How Do I Handle Academic Integrity Issues?

Abstract

In this chapter, we review the research imperative called “academic integrity”. Academic integrity relates primarily to accuracy, honesty, safety, truthfulness and adherence to the highest standards in all aspects of research undertaken and reported. Academic integrity issues can arise not only with your research contextualisation, positioning, configuration and data gathering, but also in the writing up, dissemination, and use of your research results. Issues such as maintaining confidentiality and ethical treatment of participants, storage of data, the appropriate recording and reporting of research findings, as well as concerns specific to the publication process in regard to plagiarism and authorship credit are implicated. As well, academic integrity encompasses how you relate to key stakeholders, groups and organisations that you are associated with or are reliant upon.

Appendix: Information to Include in a Participant Information Sheet

It is all too easy to manipulate a person’s informed and voluntary consent by exploiting their ignorance, fears and respect for experts or superiors. Applications for projects must therefore be accompanied by Participant Information Sheets that describe, in the participant’s language, the essential points which any reasonable person would wish to know before agreeing to participate in research, including:

• The date the participant information sheet was produced.

• The project title.

• The names of the supervisor(s) for the project and the host institution for the research.

• The name(s) of the researcher(s) who will actually make direct contact with the participants.

• A statement of what the research is about and the purpose of the research.

• An invitation to participate and a description of what they are being asked to do.

• An explanation of how they were chosen to receive an invitation.

• What the likely consequences are for them should they participate (describe what the discomforts, risks, and or time commitment could be).

• What the benefits for them might be (indicate any likely benefits), including any incentive or reward to be provided for participating.

• Indicate that they can receive feedback on the results (if desired, they can receive a summary of the results).

• What will happen in this research (where, when and how frequently the data will be gathered from them).

• Any special conditions of the research that might affect their participation (indicate whether there will be audio-taping or video-recording).

• Indicate that there will be no disadvantages/penalties/adverse consequences related to not participating or to withdrawing from the research.

• A statement of how privacy will be protected and how confidentiality or anonymity of information will be preserved (provide a schedule for the destruction of any personal identifying information, in the case of confidentiality).

• What opportunity do they have to consider this invitation? (Give a time frame for them to consider).

• How do they agree to participate in the research? (Need to complete the attached Consent Form).

• Indicate that research ethics approval has been given (provide a copy of the University’s Research Ethics Approval Statement and/or approval number).

• Who they can contact for further information or if they have concerns (provide a means, for example, a telephone number or email address by which participants are able to contact the researcher(s), the principal supervisor and or the secretary of the university’s Research Ethics Committee) (adapted from Participant Information Sheet Exemplar, Auckland University of Technology https://www.aut.ac.nz/research/researchethics/forms).

Note: There are some cases where it is not appropriate to provide a written information sheet, for example, when dealing with young children or adults who are illiterate, it would be more appropriate to provide them with a verbal explanation. A Dialogue Statement of the verbal information that will be communicated should be provided.

In order to be more engaging, an information sheet can be set up as a question and answer sheet by modifying the points above into questions, as if being asked by participants, and including responses from the researchers. It is also acceptable to present a consolidated information sheet and consent form, as long as the participants are provided with a copy of the document and have been given an opportunity to reflect on the document before indicating their consent.