Contract Cheating Research Articles

Why students do not engage in contract cheating: a closer look

Contract cheating – students outsourcing assignments to ghost-writers and submitting it as their own – is an issue facing tertiary education institutions globally. Approximately 3% to 11% of higher education students may engage on contract cheating. Understanding why nearly 90% of students do not engage in contract cheating is as important as understanding why other students do, as it can aid in the development of effective interventions and policies. This study addressed limitations in previous research and built upon a measure of Reasons for Not Contract Cheating (RNCC). In this study, 403 university students participated in an online survey consisting of a revised version of the Reasons for Not Contract Cheating measure (RNCC-R) and measures of psychological individual differences, such as the dark triad personality traits, self-control, and autonomy. Two higher-order factors and six sub-factors were identified in the RNCC-R, which included some similarities to the original RNCC. The findings from this study demonstrate the importance of psychological individual differences, such as satisfaction of the need for autonomy, grit (perseverance of effort), and Machiavellianism, in predicting the reasons why students do not engage in contract cheating. Consistent with previous research, this study provides support for the importance of students’ motivation for learning, and their perceived morals and norms, as reasons for not engaging in contract cheating. It additionally provides evidence of the importance of the academic environment, such as respect for academic staff, as a reason why students do not engage in contract cheating.

Mandated media innovation impacts on knowledge dissemination in workplace training

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper examines voluntary versus mandatory cloud-based training, generating recommendations to harmonise the complementarity of face-to-face and online media in future careers. Technological change was already accelerating when the COVID-19 pandemic response turbocharged transformations of knowledge dissemination in training, thus impacting learning and competency development for the future. The methodology applies comprehensive, structured literature review following PRISMA guidelines with development of a novel conceptual framework illuminating facets of knowledge dissemination. Exploring the context of workplace training and the future of careers with aid of NVivo it was found that altered social cues in cloud training are generating changes in learner attention span, engagement, and peer-to-peer interaction, potentially increasing contract cheating. It is hence recommended that stakeholders demarcate theoretical and practical learning outcomes to develop hybrid cloud media and face-to-face knowledge dissemination to accentuate professional accreditation requirements, engagement and etiquette in virtual spaces, and improve understanding of work-home balance.

Contract Cheating and Student Stress: Insights from a Canadian Community College.

This article presents results from a self-report survey of misconduct behaviours and the stress students (n = 916) experienced at one Canadian community college. Results showed that students engaged in a variety of contract cheating behaviours, and experienced a myriad of stressors both in and outside the college context, including traumatic life events. Those who engaged in commercial contract cheating and inappropriate sharing behaviours experienced significantly higher levels of stress. This result differed by type of stress suggesting that not all stress may lead to violation behaviour. Results also suggest that some students are exposed to more stress than others, which could put them at higher risk for engaging in contract cheating. Understanding contract cheating using the stress process framework draws our attention to how a student's location in the social institutions of work, family, and school, how their positions of advantage or disadvantage, and their involvement in social relationships may produce stress which we have found to be associated with contract cheating. Seeing stress in this way allows post-secondary institutions to address the structural conditions which lead to stress through the development of policy, procedure, and supports for students as they navigate academic integrity throughout their programs.

Who wrote this? Essay mills and assessment – Considerations regarding contract cheating and AI in higher education

The growing incidence of academic dishonesty (AD) involving students using commercial essay writing services (essay mills) or Artificial Intelligence (AI) risks the credibility of assessment approaches within higher education (HE) worldwide. Reflecting on experience from a UK business school, the article explores the potential for novel assessment design and feedback to reduce the prevalence of AD. Speculating on success and failure rates of students undertaking formal assessment, the article evaluates the broader ethical implications for universities in recruitment and learner support, particularly within contemporary discourses on international student attainment, mental health, and well-being.

Beyond open book versus closed book: a taxonomy of restrictions in online examinations

Educators set restrictions in examinations to enable them to assess learning outcomes under particular conditions. The open book versus closed book binary is an example of the sorts of restrictions examiners have traditionally set. In the late 2000s this was expanded to a trinary to include open web examinations. However, the current technology environment, particularly for online examinations, makes this trinary not particularly useful. The web now includes generative artificial intelligence tools, and contract cheating sites, both of which are capable of completing examination questions within the examination period. Closed book, open book and open web no longer offers enough clarity or specificity when communicating examination restrictions. This article proposes a new taxonomy of restrictions for examinations, with a particular focus on online examinations. The taxonomy consists of three dimensions: information, people and tools. The paper explores the possible settings for those dimensions. Five criteria are provided to help examination designers in selecting restrictions: the learning outcomes being assessed; the feasibility of restrictions; consequential validity; authenticity; and values. Taken together, this taxonomy and the criteria provide ways of thinking about restrictions in examinations that can prompt educators towards examination designs that are more valid and robust against cheating.

