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Students who cheat in exams could now face fines of up to AED200,000.

With exams just around the corner, students from Bournemouth University talk about what academic integrity means to them, how using it means they get better marks, how to avoid committing an academic offence and where to get help when they need it.

The video raises concerns about the use of the code of ethics for teachers, as this year 269 cases of sexual harassment have been registered in schools, as well as hundreds of disputes between teachers and parents of pupils. It suggests that relying solely on a code of ethics may not be sufficient, emphasizing the need for a cultural reform within the public education system. This reform should include the involvement of psychologists and counselors, in collaboration with various educational sectors, to address these issues effectively.

In the Dominican Republic, the Minister of Education has introduced a code of ethics to improve relationship between students and teachers and school employees.  The aim is for this relationship to be strictly academic and of formative service, and to prohibit any kind of treatment that does not contribute to the integral development of students. The code states for example that the use of social networks and other technological tools for non-academic purposes will be prohibited for school staff in their interaction with students.

A recently published survey study of PhD students in Denmark reveals that an ethically questionable culture for assigning authorships to research papers is widespread within the medical and natural sciences across Europe. 49% of the PhD students in medical sciences had granted guest authorship to a person in power while 42% were in the natural and technical sciences.

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.