Student academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem for higher education institutions all over the world. The purpose of the present study is to take an interpretative, qualitative approach intended to understand student "thinking" and "reflections" when it comes to the perceived seriousness and prevalence of cheating. Peer…

Although there is evidence of cheating at all levels of education, institutions often do not implement or design integrity policies, such as honor codes, to prevent and adjudicate academic dishonesty. Further, faculty members rarely discuss academic integrity expectations or policies with their students. When cheating does occur, faculty members…

Academic misconduct is a serious, pervasive, communication phenomenon on college campuses. In this study, the goals-plans-action model (Dillard, 1990) was used as a theoretical framework to investigate peer confrontation of cheating and whistle-blowing to a course instructor. In an experiment, participants were asked to respond to measures of…

During instruction, higher education faculty should properly address matters of concern related to student performance, conduct and behavior. History is a reminder of this persistent issue. Therefore, a logical sequence of decision-making can be followed to recognize, distinguish and act upon these concerns. Applications for a flowchart tool are…

This paper offers support that those students who felt they had stronger reasons for committing unethical academic behaviors are more likely to report committing academic dishonesty than those who felt they had weaker reasons for unethical academic behaviors. This relationship held for all four categories of academic dishonesty: cheating (on…

Cheating and plagiarism were studied at a midwestern public university's College of Education, by interviewing three male and three female students who were in Master's programs in health education, rehabilitation counseling, and community counseling. None of the six students had had a formal orientation program covering expectations about…

Presents the results of a survey of 194 faculty and 314 undergraduate students regarding their experience with academic misconduct. Findings include the following: faculty and students differed significantly in their definitions of 24 of the 36 described behaviors, and 82 percent of the surveyed undergraduate students admitted to engaging in some…

The paper presents the standards of the University of Colorado concerning academic honesty and integrity and explains how the university handles breaches of these standards. Breaches of academic honesty include cheating, plagiarism, and unauthorized possession or disposition of academic materials not formally released by the instruction. Each of…

A survey of 2,459 medical students found that 39% had witnessed cheating in their first 2 years of medical school, and 66.5% had heard about cheating. About 5% reported having cheated during that time. Students appeared resigned to the fact of cheating, but lacked consensus about how to proceed when witnessing it. Guidance in intervening in…

Students in a large state university were surveyed to determine their beliefs about penalty levels appropriate for persons found guilty of various acts of academic dishonesty. There were two samples: one was random, and the other consisted of students who were strongly believed to have cheated by copying answers on one or more multiple-choice…

Undergraduate subjects were given an opportunity to cheat undetected on puzzle problems. The hypotheses were confirmed that more cheating occurred under ability attribution conditions than under luck attribution conditions; this effect of performance attribution was greater among self-aware subjects than among non-self-aware subjects. (Author/MH)

A survey of 57 pharmacy school deans found less than half of the schools had honor codes, and revealed no clear consensus on definition of academic misconduct or solutions. The existing honor codes varied in structure and reflected a wide range of procedures. Respondents identified some shortcomings and strengths of their programs. Seven colleges…

A federal appeals court upheld the authority of the University of Michigan to revoke a master's degree awarded to a student found to have fabricated a discovery on which his thesis was based. A degree can be revoked without a court proceeding or trial when allegations of fraud are involved. (MLW)

Presents statistics and research findings concerning student academic dishonesty and discuss useful processes and sanctions in adjudicating cases. Prevention strategies and ways to implement proactive campus initiatives are also presented. (Author/KW)

This article argues that, to be effective and ethical organizations, colleges and universities should develop and implement codes of conduct and staff training programs in business ethics and fraud prevention, which are most logically managed by the internal audit department of the institution. (MSE)