Strategies to Promote a Climate of Academic Integrity and Minimize Student Cheating and Plagiarism

Journal of Allied Health, Fall 2006 by Scanlan, Craig L

Student academic misconduct is a growing problem for colleges and universities, including those responsible for preparing health professionals. Although the implementation of honor codes has had a positive impact on this problem, further reduction in student cheating and plagiarism can be achieved only via a comprehensive strategy that promotes an institutional culture of academic integrity. Such a strategy must combine efforts both to deter and detect academic misconduct, along with fair but rigorous application of sanctions against such behaviors. Methods useful in preventing or deterring dishonest behaviors among students include early integrity training complemented with course-level reinforcement, faculty role-modeling, and the application of selected testing/assignment preventive strategies, including honor pledges and honesty declarations. Giving students more responsibility for oversight of academic integrity also may help address this problem and better promote the culture needed to uphold its principles. Successful enforcement requires that academic administration provide strong and visible support for upholding academic integrity standards, including the provision of a clear and fair process and the consistent application of appropriate sanctions against those whose conduct is found to violate these standards. J Allied Health 2006; 35:179-185.

STUDENT ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT is a growing problem in higher education. More than 80% of college students say cheating is necessary to get ahead.1 According to the Center for Academic Integrity, about 70% of all college students now admit to cheating.2 Moreover, current estimates are that serious cheating on state universities campuses has increased fivefold since the 1990s.2

The percentage of health professional students selfreporting academic misconduct ranges from 2% to nearly 60%,3'9 with the proportions dependent on both the reporting time frame and type of infraction. Given that substantially larger numbers of respondents typically report that they have witnessed or "heard about" misconduct by others, these figures likely underestimate the problem in health professions education.

In regard to the specific problem of plagiarism, Roig reported that more than one third of college students were engaging in this form of academic misconduct,10 and it has been observed that in some classes as many as one in six students plagiarized most or all of their research papers.11 Plagiarism is the most common type of academic misconduct reported by allied health students,9 and one in seven medical students indicate that they either have or would consider copying text from sources without attribution.8 Corroborating evidence from a recent controlled study found an average plagiarism rate of 19% in medical students' written essays based on source articles.12 Compounding this problem is the growth of Internet "cut and paste" plagiarism, which has increased by fourfold since 1999.2 Unfortunately, illicit support for students intent on using the Internet to plagiarize also has grown over recent years; there are now more than 250 Internet paper mills where students can purchase and download "research papers,"13 including thousands of health-related titles.

Disconcerting as these reports are, of even greater concern to both health professional educators and the public should be the association between academic dishonesty and similar misconduct in the workplace. First discerned in business education,14,15 this issue is now recognized as a potential problem in health professions education.9,16-18

Honor Codes and Their Limits

In response to this growing problem, many universities, colleges, and professional schools have developed student honor codes, usually accompanied by the academic policies and procedures needed for application and enforcement. Figure 1 provides an example: the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) School of Health Related Professions Faculty/Student Honor Code. Adapted from the Cadet Honor Code of the United States Military Academy-West Point,19 this code must be affirmed by all new students as a condition of matriculation. In addition, new matriculants are required to acknowledge receipt and awareness of the related school policies on academic integrity, as included in their student handbook.

Establishment of an honor code is an essential prerequisite for creating a climate of academic integrity and for decreasing student involvement in cheating and plagiarism. Indeed, the incidence of serious cheating at colleges with honor codes is typically 25%-50% less than that observed in institutions not having such codes in place.20

Nonetheless, many colleges and universities that have good honor code systems continue to experience a high incidence of academic misconduct. This is because students prone to dishonesty will continue to engage in these behaviors so long as the prevailing institutional norms fail to strongly affirm integrity and condemn misconduct.21 Further reduction in student cheating and plagiarism can only be achieved via systemic changes that promote an institutional culture of integrity.20-24 To that end, colleges and universities must implement comprehensive strategies that combine efforts both to deter and detect academic misconduct, along with fair but rigorous application of sanctions against such behaviors.