcing through organised methods has received interest in research studies aiming to determine the most suitable strategies to reduce the problem. Few studies have presented an international approach or tested which variables could be correlated with contract cheating. As a result, strategies to reduce…

This article contributes to an emerging body of research on the role of assessment design in the prevention and detection of contract cheating. Drawing on the largest contract cheating dataset gathered to date (see cheatingandassessment.edu.au), this article examines the types of assignments and exams in which students self-reported having engaged…

Research on contract cheating usually considers most forms of outsourcing combined, although studies have found that students more commonly obtain work from those known to them, rather than from commercial sites; yet little research exists which explores which variables and motivators may be associated with this type of outsourcing. Strategies…

Contract cheating occurs when a student outsources their assessment to a third party, regardless of the third party's relationship with the student, or whether money is exchanged. In higher education, there is a widespread belief that assessment design is a solution to the problem of contract cheating and that authentic assessment tasks are…

Research has shown that academic integrity education programs can have a positive impact on student attitudes and reduce breaches of academic integrity. Although programs vary across institutions, there is relatively little research on their comparative efficacy. Accordingly, this study examines how higher education institutions in Australia and…

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…

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…