University of Kansas Leader Resigns Over Plagiarism
Plus, fraud in academic journals. Plus, Course Hero hugs Wal Mart, Forage.
Issue 87
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University of Kansas Vice-Provost Plagiarizes MLK Message, Resigns
According to news in Kansas, D.A. Graham, the Interim Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at the University of Kansas, plagiarized a significant portion of his MLK message to the school community. He has resigned.
Graham told the papers,
It was an oversight on my part
And
I was trying to hurry up and get the message together.
Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer said the resignation was, “a consequence that befits the action.”
This is not the first university leader to be snared in a plagiarism incident. In May of last year, the President of University of South Carolina resigned after plagiarizing a speech (see Issue 26).
That’s in contrast to W. Franklin Evans, the President of West Liberty University, a public university in West Virginia, who despite plagiarizing several times, has kept his job (see Issue 68).
Plagiarism isn’t good - obviously. But good for the University of Kansas for setting the right example and accepting this resignation.
Dean in Pakistan: Contract Cheating is Flourishing
Kholah Yaruq Malik, Dean of Academics and Internationalisation at the Millennium Universal Colleges in Pakistan, penned a piece for Times Higher Ed in which she said about contract cheating,
This is a flourishing business in Pakistan, but one that has crept up on the country largely unawares. It was only when the pandemic hit that the extent of the problem became apparent.
She continues,
whether via essay mills, tutoring websites, bots that appear whenever you even mention academic assignments on social media, or even just willing family and friends, cheating appears to have been rife. Perhaps the opportunity to take shortcuts online explains why students at several universities protested vigorously when it was announced that their exams would be in-person after all.
Reports: “Academic Fraud Factories” are “Booming”
Not all academic fraud is done by students.
Another great article from Times Higher Ed looks at “academic fraud factories” that sell published research to academics. They function much like the essay mills that students use and they are, the reporting says, “booming.”
From the article:
Anna Abalkina, a research fellow at the Free University of Berlin who focuses on academic fraud, said she believed the trade in ghostwritten journal papers was growing rapidly as scholars seeking publication by nefarious means turned away from low-quality predatory journals and towards businesses that guaranteed them publication in recognised outlets.
One provider of academic fraud was linked to 303 published papers, the article says. For a fee, researchers or those eager for publication links can add their names to a pre-approved paper in a subject area of their choice. Fees for the service range from about $200 to $6,000, depending on the prestige of the journal.
The paper also says that many of the papers offered for sale were written in languages other than English, making them difficult for plagiarism detection services to spot.
Course Hero Announces Partnership with Wal Mart, Forage
Forage, a company that says it offers free, online work experience with some pretty big companies, has a software engineering deal with retail giant Wal Mart. The first 200 people who sign up for the “virtual experience” get a free year of “study help” from cheating provider Course Hero.
In an announcement on Twitter, Course Hero says it’s “teamed up” with Forage on the Wal Mart deal:
It’s not clear why Forage or Wal Mart would want their brands so clearly and visibly associated with academic fraud. But it is clear why Course Hero would want to hug Wal Mart and legitimate learning providers, which I assume Forage is.
(h/t Court Cullen @csc0990)
Honorlock to Host Remote Proctoring Webinar
Remote proctoring and test security company Honorlock will host a webinar next week - Wednesday, January 26 - on remote proctoring. The announcement says topics will include:
Is remote proctoring the right fit for your institution?
How Honorlock’s blend of human proctors & AI software protects exams and supports students
How to set up online proctoring in two days
Search Tags: #Whitewashing #ContractCheating #AcademicJournals #Proctoring