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Showing papers in "Journal of Academic Ethics in 2016"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings indicated a range of contributing factors including: instructors’ ignorance towards plagiarism, limited writing and research skills, peer pressure, pressure to submit high-quality assignments and ease of plagiarizing.
Abstract: The fast growing rates of plagiarism among students in higher education has become a serious concern for academics around the world. Collecting data through semi-structured interview, this qualitative study is an attempt to investigate a group of EFL undergraduate students’ viewpoints on plagiarism, the extent to which they are informed about it and the reasons triggering them to plagiarize. Responses revealed shallow understanding of plagiarism in its various forms. The findings indicated a range of contributing factors including: instructors’ ignorance towards plagiarism, limited writing and research skills, peer pressure, pressure to submit high-quality assignments and ease of plagiarizing. The results highlighted the need for practical policies and cohesive framework to raise students’ awareness at initial stages in order to minimize the prevalence of plagiarism at later points. Developing rich writing and referencing skills should be considered seriously by course instructors and the common leniency towards undergraduate students’ instances of plagiarism must be replaced by more serious attitude that encourages innovative and genuine research practice. The implications of findings can help academics to take the required steps in decreasing cases of plagiarism among students.

38 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that students shared strong agreement that near verbatim copy and paste and patchwriting should be considered plagiarism, but that they were much more conflicted regarding the reuse of ideas.
Abstract: Most research on student plagiarism defines the concept very narrowly or with much ambiguity. Many studies focus on plagiarism involving large swaths of text copied and pasted from unattributed sources, a type of plagiarism that the overwhelming majority of students seem to have little trouble identifying. Other studies rely on ambiguous definitions, assuming students understand what the term means and requesting that they self-report how well they understand the concept. This study attempts to avoid these problems by examining student perceptions of more complex citation issues. We presented 240 students with a series of examples, asked them to indicate whether or not each should be considered plagiarism, and followed up with a series of demographic and attitudinal questions. The examples fell within the spectrum of inadequate citation, patchwriting, and the reuse of other people’s ideas. Half were excerpted from publicized cases of academic plagiarism, and half were modified from other sources. Our findings indicated that students shared a very strong agreement that near verbatim copy and paste and patchwriting should be considered plagiarism, but that they were much more conflicted regarding the reuse of ideas. Additionally, this study found significant correlation between self-reported confidence in their understanding and the identification of more complex cases as plagiarism, but this study found little correlation between academic class status or exposure to plagiarism detection software and perceptions of plagiarism. The latter finding goes against a prevailing sentiment in the academic literature that the ability to recognize plagiarism is inherently linked to academic literacy. Overall, our findings indicate that more pedagogical emphasis may need to be placed on complex forms of plagiarism.

36 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Power dynamics (visible and hidden) hindering meaningful participation of community partners and university-based teams that need to be addressed within a reflective critical framework of ethical practice are identified.
Abstract: Academics from diverse disciplines are recognizing not only the procedural ethical issues involved in research, but also the complexity of everyday “micro” ethical issues that arise. While ethical guidelines are being developed for research in aboriginal populations and low-and-middle-income countries, multi-partnered research initiatives examining arts-based interventions to promote social change pose a unique set of ethical dilemmas not yet fully explored. Our research team, comprising health, education, and social scientists, critical theorists, artists and community-activists launched a five-year research partnership on arts-for-social change. Funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council in Canada and based in six universities, including over 40 community-based collaborators, and informed by five main field projects (circus with street youth, theatre by people with disabilities, dance for people with Parkinson’s disease, participatory theatre with refugees and artsinfused dialogue), we set out to synthesize existing knowledge and lessons we learned. We summarized these learnings into 12 key points for reflection, grouped into three categories: community-university partnership concerns (n = 3), dilemmas related to the arts (n = 5), and team issues (n = 4). In addition to addressing previous concerns outlined in the literature (e.g., related to consent, anonymity, dangerous emotional terrain, etc.), we identified power dynamics (visible and hidden) hindering meaningful participation of community partners and university-based teams that need to be addressed within a reflective critical framework of ethical practice. We present how our team has been addressing these issues, as examples of how such concerns could be approached in community-university partnerships in arts for social change.

