Cases Of Misconduct Research Articles

Illegalisms and discipline in a Brazilian prison

The article summarizes research with an empirical sample of all cases of severe disciplinary misconduct for possessing a cell phone in a prison of Curitiba in 2017. The question posed for analysis is which parameters would determine the imputation of disciplinary responsibility for cell phones seized from this or that prisoner. From the study of the processes and participant observation, it becomes evident how, in the great majority of cases, the prisoners who take responsibility for the seized items do so because they do not have family in the region, because they have a high remnant penalty or to get some form of payment, not being the real owners of the devices. The application of the disciplinary sanction, with knowledge of the falsity of the confession, indicates that prison administration operates as a manager of illegalisms and not from the legal/illegal binomial.

Book Review: Celebrity Rhetoric and Sexual Misconduct Cases: Discursive Self-Cleaving by Andrea McDonnell

Book Review: <i>Celebrity Rhetoric and Sexual Misconduct Cases: Discursive Self-Cleaving</i> by Andrea McDonnell

Deliberation on continuous spread of corruption in South Africa

Corruption is widely spread in South Africa and is against the norms of honestly, morals, values, ethics, and good governance. The reasons of corruption may be individual (personal greed for luxury, power, authority), organisational (inadequate monitoring and evaluation, reporting processes), legislative (no compliance), strategic (lack of ethical culture), to state a few. The study is aimed to find answers to the following guiding research question, such as: what is the extent of corruption in South Africa? The qualitative study utilised secondary sources through the literature review of articles and document review of annual/official reports to gather relevant information. The information was further assessed using document analysis. The findings show that corruption is spreading at every level of government, and even public and private sectors are getting exposed to cases of misconduct. The country has established various legislative frameworks to combat corruption. The objectives of anti-corruption frameworks are operationalised through the establishment of anti-corruption organistaions. Some of them are Corruption Watch; National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council; Financial Intelligence Centre; Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse; and National Anti-Corruption Hotline. The findings show that although there are anti-corruption measures in place, the inadequate compliance may create implementation gaps, hence corruption keeps on spreading at political level, bureaucratic offices, and even in municipalities. The study suggests policy measures to minimise the scope and spread of corruption.

Thou Shalt Not! – How the institutional afterlife of research misconduct scandals shapes research integrity training

ABSTRACT Scandals involving cases of research misconduct are often considered to be main drivers for policy initiatives and institutional changes to foster research integrity. These impacts of scandals are usually witnessed during scandals’ peak visibility. In this article we change this perspective by examining the way in which scandals continue impacting academic institutions long after the initial attention has faded. To do so, we empirically study research integrity courses at multiple Danish universities. We combine data from document analysis, participatory observations and interviews. In addition, this article makes a conceptual contribution by introducing the notion of the ‘institutional afterlife’ of a scandal. We use this notion to demonstrate how scandals can affect academic communities and practices long after their initial visibility has faded, by re-entering communities and institutions. We thereby contribute a novel approach to studying scandals and their wider implications in academia.

The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) in action: A pilot implementation of GenAI-supported assessment

The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies in higher education has raised concerns about academic integrity, assessment practices and student learning. Banning or blocking GenAI tools has proven ineffective, and punitive approaches ignore the potential benefits of these technologies. As a result, assessment reform has become a pressing topic in the GenAI era. This paper presents the findings of a pilot study conducted at British University Vietnam exploring the implementation of the Artificial Intelligence Assessment Scale (AIAS), a flexible framework for incorporating GenAI into educational assessments. The AIAS consists of five levels, ranging from “no AI” to “full AI,” enabling educators to design assessments that focus on areas requiring human input and critical thinking. The pilot study results indicate a significant reduction in academic misconduct cases related to GenAI and enhanced student engagement with GenAI technology. The AIAS facilitated a shift in pedagogical practices, with faculty members incorporating GenAI tools into their modules and students producing innovative multimodal submissions. The findings suggest that the AIAS can support the effective integration of GenAI in higher education, promoting academic integrity while leveraging technology’s potential to enhance learning experiences. Implications for practice or policy: Higher education institutions should adopt flexible frameworks like the AIAS to guide ethical integration of GenAI into assessment practices. Educators should design assessments that leverage GenAI capabilities, while supporting critical thinking and human input. Institutional policies related to GenAI should be developed in consultation with stakeholders and regularly updated to keep pace with technological advancements. Policymakers should prioritise research funding into the impacts of GenAI on higher education to inform evidence-based practices.

