UK Perspectives of Academic Integrity

Thomas, Jane; Scott, Jon

doi:10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_22

Cited by 22 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…It presents a 'wicked' problem, in that it is "complex, involving multiple possible causes and internal dynamics that could not [be] assumed to be linear, and having very negative consequences for society if not addressed properly" (Peters, 2017, p. 385). Contract cheating is defined as "when a student submits work that has been completed for them by a third party, irrespective of the third party's relationship with the student, and whether they are paid or unpaid" (Harper et al, 2019(Harper et al, , p. 1857, and it has clear negative consequences for both the integrity of the institution and the quality of graduates that subsequently enter the workforce (Thomas & Scott, 2016). In extreme cases of graduate unpreparedness due to contract cheating, there is a clear public risk in fields such as medicine, engineering and teaching.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These challenges can be primarily due to the writing process (Cahusac de Caux et al, 2017;Huerta et al, 2017) or additional life pressures such as family and work commitments (Castelló et al, 2017;McAlpine et al, 2012). These demands occur alongside the increasing prevalence of online contract cheating websites that offer the provision of doctoral theses for a fee, which subsequently compromises the integrity of degrees awarded and the reputation of higher education institutions (Bretag et al, 2019;Dawson & Sutherland-Smith, 2019;Thomas & Scott, 2016). The persuasive language used by these websites is intentionally written to attract potential customers who are writing a thesis and these services direct their appeals to struggling doctoral students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Students Pay the Price: Doctoral Candidates are Targeted by Contract Cheating Websites

Kelly

Stevenson

2021

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: This paper analyses the textual features of contract cheating websites that offer thesis writing services for doctoral students and considers implications for practice. Background: Contract cheating is an increasing challenge for higher education institutions, governments and societies worldwide. However, relatively little is known about the prevalence of online thesis writing services and the ways in which these companies attract doctoral students as customers. Methodology: This study has a three-step textual analysis methodological approach: firstly, identifying contract cheating websites that target doctoral students; secondly, applying a top-down thematic approach to the literature to identify potential vulnerabilities; and, thirdly, using these themes in a textual analysis to interrogate the language used on these websites. Contribution: Much of the current research into contract cheating has focused on coursework students. This study builds on the small sub-field of scholarship that has investigated contract cheating in a research writing context, and in contradistinction to previous studies, analyses the persuasive language features used by online contract cheating websites in the context of commonly reported doctoral student challenges. This is a novel approach not yet explored in the literature. Findings: The analysis reveals that contract cheating websites include specific language to appeal to doctoral students’ vulnerabilities across four common themes: ‘balancing work and personal life’, ‘the complexity of doctoral academic writing’, ‘self-efficacy’ and ‘academic career progression’. Recommendations for Practitioners: The themes present in this study highlight the critical role thesis supervisors can play in supporting doctoral students’ thesis writing progression, as well as the value of peer learning groups in building self-efficacy. The limited research literature into contract cheating in a doctoral context also suggests a need for increased training and awareness-raising programs for supervisors, thesis examiners and new graduate students. Recommendation for Researchers: Future studies that further investigate the prevalence of these themes across a broader scope of websites and countries will provide greater insights into the extent to which these websites are a global threat to vulnerable doctoral students. Impact on Society: The paper provides a foundation for researchers and graduate schools to raise greater awareness of contract cheating amongst doctoral students and, in so doing, combats the reputational risks it can have on universities and the potential safety risks for the general public. Future Research: Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with doctoral students and supervisors that explore their awareness of contract cheating for thesis writing and their ability to identify research writing that has been completed by a third-party.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students Pay the Price: Doctoral Candidates are Targeted by Contract Cheating Websites

Kelly

Stevenson

2021

IJDS

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“…Others, while acknowledging that many students lack proper skills, also recognise that some students do cheat deliberately. Thomas and Scott (2016), for instance, suggest that academic integrity issues may appear along a spectrum, with ‘poor academic practice’ at one end and deliberate cheating at the other. From this point of view, it becomes difficult to use only positive terminology when discussing breaches of academic integrity, because some breaches really do qualify as willful misconduct.…”

Section: What Does Academic Integrity Mean?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Negative terms such as dishonesty and misconduct will be used to refer specifically to willful disregard for ethical behaviour, which, as I will demonstrate, does happen – though it is not necessarily the most prevalent academic integrity issue. Like Thomas and Scott (2016), I believe that breaches of academic integrity fall along a spectrum. However, there are points along the spectrum that need further clarification if an effective strategy to address academic integrity issues is to be achieved.…”

Section: What Does Academic Integrity Mean?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Academic integrity in public administration programmes: Practical reflections on prevention and response

Newman

2019

Teaching Public Administration

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Academic integrity matters are relevant to all areas of university teaching, but they are of particular importance to degree programmes whose graduates intend to work in the public service. While a large body of scholarship exists on academic integrity, very little has been written that specifically relates to students who intend to pursue careers in the public sector. This article is a reflection of the author’s experience as Academic Integrity Officer in the School of Social and Policy Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, between January 2016 and July 2017, during which time 92 cases of suspected breaches of academic integrity were reviewed and adjudicated. An analysis of the cases presented here suggests that universities can make more use of preventative strategies than they currently do, and that more emphasis should be placed on prevention and less on punishment as a response.

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Re-Defining Academic Integrity: Embracing Indigenous Truths

Pratt

Gladue

2022

Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts

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Despite historical and ongoing challenges, Canada has been making promising strides towards reconciliation prompted in large part by the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015). We honour our Indigenous Elders and Ancestors who have led social and educational movements that named and resisted the negative outcomes created and continued by a Canadian colonial history. The authors point to current institutional projects of decolonizing and Indigenizing the academy as holding the potential to re-define what academic integrity means. As a hopeful point of entry into how teaching and learning scholars might reconsider current conceptions of integrity, we see Indigenizing efforts across a number of Canadian universities as the basis from which to speak to a more inclusive and wholistic definition of academic integrity. The authors seek to problematize the current neoliberal and commercialized approaches to education where different forms of academic misconduct arise as inevitable outcomes. If education is viewed as the pursuit of truth, or more appropriately truths, then it is essential to nuance the scope of academic integrity to include Indigenous perspectives such as wholism and interconnectedness. In this chapter, we discuss these truths, challenging current conceptions, to propose a more inclusive definition of academic integrity by drawing upon Indigenous scholarship as well as dynamic forms of ancestral language to situate our work. In sum, sharing truths through the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives grounds the scholarly discussion in an equitable understanding of truth-telling as foundational to academic integrity.

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UK Perspectives of Academic Integrity

Cited by 22 publications

References 22 publications

Students Pay the Price: Doctoral Candidates are Targeted by Contract Cheating Websites

Students Pay the Price: Doctoral Candidates are Targeted by Contract Cheating Websites

Academic integrity in public administration programmes: Practical reflections on prevention and response

Re-Defining Academic Integrity: Embracing Indigenous Truths

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