{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T05:20:53Z","timestamp":1775712053337,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,24]],"date-time":"2015-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1443052800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.acm.org\/publications\/policies\/copyright_policy#Background"}],"funder":[{"name":"NSF","award":["DGE-114747"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DGE-114747"]}]},{"name":"Catalyst Center for Sustainable Development at Microsoft Research India"},{"name":"NDSEG Fellowship"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,12,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Many Internet services depend on the integrity of their users, even when these users have strong incentives to behave dishonestly. Drawing on experiments in two different online contexts, this study measures the prevalence of cheating and evaluates two different methods for deterring it. Our first experiment investigates cheating behavior in a pair of online exams spanning 632 students in India. Our second experiment examines dishonest behavior on Mechanical Turk through an online task with 2,378 total participants. Using direct measurements that are not dependent on self-reports, we detect significant rates of cheating in both environments. We confirm that honor codes--despite frequent use in massive open online courses (MOOCs)--lead to only a small and insignificant reduction in online cheating behaviors. To overcome these challenges, we propose a new intervention: a stern warning that spells out the potential consequences of cheating. We show that the warning leads to a significant (about twofold) reduction in cheating, consistent across experiments. We also characterize the demographic correlates of cheating on Mechanical Turk. Our findings advance the understanding of cheating in online environments, and suggest that replacing traditional honor codes with warnings could be a simple and effective way to deter cheating in online courses and online labor marketplaces.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/2810239","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,29]],"date-time":"2015-09-29T19:22:29Z","timestamp":1443554549000},"page":"1-23","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":72,"title":["Deterring Cheating in Online Environments"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Henry","family":"Corrigan-Gibbs","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA"}]},{"given":"Nakull","family":"Gupta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microsoft Research India, Bangalore, India"}]},{"given":"Curtis","family":"Northcutt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MIT EECS, Cambridge, MA USA"}]},{"given":"Edward","family":"Cutrell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microsoft Research India, Bangalore, India"}]},{"given":"William","family":"Thies","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microsoft Research India, Bangalore, India"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","volume-title":"Proceedings of the Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet on Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet Workshop. USENIX Association, 77--83","author":"Andreolini Mauro","year":"2005","unstructured":"Mauro Andreolini , Alessandro Bulgarelli , Michele Colajanni , and Francesca Mazzoni . 2005 . Honeyspam: Honeypots fighting spam at the source . In Proceedings of the Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet on Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet Workshop. USENIX Association, 77--83 . Mauro Andreolini, Alessandro Bulgarelli, Michele Colajanni, and Francesca Mazzoni. 2005. Honeyspam: Honeypots fighting spam at the source. In Proceedings of the Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet on Steps to Reducing Unwanted Traffic on the Internet Workshop. USENIX Association, 77--83."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/11856214_9"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/pan\/mpr057"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","first-page":"835","article-title":"Actions do speak louder than words: Deterring plagiarism with the use of plagiarism-detection software. Political Sci","volume":"34","author":"Braumoeller Bear F.","year":"2001","unstructured":"Bear F. Braumoeller and Brian J. Gaines . 2001 . Actions do speak louder than words: Deterring plagiarism with the use of plagiarism-detection software. Political Sci . Politics 34 , 04, 835 -- 839 . Bear F. Braumoeller and Brian J. Gaines. 2001. Actions do speak louder than words: Deterring plagiarism with the use of plagiarism-detection software. Political Sci. Politics 34, 04, 835--839.","journal-title":"Politics"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/001316446002000104"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2724660.2728663"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","volume-title":"Coursera Student Support Center: What is the Honor Code? Retrieved","year":"2014","unstructured":"2014. Coursera Student Support Center: What is the Honor Code? Retrieved 20 September 2014 from http:\/\/help.coursera.org\/customer\/portal\/articles\/1164381-what-is-the-h onor-code-. 2014. Coursera Student Support Center: What is the Honor Code? Retrieved 20 September 2014 from http:\/\/help.coursera.org\/customer\/portal\/articles\/1164381-what-is-the-h onor-code-."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","volume-title":"Scamming the e-mail scammers. New York Times (Jul","author":"Crampton Thomas","year":"2007","unstructured":"Thomas Crampton . 2007. Scamming the e-mail scammers. New York Times (Jul . 2007 ). Thomas Crampton. 