Abstract The topics of equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, and Indigenization have been neglected in academic and research integrity. In this article, I offer examples of how these issues are being addressed and argue that academic integrity networks and organizations ought to develop intentional strategies for equity, diversity and inclusion, and decolonization in terms of leadership, scholarship, and professional opportunities. I point out that existing systems perpetuate the conditions that allow for overrepresentation of reporting among particular student groups including international students, students of colour, and those for whom English is an additional language. I conclude with concrete recommendations for action. 

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New priorities for academic integrity: equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and Indigenization

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Contract cheating or “the outsourcing of student work to third parties” (Lancaster & Clarke, 2016, p. 639) is a type of academic misconduct that is growing and changing due to advancements in technology and the emergence of a lucrative, multi-million dollar per year industry that targets students relentlessly (Lancaster & Clarke, 2016). In an effort to protect students from engaging in contract cheating, three postsecondary institutions in Manitoba (i.e., Assiniboine Community College, Red River College, and the University of Manitoba) launched initiatives to block access to websites that offer contract cheating services from their networks. This initiative facilitated a preliminary examination of student activity on institutional networks. In any given month, a relatively large number of students (i.e., up to 3,519 unique users) were attempting to access websites identified as providing contract cheating services. We recognize that a single initiative will not eliminate academic misconduct, however, by combining various educational, protective, and preventative strategies, the likelihood that students will make ethical decisions regarding their academic work can be increased.

Preventing online shopping for completed assessments: Protecting students by blocking access to contract cheating websites on institutional networks

This article analyses the advertisements inserted in search engines of Spanish academic services websites in 2018 and 2019. Content analysis of these advertisements, conducted through the use of Se...

Spanish Contract Cheating Website Marketing through Search Engine Advertisements.

Contract cheating, or “ghostwriting” as it is more commonly known, has become a growing threat to academic integrity in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the world. This survey-based empi...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/2331186X.2021.1885837

Fighting contract cheating and ghostwriting in Higher Education: Moving towards a multidimensional approach

Contract cheating is a growing menace that most academic institutions are grappling with globally. With governments now taking steps to help combat the industry and ban such services, it is also important to encourage students to stay away from such services through proactive strategies to raise awareness so that students stop using such services. This paper uses a case study approach to capture a time-series data from three years of a university campus’s efforts to raise awareness by celebrating the International Centre for Academic Integrity (ICAI)‘s International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating. This is in order to explore if such campaigns can be used as tools to increase student understanding of contract cheating as an academic misconduct issue and what roles students can play in raising awareness among other students on contract cheating. Proposing to look at contract cheating as a social issue, the paper positions the misconduct as such and explores how awareness campaigns can help address contract cheating. Over the three years, results show steep increase in awareness of contract cheating, a type of academic misconduct, and that students themselves have a positive influence on other students when raising awareness. An interesting finding of the study is that graduated students have had an impact by showing responsibility to younger students and by actively denouncing contract cheating companies and their approaches on social media; thus providing solid evidence that awareness campaigns can help increase awareness which is the first step towards building a culture of integrity in any campus.

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Raising Awareness on Contract Cheating –Lessons Learned from Running Campus-Wide Campaigns

In this paper, we conducted investigation of the state of academic integrity policies in universities accredited by the UAE Ministry of Higher Education. For practical reasons, we focused on universities whose websites provided an open access to their policies of academic integrity. The accessible policies were collected, then assessed based on eight identified categories mapped to the five core elements as defined by the Academic Integrity Standards Project conducted in Australia. This project found that of the seven universities whose policies were available as open access online from sample population, highlighted disparities including unclear purpose of the policy, missing complete definitions of academic integrity, misconducts, reporting systems and so on. These findings lay the foundation for a more comprehensive review and analysis of all the universities’ policies, not only those with open-access policies to assist stakeholders in developing shared understanding of academic integrity across all institutions in the country.

Sanjana Raheja

Papers

Raising Awareness on Contract Cheating –Lessons Learned from Running Campus-Wide Campaigns

Preliminary Review - Universities' Open Source Academic Integrity Policies in the UAE