Prevalence of Different Types of Cheating in School and Academic Studies in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: The education system and society suffer huge costs because of cheating. It is important to address this phenomenon since the cheating person often transfers this inappropriate behavior into working environments after graduation. Moreover, the motivation to avoid cheating decreases in honest people. The present review investigated the prevalence of cheating on academic and school examinations and projects.Materials and Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, English electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched with no time and language limitation up to December ۲۰۲۰. Main keywords were (Cheating OR Plagiarism OR Dishonesty) AND (College OR student OR School OR Exam). Meta-analysis was carried out using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (CMA).Results: Six studies involving ۱۴۷۴ subjects were included in the study. The overall cheating frequency regardless of cheating type was ۶۸% (۹۵% CI: ۵۴-۷۹%; heterogeneity: I۲: ۹۶%), and ۸۷% (۹۵% CI: ۳۶- ۹۸%; heterogeneity: I۲: ۹۶%) of students had experienced cheating at least once during an examination, and ۶۴% (۹۵% CI: ۴۹-۷۶%; heterogeneity: I۲:۹۷%) during the academic period. Frequency of plagiarism in writing theses and essays was ۵۱% (۹۵% CI: ۹.۶- ۹۱%; heterogeneity: I۲: ۹۷ %:). According to one study, female students reported significantly lower acts of cheating than male students.Conclusion: The results show that the average of cheating in examinations, projects and dissertations is higher than average. Given the results, it is necessary to minimize the cheating behavior among students through the necessary training, creating stricter rules, imposing more penalties on offenders, and preventing competitive behaviors in the classroom.

Keywords:

Prevalence , cheating , School , academic , Iran , Systematic review