Working Paper: NBER ID: w29755
Authors: Daniel L. Dench; Theodore J. Joyce
Abstract: The rapid increase in online instruction in higher education has heightened concerns about cheating. We use a randomized control design to test whether informing students that we can detect plagiarism reduces cheating. We further test whether informing students they have been caught cheating reduces subsequent cheating. We find informing students about our capability to detect plagiarism has little effect on cheating. Notifying students that they have been caught cheating and are on a watch list reduces subsequent cheating attempts by at least 65 percent depending on the class and sample. We test for peer effects but conclude we cannot credibly identify peer effects distinct from own-cheating propensities.
Keywords: cheating; plagiarism; higher education; field experiment; sanctions
JEL Codes: I23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Notifying students they have been caught cheating (A19) | Subsequent cheating attempts (Y50) |
| Informing students about the capability to detect plagiarism (A19) | Cheating behavior (K42) |