Academic dishonesty and perceptions of Pakistani students

Purpose - Academic dishonesty has been a matter of great concern in higher education for last few decades. The dishonest behavior of students at graduate and undergraduate level has become a severe issue for education and business sectors, especially when the students exercise same dishonest practices at their jobs. The present research aims to address this matter by investigating the perceptions of students towards academic dishonesty and exploring the security and penalties for dishonest acts of students. Design/methodology/approach - A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from 958 respondents studying at graduate and undergraduate levels in different Pakistani universities. Findings - It has been found that students involve in academic dishonest acts more frequently about which they believe to be less severe. Moreover, they also suggested lower or no penalties for the same dishonest acts which are perceived as less severe. Practical implications - The results provide a strong implication for academicians to develop the moralities and ethics in students so that institutions may provide ethically cultivated professionals to the business community. Originality/value - The research paper is pioneer in its nature to explore the academic dishonest acts of students and their perceptions regarding some of the dimensions of academic dishonest and integrity in Pakistani university students.