Academic Cheating in Egyptian Universities: Is It All about Corporate Code of Ethics?

Academic cheating is one type of unethical academic behaviors or academic dishonesty. It is crucial as it affects the credibility and predictive accuracy in university admission criteria. Dealing with academic cheating requires identifying the main causes of the problem. This study aims to explore the impact of a written code of ethics in Egyptian academic institutions on cheating among undergraduate students. The study uses two cases of a private and a public academic institution. Both universities are located in Cairo. Findings indicate that the public academic institution tends to have an organizational culture that enhances ethical practices compared to the private institution. Academic cheating in both universities is influenced by a number of organizational factors including communication of ethical behavior, severity of punishment, the likelihood to be caught or reported, and influence of peer behavior. More concern for communication of ethical behavior is needed in private academic institutions to reduce the level of academic cheating among undergraduate students. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n7p58