27 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors derive an equation to estimate the benefit that can be gained by a student who copies on a multiple choice exam and then propose an exam design that not only eliminates the benefit, but also proportionately punishes cheaters, with little to no cost to instructors.
Abstract: Numerous academic studies and reports indicate that as many as half of all students cheat on exams. Cheating on exams undermines the central purpose of a university, corrupts the meaning of grades as a measure of subject matter mastery, and significantly harms honest students. Although instructors are aware that many students cheat and they clearly oppose the behavior, they do little to punish cheaters. Accusing, prosecuting and convicting cheaters are time intensive, stressful and potentially costly activities for which faculty members receive few rewards. In this paper, we derive an equation to estimate the benefit that can be gained by a student who copies on a multiple choice exam. We then propose an exam design that not only eliminates the benefit, but also proportionately punishes cheaters, with little to no cost to instructors. Moreover, the exam system we propose can allow an instructor to determine, with a high degree of certainty, the odds that any student seated anywhere in the classroom cheated on any part of the exam.

23 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and the inclination to commit plagiarism by undergraduate students and found that the tendency to plagiarize is negatively associated with conscientiousness and agreeableness traits.
Abstract: Academic dishonesty is a major problem and is thus a highly relevant area of inquiry. Considerable research has shown that key traits from the Big Five model of personality are associated with various forms of anti-social behaviour. To date, however, relatively little research interest has been devoted to study the relationship between personality traits and plagiarism. This study attempts to fill this gap by examining the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and the inclination to commit plagiarism by undergraduate students. The main conclusion is that the inclination to plagiarize is negatively associated with Conscientiousness and Agreeableness traits. Neuroticism was not found to be related to the inclination to plagiarize. Implications of the findings are discussed.

19 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Research related to indigenous peoples in Sweden and elsewhere has a history marked by discriminatory practice and unequal research processes as discussed by the authors, and Sweden has still not been very visible in terms of ope...
Abstract: Research related to indigenous peoples in Sweden and elsewhere has a history marked by discriminatory practice and unequal research processes. Sweden has still not been very visible in terms of ope ...

17 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how public HERIs institutionalise academic integrity, i.e., how they create an ethical environment within the academic community and what means are used to support it further.
Abstract: Particular concern about academic ethics in higher education and research institutions (HERIs) in Lithuania was addressed in 2009 by the national decision to establish an Office of Ombudsman for Academic Ethics and Procedures (Office) The decision was taken during the approval of the revised Law on Higher Education and Research by the Parliament of Lithuania Following two failed attempts to appoint an ombudsman, the Office began to function in 2014 Since then, the ombudsman, alongside other state institutions, has been empowered to implement national higher education and research policy At the outset of the Office activity it is important to consider how public HERIs institutionalise academic integrity, ie how they create an ethical environment within the academic community and what means are used to support it further Collecting data from codes of ethics, regulations of academic integrity committees and interviews, data analysis shows that academic values manifest unevenly in teaching/learning and research Most efforts concern the behaviour of students rather than the behaviour of academic staff (teachers and researchers) Moreover, ethics infrastructure gives a misleading image, as it lacks harmony and compatibility, despite the fact that there is a myriad of means to foster ethical behaviour Universities should make greater effort to connect academic values with operations in teaching/learning and research

15 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined two key social relationship factors of perceived teacher-student relationships and peer relationships by the students and found that their negative effects were fully mediated by neutralizing attitudes.
Abstract: Cheating is a serious issue among business students worldwide. However, research investigating the social factors that may help prevent cheating in Chinese higher education is rare. The present study examined two key social relationship factors of perceived teacher-student relationships and peer relationships by the students. It attempted to build a model which addressed the effects of two variables on Chinese business students’ cheating behaviour: the teacher’s approachability and the relationship goal of the students. Two important social influence factors were also tested as mediators: neutralizing attitudes and perceived cheating norms of the students. A student survey was conducted with 1329 questionnaires collected. The results showed the negative effects of both social relationship variables on cheating, and that their effects were fully mediated by neutralizing attitudes. Moreover, perceived cheating norms fully mediated the effect of the teacher’s approachability, but not so for the relationship goal of the students. This study provided novel insights and recommendations for promoting academic integrity in Chinese business schools and universities.

