Academic dishonesty among health science school students.

Abstract

Academic dishonesty has become a serious problem at institutions of higher learning. What is the frequency of academic dishonesty and what factors affect the tendency of dishonesty among Turkish health science school students? This descriptive and cross-sectional study aims to evaluate academic dishonesty among university nursing, midwifery, and dietetic students. Participants and research context: The study sample consisted of 499 health science students in Turkey. The tendency toward academic dishonesty was investigated using the Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale. Ethical considerations: Institutional review board approved the study. Written permission was obtained from the researcher to use Turkish version of the Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale. Of all the students, 80.0% claimed to refer to Internet during homework preparation and 49.1% of students reported to cite the references at the end of article on some instances. Of the students, 56.1% claimed never to have cheated in the exams. It was found that academic dishonesty was partly low (1.80-2.59) in students. For students using a library while doing their homework, mean scores were significantly lower ( p < 0.05). There were also statistically significant difference between mean scores and student's year in school, student's perception of school success, and frequency of Internet use while doing homework ( p < 0.05). The tendency of academic dishonesty was lower among students who use Internet and library more frequently. These findings are consistent with previous studies. Measurements to take against academic dishonesty should be directed toward not only students but institutions and instructors as well.