ERIC Number: EJ1485650
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1570-1727
EISSN: EISSN-1572-8544
Available Date: 2024-09-12
Fabricating Citations: The Policies of New Jersey Public Institutions of Higher Education
Journal of Academic Ethics, v23 n3 p423-440 2025
Higher education academic integrity policies are varied, and similarly, the language regarding the act of fabricating citations can be diverse and subjective. With recent calls to align academic integrity policies with practice, the aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of how the act of fabricating citations is presented in higher education academic integrity policies by conducting a two-phase content analysis of the web-based, academic conduct policies for undergraduate students at public institutions of higher education in the State of New Jersey. The first phase consisted of a conceptual analysis for language regarding the act of fabricating citations. The second phase consisted of a thematic analysis of the policies that included language regarding the fabrication of citations. This study finds several potential issues. Policies that lack language regarding the fabrication of citations fail to communicate it as a prohibited act, and some policies that include language regarding the fabrication of citations use ambiguous terminology that is subjective, exclusive examples that fail to include all acts of citation fabrication, or phrasing that fails to align with the following commonly used writing styles: American Psychological Association (APA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), and Modern Language Association (MLA).
Descriptors: Public Colleges, School Policy, Integrity, Citations (References), Undergraduate Students
BioMed Central, Ltd. Available from: Springer Nature. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://www-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/gp/biomedical-sciences
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New Jersey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Rowan University, The Department of Communication Studies, Glassboro, USA

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