New Research Reveals Motivators for Faculty to Report Academic Dishonesty

Strategic Insights -

Faculty members are often hesitant to report academic dishonesty in higher education institutions, but a recent study has identified key motivators that can encourage them to do so. The research, conducted by a team from American Public University System, found that factors such as having clear procedures in place for handling cases of academic dishonesty, knowing that students will be held accountable, and having access to better employment benefits can increase a faculty member's likelihood of reporting suspected academic misconduct. By understanding these motivators, institutions can take steps to improve faculty-student relationships and enhance workplace psychological safety.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study found that two motivational factors, availability of confrontation guidelines and knowing students will be held accountable, were positively statistically significant in increasing faculty members' likelihood to report academic dishonesty.
  • The ordinal logistic regression results showed that seven of the 15 motivational factors positively influenced faculty members' role execution.
  • The most influential motivators were clearer procedures in place for handling cases of academic dishonesty, knowing students will receive constructive intervention measures, clearer academic dishonesty policy, more administrative time to handle academic dishonesty, knowing the institution supports the faculty member's judgment, increased pay, and access to/better employment benefits.

Statistics:

  • The study administered a cross-sectional survey to 351 faculty members at a private, non-profit higher education institution.
  • Kendall's Tau b correlation was used to analyze the relationships between 15 motivators and faculty members' likelihood to report.
  • The study found that seven of the 15 motivational factors positively influenced faculty members' likelihood to report.

Sources:

  • The relationship between higher education faculty's motivation to report suspected academic dishonesty and likelihood to report. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 2025, 21(1):1-19. (International Journal for Educational Integrity - https://edintegrity.biomedcentral.com/).
  • The publisher for International Journal for Educational Integrity is BMC. A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi-org.sdpl.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s40979-025-00200-y.