HomeAbstract of 10th-worldcteAcademic Cheating in University: A Scoping Review of Types, Determinants, and Psychological Mechanisms

Academic Cheating in University: A Scoping Review of Types, Determinants, and Psychological Mechanisms

  • Jul 21, 2026
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Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Teaching and Education

Year: 2026

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Academic Cheating in University: A Scoping Review of Types, Determinants, and Psychological Mechanisms

Dr. Galang Lufityanto, Wendy Wang, Stella Mao, Zhiyu Liu, and Yuqi Li

ABSTRACT:

Although academic cheating has long been a topic of scholarly interest, the emergence of external factors such as technological advancements and commercial services has given rise to new forms of misconduct, including AI-assisted and contract cheating. This scoping review synthesizes recent empirical literature on academic cheating among university students, focusing on three key dimensions: types of cheating behavior, underlying determinants, and psychological mechanisms. The review draws on peer-reviewed studies published between 2014 and 2025 and indexed in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Following PRISMA-guided procedures, 241 articles were included in the final synthesis from an initial pool of 13,199 screened records. Commonly identified types of cheating include unauthorized resource use, collusion, plagiarism, contract cheating, and data fabrication, although few studies systematically differentiate these behaviors. Determinants of cheating span multiple levels, including individual factors (e.g., self-regulation, personality traits), social influences (e.g., peer norms), situational conditions (e.g., opportunity, assessment design), and institutional context (e.g., honor codes, policy enforcement). Across studies, several psychological mechanisms emerge, including cognitive–intentional processes (e.g., the Theory of Planned Behavior), situational decision-making, moral disengagement, and trait-based predispositions. Overall, the evidence suggests that academic cheating is best understood as a multi-level phenomenon shaped by the interaction of internal dispositions and external contexts. This review highlights critical gaps in the consistent classification of cheating behaviors and calls for integrative frameworks to advance theory and research in academic integrity.

Keywords: Academic Cheating; University Students; Determinants; Psychology; Scoping Review