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In this paper, we introduce Integrity Games (https://integgame.eu/) – a freely available, gamified online teaching tool on academic integrity. In addition, we present results from a randomized controlled experiment measuring the learning outcomes from playing Integrity Games. Integrity Games engages students in reflections on realistic and relevant academic integrity issues that lie in the grey zone between good practice and misconduct. Thereby, it aims to 1) motivate students to learn more about academic integrity, 2) increase their awareness of the grey-zone issues, and 3) increase their awareness of misconduct. To achieve these aims, the tool presents four gamified cases that lead students through an engaging narrative. The experiment to measure learning outcomes was conducted in three European countries, and included N = 257 participants from across natural science, social science and the humanities. We show that the participants enjoyed playing Integrity Games, and that it increased their sensitivity to grey-zone issues and misconduct. However, the increases identified were similar to those achieved by the participants in the control group reading a non-gamified text. We end by discussing the value of gamification in online academic integrity training in light of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies on academic integrity reveal high rates of plagiarism and cheating among students. We have developed an online teaching tool, Integrity Games (https://integgame.eu/), that uses serious games to teach academic integrity. In this paper, we test the impact of a soft intervention – a short quiz – that was added to the Integrity Games website to increase users' interest in learning about integrity. Based on general principles of behavioral science, our quiz highlighted the intricacy of integrity issues, generated social comparisons, and produced personalized advice. We expected that these interventions would create a need for knowledge and encourage participants to spend more time on the website. Methods: In a randomized controlled trial involving N = 405 students from Switzerland and France, half of the users had to take a short quiz before playing the serious games, while the other half could directly play the games. We measured how much time they spent playing the games, and, in a post-experimental survey, we measured their desire to learn about integrity issues and their understanding of integrity issues. Results: Contrary to our expectations, the quiz had a negative impact on time spent playing the serious games. Moreover, the quiz did not increase participants' desire to learn about integrity issues or their overall understanding of the topic. Conclusions: Our quiz did not have any measurable impact on curiosity or understanding of integrity issues, and may have had a negative impact on time spent on the Integrity games website. Our results highlight the difficulty of implementing behavioral insights in a real-world setting. Trial registration: The study was preregistered at https://osf.io/73xty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]