Do college anti-plagiarism/cheating policies have teeth in the age of AI? Exploratory evidence from the Internet

Abstract

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has challenged academic institutions to ensure ethical practices and reward/promote merit. Adding formal insights into the importance of maintaining academic integrity, this paper examines the association of anti-plagiarism/anti-cheating policies with resources that facilitate such behavior. Using unique internet search indices of policies and resources, we find that the two are positively associated. This association is robust when internet policies are restricted to news searches, and include course syllabi. The findings reinforce the view that policies to check plagiarism/cheating likely lack teeth and maybe a step behind the resources that facilitate unethical behavior.