How to use academic and digital fingerprints to catch and eliminate contract cheating during online multiple-choice examinations: a case study

Over four semesters of a large introductory statistics course the authors found students were engaging in contract cheating on Chegg.com during multiple choice examinations. In this paper we describe our methodology for identifying, addressing and eventually eliminating cheating. We successfully identified 23 out of 25 students using a combination of unique academic and digital fingerprints, and identified students who used virtual private networks (VPNs) to protect their online identity. There were two forms of cheating – posting questions and waiting for responses from tutors, and looking for questions that had already been solved. We found that 165 questions from these examinations were posted by 10 different students, but that the most common form of cheating was searching for answers that had already been posted. This paper discusses these patterns of Chegg usage, the consequences of not catching cheating early on, and how students reacted to being caught. Also provided are R and Python code that readers may use to identify cheating students in their own courses.

Combating Contract Cheating

The National Teaching & Learning ForumVolume 32, Issue 2 p. 5-7 Speaking from Experience Combating Contract Cheating Siew Hoon Lim, Siew Hoon LimSearch for more papers by this authorZhulu Lin, Zhulu LinSearch for more papers by this author Siew Hoon Lim, Siew Hoon LimSearch for more papers by this authorZhulu Lin, Zhulu LinSearch for more papers by this author First published: 06 February 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/ntlf.30356Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume32, Issue2February 2023Pages 5-7 RelatedInformation

Towards an Holistic Framework to Mitigate and Detect Contract Cheating within an Academic Institute—A Proposal

There has been a growing number of contract cheating incidents recorded in Australia’s higher education system. Such activities create a significant threat to the validity and integrity of qualifications obtained by students. This paper introduces a conceptual framework to combat contract cheating by compiling the findings on domain analysis, institute-wide policy analysis, and by applying self-efficacy theories. The literature review on domain analysis lays out two state-of-the-art strategies to combat contract cheating: detect and mitigate the opportunities. Policy document analysis sheds some light on existing operating mechanisms for handling contract cheating cases and the gaps need to be addressed. The proposed framework has three tiers: Awareness, Monitoring and Evaluation. At the awareness level, students’ awareness concerning contract cheating is enhanced by several activities, and staff skills are strengthened by professional activities. At the monitoring level, student activities associated with assessments are recorded using a Pre-Designed Template (PDT) and are monitored by analysing the data in three databases; Monitoring database, Academic Integrity breach database, software analysis data. At the evaluation level, the institutional policies, procedures and services related to contract cheating are evaluated and revised on a regular basis, using feedback mechanisms. This holistic approach may discourage contract cheating by increasing the awareness among students, developing professional skills of staff and organising continuous course-wide student monitoring using various databases. Finally, the proposed approach fills the gaps in the existing system by utilising a systematic process to evaluate an institute’s policies, procedures and services.

From the History of Contract Cheating to the New Challenges of Artificial Intelligence: The Changing Landscape of Academic Integrity

We present the second issue of the fifth volume of the Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity (CPAI). This issue features the third invited historical article about contract cheating and three peer-reviewed articles that highlight two challenging issues within the field of academic integrity--mental health and artificial intelligence--and a study that explores the definition of academic misconduct, which is a persistent challenge in higher education.

Did Online Education Exacerbate Contract Cheating During COVID19 in China? Evidence From Sina Weibo

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the correlation between contract cheating and online education in China, which has become a major concern due to the extensive promotion of online education worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: Contract cheating, also known as academic ghostwriting, refers to the act of students outsourcing academic assignments to third parties, who complete the work on their behalf. With the development of online education, the incidence of contract cheating is rising progressively. Whilst numerous scholars have conducted extensive research on the causes, prevention, and handling of contract cheating, the issue persists and needs further localized understanding. Methodology: This study employs a mixed-methods approach. First, textual data on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform, is collected and analyzed using VOSviewer and NVivo12 software. Field observation methods are also utilized for theme analysis and sentiment analysis. Second, the theoretical framework of organizational theory is applied to explain the impact of different modes of online education implementation on contract cheating. Finally, based on the findings, possible solutions to mitigate contract cheating are proposed. Contribution: This study contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical framework to explain the relationship between online education and contract cheating in China. The study’s findings highlight the importance of the mode of online education implementation when addressing contract cheating. Findings: This study finds that online education does exacerbate contract cheating in China, and the extent of this phenomenon varies depending on the mode of online education implementation. This study also identifies the lack of academic integrity education and supervision as a major factor contributing to contract cheating. Recommendations for Practitioners: Reducing the costs of educational organizations in combating cheating through institutional arrangements, such as establishing effective channels of communication between teachers and schools and controlling teachers’ workload outside of their primary responsibilities, can help curb contract cheating. Recommendation for Researchers: Both history and reality have demonstrated that possible solutions cannot rely solely on new technologies or single institutional arrangements. Contract cheating is essentially an unethical means of competing for scarce resources, and as long as resources remain scarce, this phenomenon will persist. Impact on Society: As a social phenomenon, contract cheating cannot be completely eradicated through top-down policy enforcement. Future Research: The stringent enforcement against contract cheating also involves the education regulatory and judicial departments, and their relationship is worthy of future research.

