Academic misconduct and academic integrity are issues of importance to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Phraseologies and practices may conflate unintentional mistakes with attempts to gain illegitimate advantage, with some groups potentially at higher risk. HEIs across the United Kingdom (UK) responded to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI)…

This paper reports the key findings from two student surveys undertaken at our institution in the academic years 2020-21 and 2021-22. The research was based on the Bretag et al. (2018) student survey undertaken in various Australian universities. After discussions with both Bretag and Harper, we adapted the questions to our context -- a Russell…

This research aimed to identify patterns, intellectual structure, contributions, social interactions, gaps, and future research directions in the field of academic integrity (AI). A bibliometric analysis was conducted with 1406 publications covering the period 1966-2023. The results indicate that there has been significant growth in AI literature…

Contract cheating is a challenging problem facing higher and further education providers (HE and FE) worldwide. In the UK, contract cheating has been identified as a growing problem by the HEA and, more recently, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and the Department for Education. The high rate of contact cheating among students…

Cheating behaviors have been construed as a continuing and somewhat vexing issue for academic institutions as they increasingly conduct educational processes online and impose metrics on instructional evaluation. Research, development, and implementation initiatives on cheating detection have gained new dimensions in the advent of artificial…

The advent of remote learning and the over-representation of international students in contract cheating literature have contributed to the beliefs that a digital pathway to higher education necessitates academic malpractice, and that this phenomenon is more prevalent among non-native students. This study seeks to contribute to the existing…

Purpose: This purpose of this paper is to report on the development of an evidence-informed framework created to facilitate the formulation of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) academic integrity policy responses for English medium instruction (EMI) higher education, responding to both the bespoke challenges for the sector and…

Cheating has been a long-standing issue in university assessments. However, the release of ChatGPT and other free-to-use generative AI tools has provided a new and distinct method for cheating. Students can run many assessment questions through the tool and generate a superficially compelling answer, which may or may not be accurate. We ran a…

This article offers a conceptual analysis of collusion, the often overlooked relative of plagiarism in debates on academic integrity. Considered as an inherently social phenomenon, we present the results of a systematic effort to understand the anatomy of collusion. The term's meanings and associated governance practices are compared for contexts…

Purpose: The purpose of this report is to provide background information to develop deeper awareness about contract cheating in Canada and generate conversations about possible legislative approaches to address this growing problem. Methods: A qualitative legal analysis of legislation from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and US (17…

A substantial proportion of university students report committing plagiarism and related forms of misconduct. An academic integrity-focused approach to addressing plagiarism emphasises the promotion of positive values alongside education of staff and students about good, and bad, practice in writing, studying and assessment design. The concept was…

Contract cheating is currently a concern for universities and the higher education (HE) sector. It has been brought into the spotlight in recent years through the growth of online essay mills, where students can easily commission and purchase written assessment responses. This study contributes to the wider literature on academic integrity in HE…

Academic integrity issues, e.g. plagiarism, continue to plague higher education across the globe. Research has noted that the identification and tolerance of cheating behaviors varies dependent upon local culture. This quantitative, comparative study investigated the potential differences among actual rates of incidence of plagiarism among…

This chapter examines the responses of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to assessment-related challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden move to online teaching and assessments required institutions to re-think their approaches to current practices and provide alternative solutions almost overnight. Our survey aimed to gather…

Establishing a positive, proactive approach to issues such as plagiarism requires that students are equipped with the skills and experience to act with integrity, and that educators are fully aware of the attitudes and ability of students, particularly when they start university. This project used a questionnaire-based methodology to probe the…