Academic Dishonesty Mitigation Measures Put in Place by Libraries for Supporting Postgraduate Research at Selected Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Postgraduate research is significant in the academic discipline, and students are expected to submit original research without engaging in academic misconduct. Nevertheless, academic dishonesty continues to be a severe challenge among postgraduate students in different universities globally. Despite the different measures to counter academic dishonesty, the challenge continues to prevail. This study was motivated by the high rates of plagiarism and academic dishonesty reported by universities among postgraduate students. It aimed to assess the mitigation measures put up by libraries to curb academic dishonesty to support postgraduate research at KeMU and UoEM in Kenya. The objectives were: to establish the efficacy of plagiarism detection software, scholarly training, academic dishonesty awareness creation, and academic dishonesty policies and guidelines in mitigating academic dishonesty at the UoEM and KeMU in Kenya. The theory of planned behavior guided the research. It employed a survey research design. The target population included postgraduate students, Directors of Postgraduate Studies, and librarians, totaling 1008 participants. It used a sample size of 208 participants, constituting 195 postgraduate students, two directors of postgraduate studies, and 11 librarians from the UoEM and KeMU. It applied stratified sampling and simple random sampling within each stratum. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from respondents. Pretesting of instruments was done in Kirinyaga University with 1 director of postgraduate studies, 5 librarians, and 25 postgraduate students. To determine the validity, the researcher used construct and content validity and Cronbach alpha coefficient was applied to determine reliability. The methods used for analysis were descriptive statistics like mean and standard deviation, while thematic analysis was used on qualitative data. The research data was presented in tables. The research followed research ethics, observing all research policies. It also ensured the respondents’ safety and confidentiality. Results showed that academic dishonesty measures established by libraries for supporting postgraduate research in KeMU and UoEM, promote academic integrity. Background information on academic dishonesty presented the practice as a significant challenge to postgraduate studies. The practice is manifested in using software to commit academic dishonesty, falsifying information, and plagiarism in research and scholarly writing. The main approaches university libraries adopted to combat the challenge are: using anti-plagiarism software, creating awareness, training students, increasing access to research materials in online and physical libraries, and using academic dishonesty policy guidelines. However, the research findings showed that although the approaches have helped reduce academic dishonesty, they cannot eliminate the challenge completely; hence, the need for university libraries to adopt measures to improve the processes. The research concluded that postgraduate research is vital in creating useful knowledge, and its quality should be maintained by mitigating academic dishonesty. It recommended that universities management, faculty and libraries should increase collaborations between academic stakeholders, increase student mentorship, support anti-plagiarism software use with other frameworks, make educational writing training a regular practice, and establish awareness creation forums to inform students about academic integrity policies and guidelines. This study was valuable in promoting quality and original postgraduate research without engaging in academic dishonesty.