In the past, the most common method of cheating was plagiarism or using a contract cheating service. These types of misconduct still exist, but currently the most common method of cheating is the use of generative AI. Sometimes students use AI to generate the complete assignment, other times they use it to create a list of references. The ease of access makes cheating using AI extremely tempting to students.

Contract cheating has long been a problem. This refers to students paying a company to complete assignments or even sit tests on their behalf. Social media is inundated with advertisements offering cheating services. They are sometimes advertised as academic support services, and often targeted at international students.

Back in 2015 a huge scandal broke around a website known as MyMaster which offered so called ghost writing services to university students. Students at numerous New South Wales universities were found to have cheated using the website. Having already completed your degree is no protection from a university investigation. Macquarie University (NSW, AU) revoked the degrees of 2 students and prevented 10 students from graduating [1]. The following year Deakin University (VIC, AU) expelled 13 Engineering students for contract cheating [2]. Cheating services continue to proliferate, and since many of the assignments are custom written, they aren’t picked up by plagiarism detection software.

In addition to being a breach of academic integrity, this also comes with other risks such as poor quality work or blackmail. Since the services frequently demand payment in advance, students have little comeback if the completed assignment is of poor quality. Similarly, contract cheating services may threaten to inform universities unless additional sums of money are paid. Even if the cheating service doesn’t know your real name, they can still send the university the assignment, which can then be matched to the student’s submission using plagiarism detection software.

Students cheat for a variety of reasons, including:

Not every student feels bad about cheating, for some, it is a simple economic decision. They weigh up the benefit of not having to spend time completing the work, and then compare that to the costs of buying the assignment along with the risk of getting caught. In reality, universities aren’t always successful at detecting cheating.

Universities use a variety of strategies to detect cheating. A selection of the more common ones is discussed below.

Some universities adopt a cynical head in the sand approach to cheating. Detecting cheating needs resources which cost money. Moreover, taking a tough line on cheating and excluding students can mean a loss of revenue. This is especially the case when it comes to the lucrative international student market which contributes a sizeable portion of university operating revenues. As a consequence, universities do the minimum while still trying to appear like they are making a credible effort.

Educational quality has often taken a backseat to financial considerations at universities. Another example of this is admitting students to university who are lacking the English language skills needed to succeed. This, in turn, becomes a contributing factor to academic misconduct because some students are simply unable to complete an assignment without some level of cheating. Eventually, some university departments become simple diploma mills.

Students realise that the education offered by a university is in some cases of limited value, but they are still expected to have a degree. Believing the whole education industry is a scam, they start to feel like they might as well outsource the work needed to get a degree.

Don’t share your assignment, or other work submitted for assessment, with anyone. Even if you ask the person not to copy, you have no control over what they might do with it or who else they might share it with. Also take steps to protect your work, don’t leave your computer unattended in an area where other students can access it. It’s not unknown for other students to sneakily make a copy of your assignment. Later, you may have to defend yourself at a hearing which, even if you eventually convince them of your innocence, is still a stressful process.

Check which tools your university allows you to use. Some popular tools, like Grammarly (a grammar checker), use AI algorithms and can result in your essay being flagged as generated by AI. If Grammarly is permitted, keep a history of your document to prove that the majority of the work was yours, and that you only used the tool to correct the grammar (as opposed to the whole essay being generated with AI).

Distinguishing between assignments produced through legitimate work and those produced by AI, contract cheating, or other methods, is becoming increasingly difficult. Universities are struggling with how to deal with this changing environment. As a result, there are significant false positives (someone is accused of cheating but is actually innocent) and false negatives (someone cheats but is not detected).

It may be the case that you end up being falsely accused. For this reason, it pays to keep a trail of evidence that any work produced is your own. This involves keeping copies of materials used in producing the assignment such as notes and drafts. Word processing software often has a history function that can be turned on to keep a complete record of edits to the document.

It’s a popular misconception that a hearing into academic misconduct is like a criminal case, and the university has to prove things beyond a reasonable doubt. This is not accurate. When you enrol at university you agree to the university’s own rules, which give them wide discretion as to the standard of evidence needed. It’s typically more like a civil case where a decision is made based on the balance of evidence.

Usually, the university student association can provide support if you are accused of academic misconduct. Sometimes students think the best policy is to deny everything even if they are guilty. In reality, admitting the offense can sometimes result in a less severe penalty. Students who are new to the university are more likely to be treated leniently, while students who have offended before, or are later in their studies, may face tougher punishments.

Unfortunately the GPT graduate is on the rise. These are students that have outsourced their coursework to AI at every stage of the educational process, and have now graduated with a fraction of the effort required from earlier generations.

Similarly, many current students are also making extensive use of AI in ways that their university doesn’t permit. The situation is evolving so rapidly that universities are struggling to adapt. Much use of AI is undetected by universities. They are also unsure about how to design courses and assessments to take into account the proliferation of AI.

Some changes such as more in-person exams and one-on-one discussions between staff and students about assignments would help. But given that universities also have serious financial issues, they are likely unwilling to make changes that cost too much money.

[1] “Macquarie University finds 36 students cheated online and revokes two degrees.” https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/may/28/macquarie-university-finds-36-students-cheated-online-and-revokes-two-degrees .

[2] “Deakin University students expelled from Geelong campus for ’contract cheating.’” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-18/deakin-university-expels-students-geelong-campus-for-cheating/7426342 .