How Common Is Commercial Contract Cheating in Higher Education and Is It Increasing? A Systematic Review

In short

Across 71 samples from 65 studies, a review reports that 3.52% of students on average said they had used contract cheating, rising to 15.7% since 2014, or about 31 million students worldwide.

What it looked at

A systematic review of 71 samples from 65 studies going back to 1978, covering 54514 participants. It asks how often students self-report having a third party, often paid, complete their assignments, whether this has changed over time, and how good the evidence is.

What it means for teaching

The review says self-reported contract cheating has risen in recent samples, but figures are probably under-reported, so treat them as rough.

Limits

Most samples used designs likely to under-report, such as convenience sampling, low response rates and no anonymity guarantees. The review notes the recent rise may reflect more self-reported cheating in general rather than contract cheating specifically.

Cited 344 times by other papers, as counted by OpenAlex in November 2026. A count measures attention, not quality.