Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?

This paper examined the role of honor codes and severity of punishment on the students’ perception of cheating seriousness in order to assess the effectiveness of institutional policies on preventing the academic misconduct. In order to further put into perspective the obtained results, two moderati...

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Main Authors: Jovana Janinovic, Sanja Pekovic, Rajka Djokovic, Dijana Vuckovic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2024-12-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241307430
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author Jovana Janinovic
Sanja Pekovic
Rajka Djokovic
Dijana Vuckovic
author_facet Jovana Janinovic
Sanja Pekovic
Rajka Djokovic
Dijana Vuckovic
author_sort Jovana Janinovic
collection DOAJ
description This paper examined the role of honor codes and severity of punishment on the students’ perception of cheating seriousness in order to assess the effectiveness of institutional policies on preventing the academic misconduct. In order to further put into perspective the obtained results, two moderating factors were included in the empirical analysis—students’ understanding and support of cheating policies. Empirical analysis of our survey including 486 students of University of Montenegro revealed that honor code has positive but mild effect on students’ perception of cheating seriousness while severity of punishment has no impact at all. In addition, understanding university’s cheating policies moderates positively the effect of both honor code and severity of punishment on cheating deterrence. Support of university’s cheating policies was found to amplify the positive relation between honor code and perceived cheating seriousness, but does not moderate the correlation between severity of punishment and students’ perceived cheating seriousness. Our results indicate that policy makers in the field should strive to enhance impact of honor codes and sanctions by consistently acknowledging, communicating, and involving students in design and implementation of institutional integrity policies.
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spelling doaj-art-8bbaddcbbfc448ac90f4b2228bdac6ee2025-08-20T02:36:39ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402024-12-011410.1177/21582440241307430Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?Jovana Janinovic0Sanja Pekovic1Rajka Djokovic2Dijana Vuckovic3 University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro University of Montenegro, Podgorica, MontenegroThis paper examined the role of honor codes and severity of punishment on the students’ perception of cheating seriousness in order to assess the effectiveness of institutional policies on preventing the academic misconduct. In order to further put into perspective the obtained results, two moderating factors were included in the empirical analysis—students’ understanding and support of cheating policies. Empirical analysis of our survey including 486 students of University of Montenegro revealed that honor code has positive but mild effect on students’ perception of cheating seriousness while severity of punishment has no impact at all. In addition, understanding university’s cheating policies moderates positively the effect of both honor code and severity of punishment on cheating deterrence. Support of university’s cheating policies was found to amplify the positive relation between honor code and perceived cheating seriousness, but does not moderate the correlation between severity of punishment and students’ perceived cheating seriousness. Our results indicate that policy makers in the field should strive to enhance impact of honor codes and sanctions by consistently acknowledging, communicating, and involving students in design and implementation of institutional integrity policies.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241307430
spellingShingle Jovana Janinovic
Sanja Pekovic
Rajka Djokovic
Dijana Vuckovic
Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?
SAGE Open
title Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?
title_full Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?
title_fullStr Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?
title_short Assessing the Effectiveness of Academic Integrity Institutional Policies: How Can Honor Code and Severe Punishments Deter Students’ Cheating—Moderating Approach?
title_sort assessing the effectiveness of academic integrity institutional policies how can honor code and severe punishments deter students cheating moderating approach
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241307430
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