International Students Reported for Academic Integrity Violations: Demographics, Retention, and Graduation

Abstract

How many international students are reported for academic integrity violations (AIV), what are their demographics, and how do AIV sanctions affect their retention and/or graduation? Descriptive statistical analyses showed that the number of internationals reported for AIVs at an American West Coast public university increased almost six-fold between academic years 2009–10 and 2013–14. However, that number represented less than 7.5% of these students’ total enrollment. Among reported ones, undergraduates outnumbered graduate students, males outnumbered females, Chinese outnumbered other nationalities, Economics majors outnumbered other majors, and the most common AIV was exam misconduct. More than half who were reported and suspended for AIVs graduated and/or were retained. These findings’ administrative, policy, and theoretical implications are discussed.

Academic Dishonesty and Academic Adjustment Among the Students at University Level: An Exploratory Study

“…However, more recent studies are not consistent and show divergent results. Although a recent study showed that the number of international students reported for academic integrity violations increased (Fass-Holmes, 2017), other studies found that the total cases of plagiarism raised over 7 years until 2016 but more severe cases of plagiarism dropped (Atkinson et al, 2016); a similar trend was highlighted by Curtis and Vardanega (2016) who talked about increased understanding and reduced occurrence of several forms of plagiarism.…”

Academic Honesty in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

“…Academic honesty issues are a growing concern, with mounting research showing that misconduct is widespread in many countries among both high school and university students (e.g., Barnhardt, 2016;Eaton et al, 2019;Fass-Holmes, 2017;Sureda-Negre et al, 2015;Winrow, 2015). Stephens and Wangaard (2013) referred to academic dishonesty as an epidemic, affecting nearly every student.…”

“…Stephens and Wangaard (2013) referred to academic dishonesty as an epidemic, affecting nearly every student. The proportion of students who undertake dishonest behavior-either intentionally or unintentionally (Barnhardt, 2016)-is potentially increasing (Fass-Holmes, 2017;Mohr et al, 2011;Strom & Strom, 2007). Unless a deep and lifelong understanding of the importance of academic integrity is developed, the increasing integration of technology in learning (Cranmer, 2006;International Baccalaureate Organisation [IBO], 2014; Jones et al, 2013), which allows simply copying and pasting without proper acknowledgment will exacerbate the problem (e.g., Sorgo et al, 2015).…”

International students’ knowledge and emotions related to academic integrity at Canadian postsecondary institutions

“…Finally, we acknowledge that restricting participation in our study to international students may be viewed as both a limitation and a strength. Many of the risk factors for engaging in cheating behaviours are similar for domestic and international students (Bretag et al 2018a ), but the consequences may have more serious long-term implications (e.g., retention and graduation) for international students (Fass-Holmes 2017 ). Therefore, the scope of our study was limited so that we could focus on learning more about a specific issue that students from abroad are confronted with when they study in Canada.…”

“…International students are overrepresented (by ratios of 3:1 or 2:1) in reports of academic misconduct, despite having comparable attitudes about (Bertram Gallant et al 2015;Bretag et al 2018b) and rates of self-reported cheating (Beasley 2016), and prevalence of actual incidence of academic misconduct (Martin et al 2011) as domestic students. Indeed, widespread cheating among international students is largely unsupported (Fass-Holmes 2017). Previous research findings suggest that several factors determine whether international students will face allegations of academic misconduct, including varied understandings of relevant polices, limited English language and academic writing skills (Atkinson et al 2016;Baird and Dooey 2014;Bretag et al 2018a;Brown et al 2018;Isbell et al 2018), strength of the student-teacher relationship (Bista 2011;Bretag et al 2018a;Christoph 2016), and ease of access to technological resources (Bista 2011).…”