‘Playing the PhD Game’ with integrity: An overview

Abstract

The notion of ‘playing the PhD game’ introduces the main focus of the book: on working towards success, with integrity, within the PhD system. The nature of integrity, a significant thread throughout the book, is unravelled. The main motivations behind writing the book are presented in terms of research integrity and standards of research practices and outcomes. The ways of working of key participants, such as candidates, supervisors and university managers, are central to achievement of goals within the PhD programme. Such behaviours, at both individual and collective levels, are key to ethical decision-making, progress towards success and the overall integrity of the PhD endeavour. The main tasks of the PhD challenge, seen through the lens of integrity, and what this means for coherence within all elements of the PhD game, are introduced. This chapter launches the key constructs of the book, in particular, our moral compass framework (MCF) for professional integrity. Notions of collective morality, decision-making when faced with ‘wicked’ problems, connected moral capability, as well as completion mindsets and contexts inform the practice-based elements of the book. What such notions mean for the conduct of doctoral research, research supervision, academic writing practices (PhD and publication), joint authorship and research training support systems are outlined (and developed in subsequent chapters). An overview of the key constructs within the book is presented as a map to guide the reader. Finally, the changing nature of the graduate research education landscape is presented, from the origins of the PhD to the increasingly complex context within which the PhD game is now played.