Students’ Justifications for Academic Dishonesty: Call for Action

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether university students were engaged in any type of academic dishonesty as well as to look for their justifications for this likely lack of academic integrity. A sample of 500 students and lecturers from different faculties at The American University participated in this study. Findings suggest that although students did not report any severe form of cheating, they showed an inclination towards engaging in academic dishonesty. There was also a mismatch between students’ reports and their lecturers’ observations with respect to students’ amount of cheating.