Contract cheating: a new challenge for academic honesty?
Journal of Academic Ethics 10 (1):27-44 (2012)
Abstract
‘Contract cheating’ has recently emerged as a form of academic dishonesty. It involves students contracting out their coursework to writers in order to submit the purchased assignments as their own work, usually via the internet. This form of cheating involves epistemic and ethical problems that are continuous with older forms of cheating, but which it also casts in a new form. It is a concern to educators because it is very difficult to detect, because it is arguably more fraudulent than some other forms of plagiarism, and because it appears to be connected to a range of systemic problems within modern higher education. This paper provides an overview of the information and literature thus far available on the topic, including its definition, the problems it involves, its causal factors, and the ways in which educators might respond. We argue that while contract cheating is a concern, some of the suggested responses are themselves problematic, and that best practice responses to the issue should avoid moral panic and remain focussed on supporting honest students and good academic practiceAuthor's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s10805-012-9150-y
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Citations of this work
How Prevalent is Contract Cheating and to What Extent are Students Repeat Offenders?Joseph Clare & Guy Curtis - 2017 - Journal of Academic Ethics 15 (2):115-124.
Why Students Do Not Engage in Contract Cheating.Kiata Rundle, Guy J. Curtis & Joseph Clare - 2019 - Frontiers in Psychology 10.
How Prevalent is Contract Cheating and to What Extent are Students Repeat Offenders?Joseph Clare & Guy Curtis - 2017 - Journal of Academic Ethics 15 (2):115-124.
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References found in this work
Academic plagiarism: Explanatory factors from students' perspective. [REVIEW]Jaume Sureda-Negre - 2010 - Journal of Academic Ethics 8 (3):217-232.
How do high school students justify internet plagiarism?Dominic A. Sisti - 2007 - Ethics and Behavior 17 (3):215 – 231.
Systems for the production of plagiarists? The implications arising from the use of plagiarism detection systems in UK universities for asian learners.Niall Hayes & Lucas Introna - 2005 - Journal of Academic Ethics 3 (1):55-73.
“Does Plagiarism Mean anything? LOL.” Students’ Conceptions of Writing and Citing.Erika Löfström - 2011 - Journal of Academic Ethics 9 (4):257-275.
Technology and academic virtue: Student plagiarism through the looking glass. [REVIEW]Cynthia Townley & Mitch Parsell - 2004 - Ethics and Information Technology 6 (4):271-277.