In the media

The new Globethics.net University Ranking (GUR) will provide a unique global ranking instrument that places values, ethics, and sustainability as central principles of higher education institutions worldwide. It encompasses a new higher education framework to assess student learning experience, and key stakeholders on integrity, values-driven leadership, and sustainability commitment. Universidad de Santiago, a private institution in Cape Verde, received the highest overall score and gained the best marks for student sustainability and integrity.

A recent study made some alarming findings on the extent of plagiarism and other forms of unethical academic behaviour at Moroccan tertiary education institutions. About half of the respondents admitted to having plagiarised text; however, the study confirms that plagiarism is not always intentional, particularly among scholars whose native language is not English. One way to reduce plagiarism is to provide training on research integrity as well as on business ethics.

A study by a professor of cyber ethics and academic integrity at the University of Wollongong in Dubai identified 34 rogue businesses promoting online contract cheating services. There has been nearly a 200% increase through a site which students regularly use to get help, often with exam-style questions being posted with a request by the student to get the answers back quickly. The price would range from $40 (Dh150) for an exam question to thousands of dollars for a 10,000-word report.

There have been reports of students in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Kharagpur, and IIT-Ropar using WhatsApp groups to share solutions to questions, and using breaks to call their peers during the examinations. A professor reports that 95% of students cheat. To prevent it, the Ministry of Education has established a committee to develop a common protocol for online internal examinations, and universities are considering the introduction of a code of honour.

In the three months before March 15, the company ProctorU, which monitors tests remotely, confirmed cheating in 2,547 cases. In the three months after, when the pandemic triggered campuses across the US to move online, ProctorU verified 57,597 cheating incidents. Ethicists say that students Googling answers on tests have an unfair advantage over students who do not. This same behaviour by medical students or apprentice pilots has consequences that are even more serious, as it places others in jeopardy.

The Josephson Institute, which conducts a survey of high school students every two years, reports that while 50% of students admit cheating, 93% are "satisfied with their own ethics and character". A professor at Rutgers University also suggests that half of their students cheat at least once a year. To demonstrate a united global front against cheating, Member institutions from the International Centre for Academic Integrity participate in the 5th annual Day of Action Against Contractual Cheating.

The 2017 Kessler International survey highlighted that “79% of students admitted to plagiarizing their assignments from the internet, 42% purchased custom papers online, and 28% said they had a service take their online classes for them.” An expert on integrity and ethics in education argues that minimizing cheating during remote education requires effective communication and instruction, and that classwork and assessments should focus on mastery rather than performance.

The new Federal government-funded Education Integrity Unit will monitor academic misconduct at Australian Universities. Researchers report that between 6 and 10 per cent of students have cheated during their studies. The new academic Unit will address “emerging threats” to academic and research integrity, admission standards and information, student safety, foreign interference, cybersecurity, fraud, and corruption.

A significant number of NUS students taking an online exam had allegedly shared their answers and plagiarized one another's work. To preserve the integrity of online assessments, the University has put in place measures such as online procuring, where students are monitored via a webcam. As a result of their academic misconduct they have received zero marks for the exam, they have been barred from exercising the satisfactory/unsatisfactory option for the module.

Boston University is investigating cheating after chemistry and physics students used the Chegg tutoring service to ask questions and get answers to online quizzes and exams. The university expects students to continue to behave ethically through remote learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.