Ghostwriting concept: the Study of Academic Miscundot in Iranian Higher Education Context

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc), Tehran, Iran

2 Faculty Member, Meybod University

3 University

4 University of Shiraz

5 Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc)

Abstract

Objective: Academic dishonesties, especially phenomena such as paper and/ or thesis and its related business, are increasing in Iran and now it is a challenge in higher education at the national level. Before any national policy making for controlling this phenomenon, determining different aspects of it can be helpful in further understanding and achieving a conceptual framework necessary for efficient and effective decisions. According to the importance of this subject, studying the related body of literature revealed that this phenomenon has not been paid from its main players i.e. writers and customers' points of view till now.
Methodology: achieving a contextual and structural concept of this phenomenon, this research sought to study the experiences of these two main players with an inductive approach and a mix of ethnographic and grounded theory methods to find a pattern.
Findings: Results showed that ghostwriting phenomena can be conceptualized using seven dimensions including the name of phenomenon, its scope, ghostwriters attributes, introducing channels, the economy of ghostwriting, attributes of ghostwriting customers, and attitudes toward ghostwriting. The results provide policymakers and researchers with the necessary understanding of ghostwriting phenomena.
Originality: This research is the first qualitative study that seeks to conceptualize ghostwriting as one of academic misconduct.
Keywords: academic dishonesty, paper, and thesis writing business, contextual study, ghostwriter, ghostwriting customer

