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Do College Anti-Plagiarism/Cheating Policies Have Teeth in the Age of AI? Evidence from the United States

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  • Rajeev K. Goel
  • Michael A. Nelson

Abstract

The advent of the internet, and more recently of artificial intelligence (AI), has challenged academic and other institutions to ensure ethical practices and reward/promote true merit. The borderless and relatively anonymous nature of the internet creates policing challenges, leading to the abuse of established rules and standards. In the context of academia, this impacts the size and scope of resources to facilitate/check plagiarism and cheating, both from the demand and supply sides. Adding some formal insights into the current topic of fundamental importance to maintaining academic integrity, this paper examines the association of anti-plagiarism/anti-cheating policies with resources that facilitate such behavior (legal or otherwise). Using unique internet search indices of the policies and resources, we find that the two are positively associated – the associated resources ratchet up with the policies. This association is robust to different modeling formulations, including when the internet policies include course syllabi. The findings reinforce the view that policies to check plagiarism and cheating are likely to lack teeth and may be a step behind the resources that facilitate unethical behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajeev K. Goel & Michael A. Nelson, 2023. "Do College Anti-Plagiarism/Cheating Policies Have Teeth in the Age of AI? Evidence from the United States," CESifo Working Paper Series 10853, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10853
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. William L. Goffe & Kim Sosin, 2005. "Teaching with Technology: May You Live in Interesting Times," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 278-291, July.
    2. Alan Collins & Guy Judge & Neil Rickman, 2007. "On the economics of plagiarism," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 93-107, October.
    3. Kai Wang & Lin Lu & Junyi Fang & Yiwei Xing & Zelin Tong & Lei Wang, 2023. "The downside of artificial intelligence (AI) in green choices: How AI recommender systems decrease green consumption," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(6), pages 3346-3353, September.
    4. Goel, Rajeev K. & Nelson, Michael A. & Naretta, Michael A., 2012. "The internet as an indicator of corruption awareness," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 64-75.
    5. Rajeev Goel & Edward Hsieh & Michael Nelson & Rati Ram, 2006. "Demand elasticities for Internet services," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(9), pages 975-980.
    6. Edward Wei-Te Hsieh & Rajeev K. Goel, 2019. "Internet use and labor productivity growth: recent evidence from the U.S. and other OECD countries," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 195-210, December.
    7. Rajeev K. Goel & Edward W.T. Hsieh, 2002. "Internet Growth and Economic Theory," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 221-225, November.
    8. Rajeev Goel, 2015. "On the demand for smoking quitlines," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(1), pages 201-210, January.
    9. Rajeev K. Goel, 2019. "Identity theft in the internet age: Evidence from the U.S. states," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 169-175, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    AI; artificial intelligence; plagiarism; cheating; internet; universities; colleges; United States;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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