Forms of Dishonesty Amongst Academic Staff and the Way Forward

Abstract

This study sets out to investigate the forms of academic dishonesty prevalent among academic staff and the reason for their prevalence. The study used academic staff in two tertiary institutions in Cross River State, Nigeria. The survey research design was adopted. Three research questions guided the study. A questionnaire was developed, face validated and used for data collection from a convenient sample of 105 academic staff. Findings show that collectionof money to change grades for students, inclusion of name in a published paper one did not contribute to, taking adjunct lectureship in more than one place at a time and covering up examination malpractice cases are some examples of the academic dishonesty exhibited by the teaching staff. Desperation for promotion, get rich quick mentality and corruption in the society, laxity in punishing “culprit” lecturers and pressure from students and their parents or guardians were cited as contributory factors to the prevalence of academic dishonesty amongst the teaching staff. Suggested strategies for curbing the menace include ethical re-orientation seminars for academic staff, proper supervision of academic staff by heads of departments and appropriate sanctioning of guilty lecturers.

Key words: Academic dishonesty; Academic staff; Prevalence; Academic integrity; Moral value