14 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the relationship between cultural values, personality, religiosity and the ethical sensitivity of business students and found that MES dimensions had the highest influence on ethical sensitivity levels of students.
Abstract: Business ethics has become a very important concern in global business and understanding the effects of various factors on ethical judgments continues to attract research and practitioner attention. Using the Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES, Reidenbach and Robin 1988) with its five generally accepted philosophical constructs, and vignettes developed by Cohen et al. (1996), current study investigates the relationship between cultural values, personality, religiosity and the ethical sensitivity of business students. We focus on a rapidly emerging country, Turkey, whose economic environment is similar to that of the most Western nations but with a significantly different background and cultural values. Data (n = 184) for the study is collected from a major university in the southeastern Turkey. Although some significant relationships are identified between ethical sensitivity and cultural values and personality, our study findings confirm that MES dimensions had the highest influence on ethical sensitivity levels of business students.

12 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a study concerned validating academic integrity survey (AIS), a measure developed in 2010 to investigate academic integrity practices in a Malaysian university and examined the usefulness of the measure across gender and nationality of the participants (undergraduates of Nigerian and Malaysian public universities).
Abstract: This study concerned validating academic integrity survey (AIS), a measure developed in 2010 to investigate academic integrity practices in a Malaysian university. It also examined the usefulness of the measure across gender and nationality of the participants (undergraduates of Nigerian and Malaysian public universities). The sample size comprised 450 students selected via quota sampling technique. The findings supported the multidimensionality of academic dishonesty. Also, strong evidence of convergent and discriminant validity, and construct reliability were generated for the revised AIS. The testing of moderating effects yielded two outcomes. While the gender invariant analysis produced evidence that the three-dimensional model was not moderated by gender; the nationality effect was inconclusive, probably due to a noticeable imbalance in respondent distribution for the nationality group. The significance of this study lies not only in the rigorous statistical methods deployed to validate the dimension and psychometric properties of the AIS; but establishing the gender invariance of the model. It is understood from the findings that although male and female students may vary in their academic misconducts, the underlying factors for these conducts are the same and can be addressed effectively using a non-discriminating approach.

