The law and the outlaw: is legal prohibition a viable solution to the contract cheating problem?

Abstract

Contract cheating happens when students commission someone else to do assessed work for them. While it is already illegal in 18 jurisdictions, others are considering making the provision of contract cheating services illegal. To date, legal approaches to addressing contract cheating have faced little scrutiny in the peer reviewed literature. This article outlines some challenges with the legal approach to combating contract cheating. To this end it examines a segment of the contract cheating market to determine if contractors operate in localities where contract cheating services have been made illegal. The results suggest that contractors operate in plain sight, offering services to and from localities where services are prohibited by law. On the basis of the current challenges with enforcement of legal rules, this article recommends some alternative strategies for addressing contract cheating.

Keywords:

• Contract cheating
• academic integrity
• social media
• Twitter
• legal approach

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alexander Amigud

Alexander Amigud is a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Social Processes. His research interests include: educational governance, ethical issues in technology, and academic integrity.

Phillip Dawson

Phillip Dawson is an associate professor and the Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University. His research interests include assessment, feedback and academic integrity.