This commentary paper examines the issue of contract cheating in higher education, drawing on research and current debate in the field of academic integrity. Media coverage of this issue has reflected significant concerns in the field about students’ use of custom academic writing services, along with sector and national calls for action that would lead to making such essay mills illegal. However, recent studies have revealed the complex nature of contract cheating, with a relatively low proportion of students engaging in outsourcing behaviours involving a third party. This paper focuses on how universities and colleges can respond to this emergent concern, and proposes that institutions extend and establish strategies to embed the values, principles and practices aligned to academic integrity. As part of this endeavour, five areas of consideration are offered for higher education institutions that relate to: determining academic integrity strategy; reviewing institutional policy; understanding students; re-visiting assessment practices; and implications for staff professional development.

中文翻译：

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学术诚信至关重要：解决合同欺诈的五个注意事项

这篇评论性论文借鉴了学术诚信领域的研究和当前的辩论，研究了高等教育中的合同欺诈问题。媒体对该问题的报道反映出该领域对学生使用定制学术写作服务的严重关注，以及行业和国家采取行动的呼吁，这些行为将导致此类杂文工厂成为非法。但是，最近的研究表明，合同作弊的复杂性，参与第三方外包行为的学生比例相对较低。本文着重于高校如何应对这种紧急关注，并建议机构扩展并建立策略，以嵌入与学术诚信相一致的价值观，原则和实践。作为这项工作的一部分，为高等教育机构提供了五个方面的考虑因素，这些方面涉及：确定学术诚信战略；审查机构政策；了解学生；重新访问评估实践；及其对员工专业发展的影响。