2007. Scamming the e-mail scammers. New York Times (Jul. 2007)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","unstructured":"Djellel Eddine Difallah Gianluca Demartini and Philippe Cudr\u00e9-Mauroux. 2012. Mechanical cheat: Spamming schemes and adversarial techniques on crowdsourcing platforms. In CrowdSearch. 26--30.  Djellel Eddine Difallah Gianluca Demartini and Philippe Cudr\u00e9-Mauroux. 2012. Mechanical cheat: Spamming schemes and adversarial techniques on crowdsourcing platforms. In CrowdSearch. 26--30."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","volume-title":"Cartwright","author":"Dirmeyer Jennifer","year":"2012","unstructured":"Jennifer Dirmeyer and Alexander C . Cartwright . 2012 . Commentary : Honor codes work where honesty has already taken root. The Chronicle of Higher Education (Sep . 2012). Jennifer Dirmeyer and Alexander C. Cartwright. 2012. Commentary: Honor codes work where honesty has already taken root. The Chronicle of Higher Education (Sep. 2012)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1753326.1753688"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_1","volume-title":"edX Honor Code Pledge. Retrieved","author":"X","year":"2014","unstructured":"ed X 2014. edX Honor Code Pledge. Retrieved 20 September 2014 from https:\/\/www.edx.org\/edx-terms-service. edX 2014. edX Honor Code Pledge. Retrieved 20 September 2014 from https:\/\/www.edx.org\/edx-terms-service."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10791-011-9181-9"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","volume-title":"Oath or Affirmation to Testify Truthfully. Public Law 93-595, &sect;1, 88 Stat","author":"Evidence Federal Rules","year":"1934","unstructured":"Federal Rules of Evidence . 1975. Rule 603. Oath or Affirmation to Testify Truthfully. Public Law 93-595, &sect;1, 88 Stat . 1934 . (Jan. 1975). Federal Rules of Evidence. 1975. Rule 603. Oath or Affirmation to Testify Truthfully. Public Law 93-595, &sect;1, 88 Stat. 1934. (Jan. 1975)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jeea.12013"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jeea.12014"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2702123.2702443"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.obhdp.2011.03.001"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/bdm.1753"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2556325.2566247"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.20982\/tqmp.08.1.p023"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_22_1","first-page":"65","article-title":"A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure","volume":"6","author":"Holm Sture","year":"1979","unstructured":"Sture Holm . 1979 . A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure . Scandinavian J. Stat. 6 , 2, 65 -- 70 . Sture Holm. 1979. A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scandinavian J. Stat. 6, 2, 65--70.","journal-title":"Scandinavian J. Stat."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_23_1","volume-title":"Honor for Honor's Sake? The Chronicle of Higher Education (May","author":"Hoover Eric","year":"2002","unstructured":"Eric Hoover . 2002. Honor for Honor's Sake? The Chronicle of Higher Education (May 2002 ). Eric Hoover. 2002. Honor for Honor's Sake? The Chronicle of Higher Education (May 2002)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-011-9273-9"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.euroecorev.2012.08.001"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jeem.2012.05.004"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1357054.1357127"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2441776.2441923"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2675133.2675245"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_30_1","first-page":"179","article-title":"The impact of an honor code on cheating in online courses","volume":"7","author":"LoSchiavo Frank M.","year":"2011","unstructured":"Frank M. LoSchiavo and Mark A. Shatz . 2011 . The impact of an honor code on cheating in online courses . MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 7 , 2, 179 -- 184 . Frank M. LoSchiavo and Mark A. Shatz. 2011. The impact of an honor code on cheating in online courses. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching 7, 2, 179--184.","journal-title":"MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_31_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp048092"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_32_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/00986280902739768"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_33_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1509\/jmkr.45.6.633"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_34_1","first-page":"522","article-title":"Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences","volume":"64","author":"McCabe Donald L.","year":"1993","unstructured":"Donald L. McCabe and Linda Klebe Trevino . 1993 . Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences . J. Higher Educ. 64 , 5, 522 -- 538 . Donald L. McCabe and Linda Klebe Trevino. 1993. Academic dishonesty: Honor codes and other contextual influences. J. Higher Educ. 64, 5, 522--538.","journal-title":"J. Higher Educ."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_35_1","first-page":"211","article-title":"Academic integrity in honor code and non-honor code environments: A qualitative investigation","volume":"70","author":"McCabe Donald L.","year":"1999","unstructured":"Donald L. McCabe , Linda Klebe Trevino , and Kenneth D. Butterfield . 1999 . Academic integrity in honor code and non-honor code environments: A qualitative investigation . J. Higher Educ. 70 , 2, 211 -- 234 . Donald L. McCabe, Linda Klebe Trevino, and Kenneth D. Butterfield. 