Scientific disclosure and corporate misconduct

This study examines the relationship between scientific disclosure and corporate misconduct. Through an analysis of comprehensive databases containing core journal publications and documented misconduct cases, we established a significant negative correlation between scientific disclosure and corporate misconduct. This association is particularly evident in firms with publications in English-language core journals. Our findings are corroborated by a series of rigorous robustness tests, including change analyses, instrumental variable estimation, Heckman's two-stage method, and the difference-in-differences approach. Moreover, our investigation into potential mechanisms reveals several pathways through which scientific disclosure may mitigate misconduct. These mechanisms include the attraction of high-quality talent, promotion of technological innovation, establishment of a positive reputation, acquisition of R&D subsidies, and deterrence of opportunistic corporate cultures. Ultimately, our results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the role of corporate scientific disclosure in reducing misconduct and highlight the beneficial effects of corporate investment in scientific research.

The Multiple Challenges of Handling Scientific Integrity in the Swiss Higher Education System.

Scientific integrity is the most important aspect that higher education institutions have to take care of, as it conveys credibility and acceptance of science to the public. Although science has a very powerful built-in self-regulation process for detecting and correcting scientific misconduct, there is a need for clear guidelines that have to be adapted on regular intervals to the rapidly changing world caused by scientific developments themselves. Outlined here are recent advances in how Switzerland increases awareness and transparency of scientific misconduct and how it handles cases of misconduct to improve the quality of science.

Police Misconduct Investigation Processes: Police Officer Perceptions of Fundamental Fairness

Police misconduct has historically garnered much research attention. Internal affairs (IA) processes exist within police departments to investigate such cases of misconduct. Yet, sworn officers may distrust IA processes, potentially hampering its effectiveness and its amenability for reform. The purpose of this study was to examine police officers’ perceptions of the IA process in its current state and their amenability to various types of IA reforms (e.g., civilian oversight committees, independent investigators). We collected survey data from a sample of 115 police officers from various police departments in New Jersey, USA. The results indicated that police officers vary in their perceptions of IA processes, such as the fairness of IA processes, their amenability to reforming IA systems, and what reforms were perceivably appropriate. Findings also indicated greater amenability for revisions to the current IA process, primarily among lower-ranking police officers and Black officers. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

The PubPeer conundrum: Administrative challenges in research misconduct proceedings.

The founders of PubPeer envisioned their website as an online form of a "journal club" that would facilitate post-publication peer review. Recently, PubPeer comments have led to a significant number of research misconduct proceedings - a development that could not have been anticipated when the current federal research misconduct regulations were developed two decades ago. Yet the number, frequency, and velocity of PubPeer comments identifying data integrity concerns, and institutional and government practices that treat all such comments as potential research misconduct allegations, have overwhelmed institutions and threaten to divert attention and resources away from other research integrity initiatives. Recent, high profile research misconduct cases accentuate the increasing public interest in research integrity and make it inevitable that the use of platforms such as PubPeer to challenge research findings will intensify. This article examines the origins of PubPeer and its central role in the modern era of online-based scouring of scientific publications for potential problems and outlines the challenges that institutions must manage in addressing issues identified on PubPeer. In conclusion, we discuss some potential enhancements to the investigatory process specified under federal regulations that could, if implemented, allow institutions to manage some of these challenges more efficiently.

How are global university rankings adjusted for erroneous science, fraud and misconduct? Posterior reduction or adjustment in rankings in response to retractions and invalidation of scientific findings

Global university rankings (GURs), such as the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE WUR), Quacquarelli Symonds University World Rankings (QS UWR) and the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) are positively incremental, that is, they do not reflect any level of penalisation in response to unscholarly activity, especially in the field of research and publication. In the light of an increasing trend in fraud, such as the use of paper mills and authorship-for-sale schemes, this letter proposes that GURs need to be reduced, or penalised, in response to cases of misconduct and instances of retractions. In the absence of a transparent corrective system, GURs will be further criticised for being unfair, biased and not reflective of an evolving and unstable academic publishing ecosystem.

Role of remediation in cases of serious misconduct before UK healthcare regulators: a qualitative study

BackgroundThe raison d’etre of healthcare profession regulators across the globe is to protect patients and the public from the risk of harm. In cases of serious misconduct, remediation is deemed...

