Officially, most universities catch about one per cent of their students engaging in some form of academic misconduct.
Many administrators believe those cases only represent a small percentage of the total number of students attempting to cheat – and in many cases succeeding at it.
Several years ago, Julia Christensen Hughes co-authored a study which surveyed students at 11 post-secondary institutions across Canada.
What she found was that, depending on how the phrase “academic misconduct” was interpreted, anywhere from 10 to 40 per cent of students admitted to engaging in such activity.
Christensen Hughes is now dean of the College of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph.
While most U of G departments reported somewhere around one per cent of students taking part in academic misconduct in 2012/13 – the latest data available – the business school’s number was over two per cent.
Christensen Hughes considers that a positive reflection on the school.
“It means we’re working hard to bring attention to issues of academic misconduct,” she tells CTV News.
“I think we have a ways to go, but I’m pleased with the progress that we’re making.”
Of the 140 incidents brought forward that year, 106 related to group projects.
Emma Henry, an international development student at Guelph, says she’s never seen any significant academic misconduct herself, but knows it’s out there.
“Sometimes ideas get passed from person to person,” she says.
One method of cheating that’s being seen on an increasing basis, Christensen Hughes says, is the use of technology to gain an advantage while writing exams.