1999. Academic integrity in honor code and non-honor code environments: A qualitative investigation. J. Higher Educ. 70, 2, 211--234.","journal-title":"J. Higher Educ."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_36_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jesp.2009.02.004"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_37_1","volume-title":"Mechanical Turk Blog: Improving Quality with Qualifications\u2014Tips for API Requesters. Retrieved from: http:\/\/mechanicalturk.typepad.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/. (Aug","author":"Blog Mechanical Turk","year":"2012","unstructured":"Mechanical Turk Blog . 2012. Mechanical Turk Blog: Improving Quality with Qualifications\u2014Tips for API Requesters. Retrieved from: http:\/\/mechanicalturk.typepad.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/. (Aug . 2012 ). Mechanical Turk Blog. 2012. Mechanical Turk Blog: Improving Quality with Qualifications\u2014Tips for API Requesters. Retrieved from: http:\/\/mechanicalturk.typepad.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/. (Aug. 2012)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_38_1","unstructured":"David Oleson Alexander Sorokin Greg P. Laughlin Vaughn Hester John Le and Lukas Biewald. 2011. Programmatic gold: Targeted and scalable quality assurance in crowdsourcing. In Human Computation. 43--48.  David Oleson Alexander Sorokin Greg P. Laughlin Vaughn Hester John Le and Lukas Biewald. 2011. Programmatic gold: Targeted and scalable quality assurance in crowdsourcing. In Human Computation. 43--48."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_39_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0963721414531598"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_40_1","volume-title":"USENIX Security Symposium","volume":"173","author":"Provos Niels","year":"2004","unstructured":"Niels Provos . 2004 . A virtual honeypot framework . In USENIX Security Symposium , Vol. 173 . 1--14. Niels Provos. 2004. A virtual honeypot framework. In USENIX Security Symposium, Vol. 173. 1--14."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_41_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jeea.12016"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_42_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/096228029400300202"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_43_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.obhdp.2008.02.002"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_44_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joep.2014.10.002"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_45_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1753846.1753873"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_46_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797612443835"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_47_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0146167211398138"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_49_1","first-page":"617","article-title":"A license to deceive: Enforcing contractual myths despite consumer psychological realities","volume":"5","author":"Stark Debra Pogrund","year":"2009","unstructured":"Debra Pogrund Stark and Jessica M. Choplin . 2009 . A license to deceive: Enforcing contractual myths despite consumer psychological realities . New York Univ. J. Law Business 5 , 2, 617 -- 744 . Debra Pogrund Stark and Jessica M. Choplin. 2009. A license to deceive: Enforcing contractual myths despite consumer psychological realities. New York Univ. J. Law Business 5, 2, 617--744.","journal-title":"New York Univ. J. Law Business"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_50_1","unstructured":"Siddharth Suri Daniel G Goldstein and Winter A Mason. 2011. Honesty in an online labor market. In Human Computation. 61--66.  Siddharth Suri Daniel G Goldstein and Winter A Mason. 2011. Honesty in an online labor market. In Human Computation. 61--66."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_51_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jesp.2014.07.014"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_52_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9280.2008.02045.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_53_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/985692.985733"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_54_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1124772.1124782"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_55_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1753326.1753643"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_56_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/0956797609360754"}],"container-title":["ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/2810239","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1145\/2810239","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T05:48:32Z","timestamp":1750225712000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/2810239"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,24]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,12,14]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1145\/2810239"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/2810239","relation":{},"ISSN":["1073-0516","1557-7325"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1073-0516","type":"print"},{"value":"1557-7325","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,9,24]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2015-05-01","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2015-07-01","order":1,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2015-09-24","order":2,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}