Evaluating Audit Oversight Board’s Regulatory Impact: Analysis of Sanctions Imposed on Malaysian Audit Firms

This study analyzes the 12-year trend of cases involving auditor wrongdoing as disclosed on the Audit Oversight Board (AOB) Malaysia's website from 2012 to 2023. Utilizing content analysis, the research examines the nature, frequency, and severity of penalties or sanctions imposed on audit firms for various offenses. Findings indicate a dynamic pattern of regulatory actions, reflecting Malaysia's evolving landscape of audit quality and regulatory oversight. It was revealed that a total of 56 breaches of the Securities Commission Act 1993 involving 30 audit firms were reported and disclosed by the Audit Oversight Board over the period from 2012 to 2023. The findings revealed that most misconduct cases relate to the failure of audit firms to comply with the requirements of International Auditing Standards, International Standard on Quality Control and Malaysian Institute of Accountant By-Laws. There has been a notable decrease in cases involving auditors over the past six years. This could also indicate the dedication of the AOB to monitoring auditors' conduct to prevent their involvement in malpractice. This study contributes to the understanding of audit regulation effectiveness and the behavioral patterns of auditors in response to regulatory scrutiny.

Crossing the Line at Altitude: Passenger Sexual Misconduct in the Skies, 1999-2021

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, a range of news outlets and social media platforms has increasingly featured reports of airline passenger misconduct, particularly those involving verbal and physical assault. Less attention has been paid to passenger sexual misconduct. To improve our understanding of the nature and types of air passenger sexual misconduct cases, we draw on data from 77 incidents reported from 1999 to 2021 to develop a multi-classification scheme of misconduct and examine the precipitating factors as well as related circumstances involved. Our findings demonstrate passenger sexual misconduct takes three forms – sexual assault, sexual deviance, and sexual harassment – and highlight the complexity of circumstances, factors, and types of victims (i.e. passengers, flight attendants, and crew) involved in these reports.

Between scandal and suture: the 1975 corruption scandal in the Ministry of Culture and Public Information's Film Division

ABSTRACT Focusing on the mid-1970s, often considered the height of repression during Park Chung Hee's rule, this article examines the dynamic interplay between the South Korean film industry and state administration of film censorship. Specifically, I examine the 1975 corruption scandal that took place in the Ministry of Culture and Public Information's Film Division, in which several filmmakers had offered cash bribes to public officials in exchange for leniency in various aspects of film regulation. More than a case of misconduct limited to the film industry, the incident was quickly sensationalized as evidence of widespread societal corruption and illegal practices that threatened to harm the public. In turn, the state capitalized on the case's notoriety to justify the various measures it took in the name of ‘purifying’ society. Using ‘scandal’ as a pretext, the state commenced the structural reorganization of the film industry and film policies to more closely align with its goals. Ultimately, I argue that this corruption scandal allows us to understand censorship practices as the result of complex, multi-layered relations between film administrative policies and the film industry.

Who should be held accountable? An analysis of academic misconduct cases in Chinese higher education and the challenges of the transformative process

Who should be held accountable? An analysis of academic misconduct cases in Chinese higher education and the challenges of the transformative process

Lived Experiences of Police Regional Office Cordillera Personnel Charged and Suspended for Misconduct Cases

Forty-one percent (41%) or 132 out of the 321 complaints lodged against personnel of the Police Regional Office Cordillera between 2018 and 2022, concerned allegations of improper conduct. One hundred eighty-five individuals residing in the area were responsible for the 132 reports of misconduct. The researchers conducted a study to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the testimonies provided by personnel charged with misconduct offenses and subsequently suspended at the Police Regional Office Cordillera. The research utilized a qualitative approach principally hermeneutical-phenomenological methodology. The study’s findings primarily reveal the extent of police officers’ involvement in misconduct offenses, the effects of suspension on their careers, and the support and intervention provided to suspended individuals. A variety of factors, including individual carelessness or negligence, vices, family disputes, and the non-payment of debts or obligations, contribute to individuals’ participation in misconduct cases. The suspension profoundly impacted the respondents’ experiences as police officers, resulting in a range of advantageous and disadvantageous outcomes. Furthermore, according to seven out of eight respondents, the Philippine National Police failed to provide coordinated assistance or support, and the overwhelming majority of those surveyed abstained from involvement in reform-related initiatives. Keywords: Misconduct, Police Accountability, Suspension, Inherent Administrative Disabilities, FORM Police

