Cheating in online courses: Evidence from online proctoring

In short

When two online courses added webcam proctoring while keeping the same structure, content and assessments, average exam scores fell, the authors report, and they read the drop as evidence of earlier cheating.

What it looked at

Exam scores from two online courses before and after webcam recording software was introduced for high-stakes exams. The courses kept the same structure, content and assessments. A quasi-experiment, analysed with regression that allowed for other factors and student characteristics.

What it means for teaching

Offers a before-and-after comparison of exam scores, though lower scores alone do not show who cheated or how.

Limits

Reading the score drop as earlier cheating is the authors' interpretation, since the design compares scores before and after rather than observing cheating. It covers only two courses.

Cited 301 times by other papers, as counted by OpenAlex in November 2026. A count measures attention, not quality.