Academic Dishonesty and Student Cheating

Student studies outside on campus

Instructors can mitigate cheating in their courses by understanding the reasons students cheat and using course design that simultaneously addresses students’ reasons for cheating and limits opportunities to cheat.

A series of foundational studies on academic dishonesty conducted between 1963 and 2010 found high numbers of university students admitting cheating at least once in some form, with a large percentage also admitting to cheating on exams. However, these studies also recognized not all university students cheat, students cheat in “key” ways for similar reasons, and a minority of students identified as repeat cheaters. The presence of consistently enforced honor codes also mitigated student cheating (McCabe et al.; Lang).

This page provides a brief overview of the reasons students cheat, followed by some practical strategies for overall course design, mitigating academic dishonesty, plagiarism, improper collaboration, and cheating on tests.

For more information or help, please email the Office for Faculty Excellence or make an appointment with a consultant.

Dishonest Behavior Increases Under These Conditions

Students’ self-reported reasons for cheating mirror earlier studies and include the following:

  • performance pressure (from family, minimum GPA requirements, etc);
  • focus on grades;
  • “high stakes” exams or assignments, often defined by high point value;
  • judging course workload as too high;
  • having limited time to study;
  • being unprepared;
  • feeling “anonymous,” disconnected from course material, a class community, professor, or institution;
  • increased opportunities to cheat enabled by tech (improper use of online sources, so-called study or tutoring sites, or group apps allowing for cheating on assignments, during physical or online testing, lack of effective proctoring for online testing);
  • peer acceptance of cheating;
  • perception that academic dishonesty will go unpunished;
  • perception that cheating is a reasonable strategy rather than an ethical violation;
  • misunderstanding plagiarism or how to avoid plagiarism;
  • viewing improper collaboration or contract cheating as acceptable (use of group apps, collaboration, online searches, or “study” and “tutoring” sites for individual work).

(Inside Higher Ed/College Pulse Survey 2021)

Support Academic Integrity Through Clear Course Design

1. Establish clear expectations and a culture of integrity.
Emphasize Montclair's Academic Dishonesty Policy in your syllabus, assignments, and class discussions. Discuss what academic honesty means, why it matters, and how students can practice it. Clarify definitions of plagiarism, improper collaboration, collusion, and unauthorized use of AI, including examples students may not recognize, such as self-plagiarism or using group chats to share answers. Make expectations explicit and communicate that violations will be addressed.

2. Establish a conversation about the use of Artificial Intelligence. 

  • Make it clear through a course policy on AI and through continued class discussions what uses of Generative AI are permitted in your course and which uses are not. Revisit these expectations throughout the semester 
  • Teach your students how to cite Generative AI correctly.

3. Design courses that reduce pressure and opportunities to cheat.
Lower the stakes of individual assessments by increasing assessment opportunities and avoiding overreliance on a small number of high-value assignments. Consider complete/incomplete grading for some activities, recognize effort and participation, and establish yourself as someone who values both student success and academic honesty.

4. Scaffold assignments and emphasize process.
Break major assignments into multiple stages with interim deadlines, drafts, reflections, or checkpoints. Multi-step assignments make learning visible and reduce opportunities for misconduct.

5. Create authentic and personalized assessments.
Develop assignments that ask students to apply concepts to unique contexts, draw their own conclusions, reflect on personal experiences, or collect original data through interviews, observations, or other methodologies. Consider flipped classroom approaches that move content acquisition outside of class and focus class time on application and analysis.

6. Teach citation and information literacy explicitly.
Provide instruction on citation, paraphrasing, summarizing, and the rationale behind attribution. Consider low-stakes assignments early in the semester that allow students to practice these skills. Partner with the University Libraries and the Center for Writing Excellence to support research and information literacy.

7. Clarify expectations around collaboration.
For every assignment, specify what forms of collaboration are permitted, which resources students may use, and what constitutes unauthorized assistance. Address the use of tutoring, file-sharing, answer-sharing, contract cheating websites, and group messaging platforms such as GroupMe.

8. Use testing safeguards thoughtfully.
When appropriate, proctor in-person exams, require devices to be put away, and actively monitor the testing environment. Canvas tools can help reduce opportunities for misconduct by showing one question at a time, randomizing questions, and assigning different testing windows. Recognize, however, that browser lockdown technologies have significant limitations in environments where students have access to multiple devices.

9. Follow institutional processes.
 Instances of academic dishonesty can be reported using this form.

OFE session with Director of Student Conduct Christopher Trautman (Feb 2024)

More Information