Abstract The longitudinal research herein investigated whether academic misconduct is widespread among secondary school students who study online due to COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions. This study also scrutinized the extent to which rational choice theory is advantageous in exploring the academic misconduct as a phenomenon. Using questionnaire survey, the findings suggested that academic misconduct is moderately widespread among the secondary school students because the benefits of academic misconduct are high, whereas the certainty of detection and severity of the sanctions are relatively low.