Contract Cheating in Higher Education

This edited volume—the first book devoted to the topic of contract cheating—brings together the perspectives of leading scholars presenting novel research. Contract cheating describes the outsourcing of students’ assessments to third parties such that the assignments or exams students submit are not their own work. While research in this area has grown over the past five years, the phenomenon has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Themes addressed in this book include the definition of contract cheating, its prevalence in higher education, and what motivates students to engage in it. Chapter authors also consider various interventions that can be used to address contract cheating’s threat to academic integrity in higher education including: assessment practice, education, detection strategies, policy design, and legal interventions.