Academic Cheating

Cheating and Academic Discipline

Student cheating on college and university campuses includes taking credit for work completed by others, sharing answers on course assignments, failing to complete work on team projects, completing examinations for others, and plagiarizing term papers. Often referred to as academic dishonesty, student cheating is common on college campuses. Unfortunately, instances of cheating appear to be on the rise. Further, the advent of new technologies coupled with the electronic delivery of courses and programs (Internet-based programs) exacerbate the problem of academic dishonesty, particularly with regard to written assignments.

Students, faculty, and administrators indicate the need for action once students are found to have cheated. More specifically, students are troubled when cheating by peers is not addressed. At the same time, faculty members express concern about the lack of administrative support when they are addressing instances of cheating. In turn, administrators describe an increase in faculty indifference to cheating by students. In essence, all parties on campuses are aware of the need to address cheating, but there is disagreement regarding the assignment of responsibility and how to react.

Responses to cheating often result in disciplinary actions or academic sanctions. When instituting disciplinary sanctions, officials at institutions of higher education subject themselves to legal review. However, the courts have given considerable deference to postsecondary institutions that impose academic sanctions on students for academic dishonesty.

Academic Dishonesty

Broadly stated, academic dishonesty involves the use by individuals in academia of unethical means such as fraud or plagiarism to achieve success in educational and job performance. Academic dishonesty by students, the primary focus of this entry, includes their copying or stealing examinations, cheating on examinations, plagiarizing reports and term papers, buying term papers, using a variety of strategies for crib notes, and, more recently, using cell phones or Internet connections in order to pass exams. Student infringement on copyright and intellectual property rights is especially prevalent when individuals plagiarize term papers.

Examples of faculty dishonesty include falsifying data to gain research grants, plagiarizing materials in their published works, failing to reveal criminal records in employment interviews, exaggerating academic or work credentials, taking credit for articles that are ghostwritten by others, and fabricating or manipulating data to reach conclusions that are threatening to ethical research. Further, excessive absences by faculty members from assigned duties may be considered as dishonest (Beckham, 5-12).

Administrators in higher education may engage in academic dishonesty when they use their positions to award contracts in return for financial or other rewards, falsify academic records, and, in rare cases, allow students of prominent business or government officials or athletic prowess to acquire degrees without attending classes or completing degree requirements.

Historical Background

Academic dishonesty has been prevalent in varying degrees since the founding of higher institutions. Although institutions identify unethical behavior for faculty, student, and staff in policy handbooks, they also typically have different disciplinary and honor codes for students. Such codes have a long history in the Western tradition. Aristotle's works on politics and ethics influenced academic integrity in the Western tradition. In fact, Aristotle wrote that ethical ...