Covid-19: A breeding ground for academic dishonesty

The initial response to the early stages of the lockdown precipitated by Covid-19 was for institutional legal education to shift to an online teaching and learning platform, which exposed many barriers to online teaching and learning within the socio-economic fabric of South Africa as well as the rise of academic dishonesty in online assessments. Three broad groups of academic dishonesty in assessments are highlighted. The first being test-cheating and collusion (referred to as “crowdsourcing”), in which two or more students work together to complete an assessment. The second takes the form of plagiarism which is advanced by the practice of “copying-and-pasting” in assessments. Finally, academic dishonesty can occur in the form of “contract cheating” where the assistance of third parties is solicited in completing an assessment. Although academic dishonesty is not something new, Covid-19 created the perfect breeding ground for academic misconduct in which not only the online teaching and learning environment was a situational temptation ready for exploitation but the pandemic itself impacted students’ day-to-day lives and academic success largely due to the socio-economic conditions in which students found themselves. The contribution considers potential responses to academic dishonesty and takes a moralist stance to addressing academic dishonesty by drawing on principles from Aristotelian value-based ethics. In doing so, it is found that a moralist stance is not necessarily out of step with the South African Qualification Authority’s learning outcomes for the Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) and that of the values and requirements for successful participation in the legal profession. In this, ethics is practiced and reinforced by past conduct, which is reflective of future conduct. Therefore, institutional legal education should respond decisively and effectively to academic dishonesty which may include applying traditional disciplinary actions but should be precipitated by a pervasive and integrative approach to ethics education within the curriculum, which includes general ethics (or value-based ethics), legal ethics (a sub-branch of general ethics and reflective of professional accountability) and finally also techno-ethics (which relates to the ethical conduct expected of students within an online environment). It is only by equipping students with the necessary competencies and ethical courage that they will have the moral fortitude to overcome the temptation of academic misconduct in one small individual victory at a time.

Quandaries of contract cheating in South African higher education institutions: The way forward

Quandaries of contract cheating in South African higher education institutions: The way forward

University students’ understanding of contract cheating: a qualitative case study in Kuwait

Contract cheating, or students outsourcing their assignments to be completed by others, has emerged as a significant threat to academic integrity in higher education institutions around the world. During the COVID-19, when traditional face-to-face instruction became unsustainable, the number of contract cheating students increased dramatically. Through focus group interviews, this study sought the perspectives of 25 students enrolled in first year writing in a private higher education institution in Kuwait during the pandemic in 2020–2021, on their attitudes towards contract cheating. MAXQDA 2020 was used to examine the data. The participants believe that the primary motivations for engaging in contract cheating are mainly the opportunities presented by online learning and the psychological and physical challenges they experienced during online learning. Those who did not cheat had some shared traits, such as a competitive spirit, confidence in their talents, and a strong desire to learn. Additionally, those with high moral values avoided cheating. To combat contract cheating, students believe that teaching and evaluation techniques should be drastically altered and that students should be educated about plagiarism, while institutions should impose tougher sanctions on repeat offenders.

Turn-it-out? Reframing the Academic Integrity Conversation in Online Legal Education

The challenge of academic integrity in online study is not a new phenomenon. For undergraduate law students, a finding of academic misconduct is especially serious, having ramifications for student eligibility to be admitted to legal practice. To date, higher education strategies to address plagiarism, contract cheating, and collusion have predominantly focused on detection methodology / technology via assessment. Reconceptualising the challenge of academic integrity in online learning requires an iterative understanding of the motivations of online learners, informed by the unique engagement challenges associated with adult online learning. Arguably, the ‘battle’ for integrity can never be won via increased detection and punitive measures; rather a focus on fostering student desire to act with integrity, by helping learners to connect academic integrity with their emerging professional identity is key. This connection must be supported by profession-facing teaching and assessment design, with facilitated learning relationships that build skills and confidence.

