Cheating

Cheating is defined as an act of deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating characteristically is employed to create an unfair advantage, usually in one's own interest, and often at the expense of others. Cheating implies the breaking of rules. The term "cheating" is less applicable to the breaking of laws, as illegal activities are referred to by specific legal terminology such as fraud or corruption. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less, often used when referring to marital infidelity.

Education

A common venue for cheating is in education settings, where it takes a number of forms. Cheating on tests ( or other school based work) may include the sharing of information among test takers or the use of covert notes or crib sheets. Obtaining the questions or answers to a test ahead of time is another form of cheating. On essay assignments or term papers cheating often takes the form of plagiarism. Another phenomenon of contract cheating has been observed, where students have work completed on their behalf. Internet plagiarism is a growing concern. Some schools subscribe to services which help them detect this type of cheating. Most colleges have written policies defining and punishing plagiarism/those who use it. Some students feel that teachers cheat as well by assigning arbitrary marks for assignments and not returning them.

Cheating is considered immoral by most, and may face stiff punishment if discovered, although some faculty indicate they are reluctant to take action against suspected cheaters. In colleges guided by an honor code, cheating could result in expulsion. Academic honor codes appear to reduce cheating; nonetheless, it remains quite common among students.

A 2005 survey by the Center for Academic Integrity reported that 70% of American college students admitted to some cheating. Anecdotally, cheating at universities has become widespread and even college athletes such as Greg Newton have been exposed as cheaters. The survey indicated that cheating is also a problem in high schools, where 60% of students in public and parochial schools admitted to plagiarism. Instances occur where teachers and school administrators have been implicated in cheating on tests to improve their students' scores. Generally, an exaggerated emphasis on the significance of performance test scores triggers the motivation to cheat among some individuals.

Recently, software to statistically detect cheating on tests has been developed (http://integrity.castlerockresearch.com) which compares pairs of examinees in terms of their responses to test questions. Examinees with large numbers of similar correct and incorrect responses to questions are flagged as being suspicious.

Sport

Another venue where cheating remains common is in sport. While the rules of competition/games/sport are artificial and arbitrary, an implicit agreement exists among participants that they will play by the rules and eschew unfair measures to win. Cheaters violate the spirit and/or the letter of the rules of competition. A prevalent instance is the current epidemic of performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids and other forms of doping by athletes. Such tactics imply cheating even when not explicitly against the rules, as it gives both an unnatural and unfair advantage to the user.

Another example of cheating frequently seen in sport is the use of non-regulation (vis-a-vis the rules) equipment. Attempting to intentionally injure an opponent is an instance of poor sportsmanship that borders on cheating.