Dishonest academic behavior (DAB) by students in Chinese higher education institutions has become a significant concern. However, the related study of academic dishonesty in mainland China is very limited. This study fills this gap by examining the theory of planned behavior and its three extended versions, validating the effectiveness of predicting DAB among Chinese undergraduates, and testing 11 developed hypotheses. This study uses a quantitative research design, and responses are collected online from 525 undergraduate students from five disciplines in the second to fourth year at a public university in China. The results reveal the proposed models have good fitting indices and support 10 hypothetical relationships. These relationships demonstrate that attitudes, norms and control beliefs significantly impact intentions and justifications. Meanwhile, behavioral control, intentions, and justifications significantly influence DAB. Notably, this study found a direct and significant effect of MO on justifications. Therein, Model four best explains the variance in DAB and provides practical support for the expanded TPB models’ application in China.