Unique data sets aid in detecting and proving contract cheating in numerical examination questions

Undergraduate first-year courses are often mandatory for students in a variety of majors and degrees. Many students view these core courses as of little interest and relevance, which is associated with lack of motivation for study and can lead to cheating. Contract cheating in text-based is difficult to detect and prove. Contract cheating in numerical-calculation-based assessments is even harder to detect and prove. This paper discusses how unique identifying information can be incorporated into numerical assessments and how unique data sets can be used to both detect and prove contract cheating. Finally, some measures to discourage contract cheating are discussed.

Contract Cheating and Ghostwriting among University Students in Health Specialties.

Contract cheating and ghostwriting are forms of misconduct that are unethical and a serious academic issue, especially among healthcare professionals, as they directly impact patient health. To date, research on this area in the Middle East has been limited. Therefore, we used a validated self-administered questionnaire to investigate the awareness, perceptions, and reasons for these behaviors among 682 students in health specialties at five universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The majority of the students (60.1%) were unaware of the terms "contract cheating" and "ghostwriting," and 69.5% had not received any prior training on integrity. However, having prior training had a positive effect on awareness levels, and respondents attending private universities were significantly more aware than those attending public universities. The factors that contributed to contract cheating behavior included poor time management, English language difficulties, and a lack of writing skills. These findings emphasize the need for integrity training at the national level to raise awareness.

Contract Cheating in Iran: An Overview of Key Issues and a Call to Action

In our descriptive exploratory qualitative study, we investigated the issue of contract cheating in Iranian higher education contexts. Through our analysis, we provide insights into measures taken in Iran to prevent contract cheating and mitigate its effects. Our study analyses secondary data including scholarly articles, published media, and the country’s current policies. Results showed that more empirical primary data from which to draw definitive conclusions is needed, and as such, developing an evidence-based body of knowledge about the prevalence and characteristics of contract cheating in Iran remains a persistent call to action. Our analysis of scholarly studies (n = 102) and grey literature sources (n = 195) showed an overarching lack of university accountability; students’ motives for engaging in contract cheating; and lack of appropriate legislation were enabling factors. We conclude that Iran lags behind other countries with regards to what is known about contract cheating and how to address it; as such, we conclude with a call to action for increased supports for education; policy and legislation; and scholarship.

The devil’s in the detail – counting unique and organic contract cheating sites targeting higher education students in the UAE as a call to delegitimize them

When considering a paradigm shift in higher education, it is imperative to focus on removing obstacles against maintaining integrity in academia. One such obstacle is contract cheating sites that have mushroomed disproportionately during the 18 months of emergency distance learning threatening graduate quality and university reputations (McKie, Essay mills targeting students as pandemic crisis shifts HE online, 2020). It was sharply brought to focus in 2015 due to a mass-scale scandal involving 16 universities and more than 1000 students leading to a subsequent law making such services illegal in Australia. Contract cheating is a mushrooming industry that is constantly targeting often unsuspecting students under the guise of legitimate help. Moreover, these services in turn began black mailing students after delivering services (Draper et al., Int J Educ Integr 17:13, 2021). It is therefore vital to explore the existence and number of such websites that target students in UAE, sometimes using university logos to show legitimacy to understand the extent of the problem. This is primarily because an accurate measure of the extent does not currently exist (Newton, Front Educ 3:67, 2018). Curtis et al. (Stud High Educ. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1972093, 2021) have reported on self-reported cases from students which can be varied and often under-reported. This study is an attempt at using Boolean search technique to count unique and organic websites that have manifested. Coded analysis was used to collate the websites and count the total number of searches. For a total of 34 unique and organic websites, 29 showed a z score higher than the mean value 2.94, at standard deviation of 1.89, positing that the probability of appearance of these 29 websites across different search engines, different browsers and across separate search keywords was significant. This demonstrates the aggressive nature of these sites and their considerable efforts to offer a service that is harmful and detrimental to the students and education sector. This study is a milestone towards developing a nation-wide understanding of contract cheating in the UAE. It is also positioned as a proposal for higher education sustainability in the nation to look to ban services that offer to write assignments for students with or without a fee as a top-down approach to tackling the issue.

The Causes and Prevention of Commercial Contract Cheating in the Era of Digital Education: A Systematic & Critical Review

The Causes and Prevention of Commercial Contract Cheating in the Era of Digital Education: A Systematic & Critical Review

Mobilizing Knowledge

We present the first issue of the fifth volume of the Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity (CPAI). This issue features the second invited historical article about contract cheating and presents the proceedings from the 2022 Academic Integrity Inter-Institutional Meeting (AIIIM).