With a Little Help from the Crowd: Receiving Unauthorized Academic Assistance through Online Labor Markets

Abstract

Although a vast majority of crowd sourcing tasks are for ethical purposes, the anonymity and global reach of online labor markets also create a clearinghouse for unethical crowd sourcing tasks. Recent studies show a majority of students have engaged in academic dishonesty using the Internet, and a growing number find this behavior is acceptable. We conduct a study to see if crowd workers will provide solutions to exams and homework assignments, and knowingly permit these solutions to be used for this purpose. For those who don't agree, we examine if additional financial incentives can entice them. Our findings indicate most crowd workers are willing to permit the use of their work, however, for those that are unwilling, additional financial incentives have little effect on altering their decision.