Academic Integrity in Assessment

To foster academic integrity, pair anti-plagiarism tools with clear conduct expectations and authentic low-stakes assessments. When designing and teaching online courses, maintaining academic integrity is frequently top of mind. In many cases, faculty may opt to adopt third-party tools to monitor student work. Despite the prevalence of academic monitoring software in online courses, the most powerful tools for promoting academic integrity are introduced much earlier in the course-build process.

Both scholars and students identify unrealistic workloads and pressure to succeed as motivators for academic dishonesty (DiPietro, 2010; Ezarik, 2021). Scholars also note that definitions of acceptable academic conduct shift between disciplines and cultures, making academic integrity more difficult to define and uphold than many educators anticipate. To mitigate these factors, instructors should implement strategies for promoting academic integrity during course design, before assignments are fully conceptualized.

Thoughtful course design, informed by the factors that motivate academic misconduct, lays a foundation for academic integrity. Faculty should consider the following best practices as they outline and begin to build their courses:

Clarify expectations: Educational research suggests that honor codes are more effective than situational factors at reducing cheating, although “pure” honor codes (those which utilize unproctored exams and rely primarily on students to report and review academic integrity violations) are rarely implemented (DiPietro, 2010). Plagiarism is not always intentional and is exacerbated by confusing or opaque definitions of academic integrity, which can make students see integrity as unimportant or unenforceable. To harness the positive impact of honor codes in online courses, communicate your expectations for academic conduct in your course materials and design.

Design authentically: The same techniques instructional designers use to increase student learning reduce student cheating (Lang, 2013). Create assessments that are unique and authentic, and consider incorporating open-ended and/or critical thinking questions rather than sticking to fact-based questions in exams. Even multiple-choice questions can approximate authentic tasks for professionals in the field (e.g., providing a short scenario about a client and using various options as possible answers that are better or worse responses to that scenario). Answers to this type of question are harder to copy from other sources and encourage students to see your assessment as an opportunity to practice and develop their skills rather than an obstacle to a high grade in your course.

Develop formative assessments: Replacing infrequent high-stakes assessments with frequent low-stakes assessments further reduces misconduct; per Lang (2013), big tests induce temptations to cheat because the opportunities for recovery from mistakes are so minimal. This doesn’t mean that cumulative projects are out of the question. Incorporate large projects by dividing them into multiple assignments or having students submit sections or drafts of their work. Research also suggests that student familiarity with exam format can impact success. To reduce stress, consider giving students the opportunity to practice not just the content but the question and activity types you use for summative assessments (Rudolph et al., 2019).

Acknowledge subjectivity: Consider bringing up questions about studying and citations in a metacognitive discussion board about the process of completing coursework (Chick, 2013). A discussion can be a safe space for students to ask questions and share examples of proper citations and strategies for research and exam preparation. By creating such a forum, you empower students to help and receive help from each other, establishing a community of support.

Only once preliminary investments in academic integrity have been made can anti-plagiarism software live up to its potential. Most anti-plagiarism tools compare submitted texts to internet sources and previously submitted papers. Thoughtfully preparing for the use of such software and incorporating it into course design can maximize its effectiveness as a plagiarism prevention technique. This reinforces that integrity is a practice and not a single action. Find below our recommendations for using plagiarism detection software to promote academic integrity online.

Reinforce messaging: Enabling a plagiarism tool for an assignment often requires students to check a box alleging that the work submitted is their own ("Submitting to an Assignment," n.d.). This checkbox can serve as a reminder of codes of conduct you previously established in the course.

Encourage student participation: Many anti-plagiarism tools offer the option to show students their scores and reports, giving them useful information about how plagiarism is defined and detected and allowing them to check their own work. Consider enabling this setting and encouraging students to view their own results in an announcement as students are turning in their first assignments.

Note: For students to get the most out of these reports, you may need to adjust default settings to reflect your assignment and course goals. For example, many tools offer the instructor the ability to adjust the number of words in sequence that they wish to be factored into the similarity score if found to be similar to other texts. If students are writing about a work with a 10-word title, you will likely want to decrease the sensitivity of the plagiarism checker to only flag similar text segments that are greater than 10 words. This way, student similarity scores will not be negatively impacted by using the work’s title.

Critically evaluate results: Similarity scores can be misleading. Hiding unique but unrelated text in white type or behind photos can artificially reduce a similarity score; putting the essay prompt at the top of the page or using a block quotation can inadvertently increase it. Most plagiarism checkers provide reports that highlight the parts of the paper that replicate material from other sources and reveal where that material was found. For a fuller picture of similarity, instructors should consider this context.

Bista, K. (2011). Academic dishonesty among international students in higher education. To Improve the Academy: Resources for faculty, instructional, and organizational development, 30(1), 159–172.

Chick, N. (2013). Metacognition. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.

DiPietro, M. (2010). Theoretical frameworks for academic dishonesty: A comparative review. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, 28(1), 250–262.

Ezarik, M. (2021, December 14). Student ideas for academic integrity. Inside Higher Ed.

Lang, J. M. (2013, July 8). Cheating lessons, part 2. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Rudolph, M. J., Daugherty, K. K., Ray, M. E., Shuford, V. P., Lebovitz, L., & DiVall, M. V. (2019). Best practices related to examination item construction and post-hoc review. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 83(7), 1492–1503.

Sowell, J. (2018). Beyond the plagiarism checker: Helping nonnative English speakers (NNESs) avoid plagiarism. English Teaching Forum, 56(2), 2–15.

Turnitin. (n.d.). Submitting to an Assignment (n.d.).