12 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the perceptions related to ethics and cheating among a representative sample of primarily female undergraduate students, compared to trends reported in the literature, and found that participants were reluctant to report their classmates for cheating incidents.
Abstract: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions related to ethics and cheating among a representative sample of primarily female undergraduate students, compared to trends reported in the literature. Focus groups were organized to discuss nine scripted questions. Transcripts and audiotapes were analyzed and four main themes emerged: demographics of those who cheat, students’ perceptions of cheating, the role of technology in cheating, and consequences of cheating, including students’ attitudes and behaviors related to reporting cheating incidents. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) served as the theoretical framework to understand students’ varying perceptions of and justification for cheating, as well as the dynamics of honor code violations, via group discussion. Viewpoints on cheating were regularly discussed and contradictory views were identified related to frequency and justification for cheating. Utilizing the constant comparative method, students mentioned time limitations, and pressure from peers, parents, and professors as reasons to cheat. They also discussed pressures to achieve high grades for acceptance into graduate programs. Students were also reluctant to report their classmates for cheating incidents. Repeated and comprehensive education on ethical behavior is warranted.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study was conducted to gather detailed information about student perceptions of self-plagiarism and the perceived effectiveness of a brief self plagiarism video tutorial.
Abstract: This purpose of this qualitative study was to gather detailed information about student perceptions of self-plagiarism and the perceived effectiveness of a brief self-plagiarism video tutorial. Semi-structured interviews (n = 7) were conducted and health sciences doctoral students were queried regarding their knowledge and perceptions of self- plagiarism. The population for this study was new doctoral students, as well as students who had committed self-plagiarism during the semester. Overall, participants reported a specific self-plagiarism intervention was more helpful in preventing self- plagiarism than a traditional plagiarism intervention and that the intervention should be included in initial program orientation. Overwhelmingly, students did not believe self- plagiarism was a serious academic offense and think they own their intellectual property and unpublished works.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There are significant gaps in human research ethics understanding among medical students, and university academic staff and clinicians eligible to supervise medical student research projects at two Australian universities.
Abstract: Research is increasingly recognised as a key component of medical curricula, offering a range of benefits including development of skills in evidence-based medicine. The literature indicates that experienced academic supervision or mentoring is important in any research activity and positively influences research output. The aim of this project was to investigate the human research ethics experiences and knowledge of three groups: medical students, and university academic staff and clinicians eligible to supervise medical student research projects; at two Australian universities. Training in research ethics was low amongst academic staff and clinicians eligible to supervise medical student research. Only two-thirds of academic staff (67.9 %) and students (65.7 %) and less than half of clinicians surveyed (47.1 %; p = 0.014) indicated that specific patient consent was required for a doctor to include patient medical records within a research publication. There was limited awareness of requirements for participant information and consent forms amongst all groups. In the case of clinical trials, fewer clinicians (88.4 %) and students (83.3 %) than academics (100 %) indicated there was a requirement to obtain consent (p = 0.009). Awareness of the ethics committee focus on respect was low across all groups. This project has identified significant gaps in human research ethics understanding among medical students, and university academic staff and clinicians. The incorporation of research within medical curricula provides the impetus for medical schools and their institutions to ensure that academic staff and clinicians who are eligible and qualified to supervise students’ research projects are appropriately trained in human research ethics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a philosophical analysis of some of the things faculty do to maximize their student evaluation of teachers (SET) scores is provided, concluding that 13 of the 28 practices suggest unethical behavior.
Abstract: This paper provides a philosophical analysis of some of the things faculty do to maximize their Student Evaluation of Teachers (SET) scores. It examines 28 practices that are claimed to be unethical methods for maximizing SET scores. The paper offers an argument concerning the morality of each behavior and concludes that 13 of the 28 practices suggest unethical behavior. The remaining 15 behaviors are morally permissible.

