Academic competition among undergraduates often propels students to take extra unethical measures to make the mark. Augustus Jordan's study that appeared in "Ethics & Behavior" reports that almost 11 percent of college students surveyed felt that cheating could be justified for the right reasons. Jordan also found that students who have high extrinsic motivation to pass a course, but are uninterested in putting forth the effort were more likely to cheat. In the Journal of Business Ethics article, "Why Do College Students Cheat," the most important motivating factor among cheaters was the desire to get ahead.
In a study of over 70,000 college students published in the "International Journal of Educational Integrity," Donald McCabe states as much as one in five students partake in some form of cheating on tests and examinations. His records show that 33 percent of undergraduates learned what was on a test from someone who had already taken it, 16 percent used a false excuse to delay taking the test, 11 percent copied from another student without their knowledge and 10 percent knowingly helped another student cheat.
Misunderstanding the honor code of the school and the definition of plagiarism are the most common reasons students misuse information on written assignments. Jordan reports that over 50 percent of all students could not clearly identify examples of plagiarism. McCabe found that 42 percent work with others when individual work was required, 38 percent paraphrase or copy written work without footnoting it, 36 percent do not footnote information gathered from the Internet and 24 percent get unpermitted help from someone on an assignment. Whether students intentionally steal information from someone else or unknowingly engage in plagiarism, it is clear that this form of academic dishonesty is a problem.
The non-stop development of modern technology continually makes new methods of cheating available to college students. According to articles in the "Washington Post" and "PC Mag," undergraduates still use the old standbys, like getting together with others to try to remember the test or writing answers inside of a hat. However, newer modes include using a cell phone to take a picture of the test when the instructor is not looking, downloading complete papers off the Internet, texting other students or accessing information on websites through their smartphones while testing. Dishonest students are constantly looking for new ways of cheating to stay a step ahead of their instructors.