Navigating the Science System: Research Integrity and Academic Survival Strategies

Research Integrity (RI) is high on the agenda of both institutions and science policy. The European Union as well as national ministries of science have launched ambitious initiatives to combat misconduct and breaches of research integrity. Often, such initiatives entail attempts to regulate scientific behavior through guidelines that institutions and academic communities can use to more easily identify and deal with cases of misconduct. Rather than framing misconduct as a result of an information deficit, we instead conceptualize Questionable Research Practices (QRPs) as attempts by researchers to reconcile epistemic and social forms of uncertainty in knowledge production. Drawing on previous literature, we define epistemic uncertainty as the inherent intellectual unpredictability of scientific inquiry, while social uncertainty arises from the human-made conditions for scientific work. Our core argument—developed on the basis of 30 focus group interviews with researchers across different fields and European countries—is that breaches of research integrity can be understood as attempts to loosen overly tight coupling between the two forms of uncertainty. Our analytical approach is not meant to relativize or excuse misconduct, but rather to offer a more fine-grained perspective on what exactly it is that researchers want to accomplish by engaging in it. Based on the analysis, we conclude by proposing some concrete ways in which institutions and academic communities could try to reconcile epistemic and social uncertainties on a more collective level, thereby reducing incentives for researchers to engage in misconduct.

A Study of Attitudes Toward Teacher-Student Sexual Misconduct Cases Based on Student Age, Student Gender, and Teacher Gender

ABSTRACT Teacher-student sexual misconduct is a serious instance of child sexual abuse that impacts an estimated 10% of students. We tested whether two effects seen in research about these types of cases replicated across online American adult and undergraduate samples: (1) sympathy toward younger students who experience sexual abuse compared to older students and (2) leniency in cases of female teachers engaging with male students compared to other gender dyads. Participants (N = 525) reviewed a mock teacher-student sexual encounter and then answered questions about their views and case-related outcomes. Student age emerged as the most influential factor across all our variables of interest, where cases with younger students were viewed as more egregious than those involving older students. Incidents involving boys who experienced abuse were perceived as more “normal” than those involving girls. We found some support for the idea that there is leniency toward women teachers, but limited support for a female teacher-male student leniency effect. While these cases were viewed to be more normal and acceptable than other gender dyads, there were no effects on the other dependent variables. Sample type effects were also minimal, as our adult sample viewed the teachers involved to be more responsible and student complainants as more credible versus the undergraduate sample.

Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education (HE) Contexts: A Rapid Scoping Review

Artificial Intelligence (AI) developments challenge higher education institutions’ teaching, learning, assessment, and research practices. To contribute timely and evidence-based recommendations for upholding academic integrity, we conducted a rapid scoping review focusing on what is known about academic integrity and AI in higher education. We followed the Updated Reviewer Manual for Scoping Reviews from the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews Meta-Analysis for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) reporting standards. Five databases were searched, and the eligibility criteria included higher education stakeholders of any age and gender engaged with AI in the context of academic integrity from 2007 through November 2022 and available in English. The search retrieved 2223 records, of which 14 publications with mixed methods, qualitative, quantitative, randomized controlled trials, and text and opinion studies met the inclusion criteria. The results showed bounded and unbounded ethical implications of AI. Perspectives included: AI for cheating; AI as legitimate support; an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens into AI; and emerging recommendations to tackle AI implications in higher education. The evidence from the sources provides guidance that can inform educational stakeholders in decision-making processes for AI integration, in the analysis of misconduct cases involving AI, and in the exploration of AI as legitimate assistance. Likewise, this rapid scoping review signals key questions for future research, which we explore in our discussion.

Should research administrators be regulated as carefully as researchers?

This essay assesses the rationale for regulating research administrators as carefully as they regulate researchers. The reasons for such regulation are identical: protecting scientific integrity, ensuring responsible use of public funds, addressing the lack of effective recourse for victims, creating negative consequences for misbehaving actors, and addressing high incentives for misconduct. Whereas the reasons compelling us to regulate research administrators are obvious, counterarguments to administrative oversight are based on suggestions that the incidence and prevalence of cases of administrative misconduct are too low to warrant formal regulation. I briefly describe examples of the phenomenon drawn from publicly available records. My analysis suggests that the misconduct of research administrators is both serious and worthy of better oversight. Improved oversight of research administration will help steward tax dollars appropriately and enhance the overall integrity of the scientific record and of the free pursuit of knowledge more generally.