Journal ArticleDOI
Dianne Quigley1
TL;DR: The importance of respecting "place" within human subjects protections applied to communities and cultural groups as part of a critical need for research ethics and cultural competence training for graduate research students is discussed in this article.
Abstract: Research ethics principles and regulations typically have been applied to the protection of individual human subjects. Yet, new paradigms of research that include the place-based community and cultural groups as partners or participants of environmental research interventions, in particular, require attention to place-based identities and geographical contexts. This paper argues the importance of respecting “place” within human subjects protections applied to communities and cultural groups as part of a critical need for research ethics and cultural competence training for graduate research students. These protections and benefits are extensions of the Belmont Principles and have been included in recent recommendations from research regulatory committees.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used bibliometric analysis to synthesise and visualize the research literature production and derive a typology of self-plagiarism research, including five topics: Self-pliarism, Institutional self plagiarism, Selfplaiarism and ICT.
Abstract: Self-plagiarism, textual recycling and redundancy seemed to be controversial and unethical; however some questions about its definition are still open. The objective in this paper presented study was to use bibliometric analysis to synthesise and visualize the research literature production and derive a typology of self-plagiarism research. Five topics emerged: Self-plagiarism, Institutional self-plagiarism, Self-plagiarism and ICT, Self-plagiarism in academic writing, Self-plagiarism in science. The state of the art topics seem to be “social medium”, “virtual world”, “face book”, “sociomateriality”, “knowledge sharing”, “open access”, “institutional repository”, “retraction” and “responsible conduct”.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue the importance of the creation of a moral compass, driven by empathy and a rigorously trained will in higher education leadership to develop a tighter relationship between higher education and wealth equity.
Abstract: This paper will argue the importance of the creation of a moral compass, driven by empathy and a rigorously trained will in higher education leadership to develop a tighter relationship between higher education and wealth equity. We will explore the foundational documents that first discussed these issues within a global context. Further, We explore how these goals, enhanced by insights promulgated by the United Nations, can be achieved by teaching empathy, developing a moral compass and training the will.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The current study evaluates REB members’ perspectives on their knowledge of research ethics, and juxtaposes these perceptions with those of researchers, to determine whether those with less experience have decreased confidence in their ethics knowledge.
Abstract: The Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS) was first developed to establish a standard of practice in research ethics by the three federal agencies responsible for funding institutional research in Canada: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). In 2010, a second edition of the policy, known as the TCPS 2, was released with updated information and expanded coverage of research ethics issues. According to the TCPS 2, the Agencies’ mandate is “to promote research that is conducted according to the highest ethical standards,” and the TCPS 2 serves as a benchmark for this with respect for human dignity as its underlying value. Research institutions receiving Agency funding are to comply with this policy statement by forming Research Ethics Boards (REBs) to review all research involving human participants. The intention behind this review requirement is to provide a proportionate assessment of the benefit-to-risk ratio of the research, and in that process, to safeguard “respect for persons”, express a “concern for welfare”, and uphold “justice” (CIHR, SSHRC, NSERC 2010, p. 8). Research may not proceed until ethics approval is granted by an institution’s REB. The current study evaluates REB members’ perspectives on their knowledge of research ethics, and juxtaposes these perceptions with those of researchers. Specifically, we are interested in the extent to which REB members with less experience read the TCPS 2, and whether those with less experience have decreased confidence in their ethics knowledge.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The findings of an empirical study that was designed to evaluate the different ways to design and deliver a bioethics module for bioscience students are presented.
Abstract: With rapid advances in the biosciences, bioethics has become an important, if not vital part of a comprehensive bioscience education. Students who successfully complete a course in bioethics will be better equipped for writing manuscripts for publication, preparing research proposals for funding bodies and completing applications for research ethics committees. Given the importance of both grant writing and successful publication in a bioscience career, bioscience students who do not receive training in bioethics will be disadvantaged. Graduates who move into careers other than research, such as science policy, administration or education, will also benefit from the inclusion of bioethics in their bioscience education because they will need to consider the ethical issues that arise in the context of policy, public relations and public health. Given the importance of including bioethics in a bioscience education, this paper presents the findings of an empirical study that was designed to evaluate the different ways to design and deliver a bioethics module for bioscience students. The study considers the aims and objectives; the teaching, learning and assessment strategies and the content of a ‘bioethics for bioscience’ module. At a more fundamental level, the study explores why bioethics should be taught, at what level bioethics should be delivered, how much time should be committed to the teaching of bioethics and the core topics that should be included in a bioethics module.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a measurement scale of virtues for school leaders based on the Aristotelian and Confucian typology and examined its predictive validity by studying the causal association with perceived leader happiness.
Abstract: Six cardinal leadership virtues based on Aristotelian and Confucian typology were advanced through this study by developing a measurement instrument and examining its predictive validity by studying the causal association with perceived leader happiness. Based on a sample of 183 school principals engaged in various types of schools, the results of both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses generated satisfactory empirical outcomes by finding adequate support for the overall leadership virtue scale and the constituent subscale elements. The paper concluded with the theoretical and practical implications for this developed instrument of leadership virtue especially in the context of school education. The major contribution of the paper lies in developing a measurement scale of virtues for school leaders.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Findings of the study indicated that integrating medical law into medical curriculum at an early stage was beneficial for the medical students.
Abstract: Medical law is not new in medical literature and can constitute an imperative component in medical education. Some medical schools include medical law as a compulsory component of the curriculum. In line with curriculum re-structuring at the University of Malaya, medical law was integrated in the medical curriculum and the feasibility of this integration into the Year 1 undergraduate curriculum was evaluated. Following implementation of a 4-week medical law module, an evaluation of the suitability of early integration of this module was conducted using a ten-item, 4-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 4 = strongly agree) questionnaire. Two open-ended questions were also included to gauge insights of the integration. All items were scored 3 points or more from the students’ responses (n = 129). Using the open-ended questions, recommendations for future directions as well as constraints and issues related to the integration of medical law into teaching and learning was revealed. Overall, findings of the study indicated that integrating medical law into medical curriculum at an early stage was beneficial for the medical students.