Purpose

Purpose and general objectives

With this project, it is intended, on the one hand, to obtain evidences and knowledge about the phenomenon of academic dishonesty in the evaluations -basically in the exams/tests, essays, Master and Doctoral dissertations- among the postgraduate students and, on the other hand, to develop formative and informative devices that contribute to combat this phenomenon. Therefore, the purpose of our proposal has an analytical and descriptive dimension and another one that is formative and transformative.

1. The descriptive-analytical dimension (DA-D) consists on analyzing the characteristics, magnitude and extent, impact, causes and repercussions of academically dishonest behaviors and practices among postgraduate university students and evaluating existing strategies and measures for their prevention.
2. The transformative-formative dimension (TF-D) consists on designing, developing and evaluating three types of devices to prevent academically dishonest behaviors and practices among postgraduate university students:
   1. Training programs on academically dishonest behaviors and practices among postgraduate university students aimed at teachers/lecturers and students.
   2. Self-evaluation tool aimed at Postgraduate Schools in general and postgraduate degrees in particular that allows a diagnosis of their situation in relation to academic integrity and that facilitates the implementation of mechanisms to promote and assure it.
   3. Bank of evidences in relation to the management, planning and daily practices of the universities on academic integrity among the university students.

Finally, it should be noted that the achievement of these goals contributes to: 1) responding, firstly, to the challenges posed in the "Spanish Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020" and more specifically addressing the objective “Social sciences and humanities and science with and for society”, secondly and in a wider perspective, it addresses some of the pretensions/challenges of the “Spanish Strategy for Science and Technology and Innovation (2013-2020)”, especially those referring to "Changes and social innovations" and more specifically concerning the one that focuses on searching for solutions that lead to a responsible society; 2) translate into facts the emerging concept sponsored by the European Union of “Responsible Research and Innovation” (RRI), which has in the integrity one of its main and crucial dimensions; 3) develop the orientations of the Pan-European Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education (ETINED); platform emanated from the final declaration of the Conference of Ministers of Education held in Helsinki in 2013; 4) follow the indications and suggestions of both the Spanish National Declaration on Scientific Integrity (adopted by the CRUE, the Confederation of Scientific Societies of Spain COSCE and the CSIC in December 2015) as well as the Analysis and revaluation of the doctoral studies in Spain, promoted by the Spanish Royal Academy of Doctors and which demands more attention to issues such as the prevention of fraud in doctorates; and 5) to emphasize the indications that the EU Framework Program Horizon 2020 (H2020) makes on the need to "protect the integrity of the investigation, avoiding in particular any plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of data".

Specific objectives

The general aims/objectives of the project are broken down into the following specific objectives:

• (SO1) Conduct a systematic review of the literature on academic integrity among postgraduate students (DA-D).
• (SO2) Establish which are the main behaviors and dishonest practices among the postgraduate students and measure their prevalence (DA-D).
• (SO3) Analyze the causes associated with the commission of dishonest behaviors and misconduct among postgraduate students (DA-D).
• (SO4) Deepen the knowledge of the main strategies, measures and applicable tools for the prevention and promotion of academic integrity among university students (DA-D).
• (SO5) Analyze the policy and institutional intervention of academic integrity in postgraduate schools (DA-D).
• (SO6) Design, elaborate and disseminate data, information, resources, tools and proposals based on scientific evidence, aimed at the prevention of academic dishonesty in postgraduate studies and the promotion of the culture of integrity and probity (TF-D).