Keywords


منابع

اسدی، سعید (1393). بدرفتاری علمی و رابطۀ آن با فعالیت های آموزشی و پژوهشی. کتاب ماه کلیات 17(2): 10-13.
خبرگزاری تسنیم (1395). صدای «مبلغان علم‌فروشی» خیابان انقلاب تهران ثبت جهانی شد.» خبرگزاری تسنیم. https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1395/07/18/1208242/ (دسترسی در هفتم خرداد 1397)
رجب‌زاده عصارها، امیرحسین (1390). مطالعه میزان آشنایی دانشجویان و اساتید دانشگاه تهران با مفاهیم و مصادیق سوء رفتارهای پژوهشی و روش‏های کاهش آن. پایان‌نامة کارشناسی ارشد. کتابداری و اطلاع‌رسانی، دانشگاه تهران، تهران.
طالب‌زاده، علیرضا (1395). علم فروشی در ایران.» جامعه خبری تحلیلی الف. http://old.alef.ir/vdcg3z9t3ak9qx4.rpra.html?410266. (دسترسی در هفتم خرداد 1397)
نخعی، نوذر، و نیک‌پور، هادی (1384). بررسی نظرات دانشجویان پزشکی در مورد فریب کاری پژوهشی در تدوین پایان‏نامه و فراوانی نسبی آن». گام‏های توسعه در آموزش پزشکی 2(1): 10-17.
References
Allen, Moira (2011). The Invisible Writer: The Art of Becoming a Ghost.Writing-World.http://www.writing world.com/freelance/ghost.shtml.
Anderson, Melissa S., Marta A. Shaw, Nicholas H. Steneck, Erin Konkle, and Takehito Kamata (2013). Research Integrity and Misconduct in the Academic Profession. In Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, edited by Michael B. Paulsen, 217–61. Dordrecht: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9628-0.
Bero, Lisa, and Jenny White (2009). Ghost Writing: How Some Journal Aided and Abetted the Marketing of a Drug. In International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication (Sept. 10). Vancouver, British Columbia.
Božič, Tilen Štajnpihler (2017). On Plagiarism and Power Relations in Legal Academia and Legal Education. Oñati Socio-Legal Series 7 (8): 1589–1609.
Commission on Research Integrity (1995). Integrity and Misconduct in Research.
Creswell, John W (2014. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 4th ed. London: SAGE Publications..
Elliott, Kevin C., Isis H. Settles, Georgina M. Montgomery, Sheila T. Brassel, Kendra Spence Cheruvelil, and Patricia A. Soranno (2017). Honorary Authorship Practices in Environmental Science Teams: Structural and Cultural Factors and Solutions. Accountability in Research 24 (2): 80–98. doi:10.1080/08989621.2016.1251320.
Garfield, Eugene (1985). Ghostwriting-The Spectrum from Ghostwriter to Reviewer to Editor to Coauthor. Current Contents, no. 48: 460–68.
Gasaway, Laura N (2009). Copyright Basics: From Earliest Times to the Digital Age. Wake Forest Intellectual Property Law Journal 10 (3): 241–64.
Guardian staff (2015). Ibrahimovic Ghostwriter Admits Inventing Quotes in ‘I Am Zlatan.’” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/27/ibrahimovic-ghostwriter-admits-inventing-quotes-in-i-am-zlatan.
Haviland, Carol Petersen, and Joan A. Mullin (2009. Who Owns This Text?: Plagiarism, Authorship and Disciplinary Cultures. Vasa. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. http://medcontent.metapress.com/index/A65RM03P4874243N.pdf%5Cnhttp://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/26/?utm_source=digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/26&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.
Hitt, Jack (1997). The Writer Is Dead. The New York Times Company. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/25/magazine/the-writer-is-dead.html.
Hu, Ze wen, and Yi shan Wu (2013). An Empirical Analysis on Number and Monetary Value of Ghostwritten Papers in China. Current Science 105 (9): 1230–34.
Jupp, Victor (2006. The Sage Dictionary of Social Research Methods. London: Sage Publications. doi:10.4135/9780857020116.
Kirkpatrick, David D (2001). Media Talk; Mrs. Clinton Seeks Ghostwriter for Memoirs. The New York Times Company. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/08/business/media-talk-mrs-clinton-seeks-ghostwriter-for-memoirs.html.
Kōno, Kensuke, and Ron Martin Wilson (2018). The Collaboration of ‘ghostwriting’ and Literature – the Case of Kawabata Yasunari. Japan Forum 30 (1): 60–68. doi:10.1080/09555803.2017.1307256.
Leo, Jonathan, Jeffrey R. Lacasse, and Andrea N. Cimino (2011). Why Does Academic Medicine Allow Ghostwriting? A Prescription for Reform. Society 48 (5): 371–75. doi:10.1007/s12115-011-9455-2.
Lerman, Lisa G (2001). Misattribution in Legal Scholarship: Plagiarism, Ghostwriting, and Authorship. S. Tex. L. Rev. 42: 467–92. doi:10.1525/sp.2007.54.1.23.
Mathews, Anna Wilde (2005). Ghost Story: At Medical Journals, Writers Paid by Industry Play Big Role. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113443606745420770.
May, Ernest R (1953). Ghost Writing and History. The American Scholar 22 (4): 459–65. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41207693?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
Miles, Matthew B, Michael A Huberman, and Johnny Saldaña (2014. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Method Sourcebook. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.
Newburn, Tim (2017. Criminology. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Routledge.
Office of Research Integrity (2011). Historical Background. Office of Research Integrity. https://ori.hhs.gov/print/historical-background.
Raloff, Janet (2009). Ghost Authors Remain a Chronic Problem. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-public/ghost-authors-remain-chronic-problem.
Sismondo, Sergio (2007). Ghost Management: How Much of the Medical Literature Is Shaped behind the Scenes by the Pharmaceutical Industry? PLoS Medicine 4 (9): 1429–33. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040286.
Steneck, Nicholas H (2006). Fostering Integrity in Research: Definitions, Current Knowledge, and Future Directions. In Science and Engineering Ethics, 12:53–74. doi:10.1007/s11948-006-0006-y.
The World Association of Medical Editors (2005). Ghost Writing Initiated by Commercial Companies. Journal of General Internal Medicine 20 (6): 549–549. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.41015.x.
Wiwanitkit, Viroj (2012). Ghostwriting: An Existing Problem. American Journal of Medicine 125 (10). Elsevier Inc.: e17. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2012.04.030.