City Research Online

Abstract

The increasing reliance on artificial intelligence tools has increased pressure on academic standards, making breaches of academic integrity a clear threat to research quality and scholarship. By using a quantitative survey, this study investigated and compared beliefs, motivations, and behaviors of students from both public and private universities regarding academic dishonesty. The participants were postgraduate students enrolled in six universities, including three public and three private institutions in Punjab, Pakistan. The study found that a lack of instructor guidance on plagiarism, a desire to improve grades, and a fear of failure are significant factors contributing to academic misconduct. Students’ behavior, including copying from sources without proper citation and copying from peers, is a common occurrence. Furthermore, the findings suggested that curriculum-embedded integrity education, active supervisory guidance, fostering healthy student-teacher relationships and strong anti-plagiarism policies can build a culture of academic integrity in universities. The research provides evidence-based strategies to promote integrity and reduce misconduct in higher education. It offers a localized perspective on a phenomenon that is rarely explored within the Pakistani higher education landscape.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10805-025-09697-x.
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education L Education > LG Individual institutions (Asia. Africa)
Departments:	Bayes Business School
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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