Academic misconduct: results of faculty and undergraduate student surveys

Educators in health-related fields are particularly sensitive to academic misconduct because undergraduate students who falsify academic work in such fields can go on to endanger the health and well being of the very people they are meant to assist. This paper presents the results of a survey of 104 faculty and 314 undergraduate students regarding their experience with academic misconduct. Faculty and student definitions of misconduct are compared, the incidence of cheating within each category is reported, and the projected efficacy of methods for controlling misconduct are examined. Major findings include the following: faculty and students differed significantly in their definitions of 24 of the 36 described behaviors, 82% of the surveyed undergraduate students admitted to engaging in some form of academic misconduct during their college careers, few differences in cheating patterns were related to year in school (class) or gender, and faculty and students differed on the impact that changes in environment and procedure were expected to have on cheating.