The influence of autonomy and integrity on the quality of undergraduate research

Abstract

The objective of the current research is to explore the research quality of second-year Licence students of English in the University of 8 Mai 1945, Guelma (Algeria), and the influence of autonomy and integrity on this quality. Hence, two hypotheses were specified: First, training students to use research techniques and sanctioning plagiarists could lead to high-quality research. Second, high autonomy could result in research quality improvement. To test the first hypothesis, the experimental method was adopted through the Solomon four-group design. Four groups were selected randomly from second-year students of English. To test the second hypothesis, a students questionnaire was administered. Besides, a teachers interview was conducted to corroborate the results with those of the students‘ questionnaire. A pre-test as well as a test on plagiarism (Plagiarism Checker-X) were administered before the experiment to assess the students‘ research quality and academic integrity and ensure the equivalence of the groups. Findings from the plagiarism test, the pre-test, and the teachers‘ interview showed that the research quality of the majority of the students is average at best. An experiment was conducted by training students to conduct research through paraphrasing, citation, quoting, and referencing as well as raising their awareness of independent research stages through the Research Skill Development Framework (Willison & O‘Regan, 2016). Findings from the post-test and the second plagiarism test revealed that more than half of the students in the experimental group avoided plagiarism due to the training and plagiarists‘ sanctioning. Quantitative data from the students‘ questionnaire indicated that the students‘ research quality is average due to their average level of autonomy. Therefore, both hypotheses were confirmed. Eventually, imposing an ethical code for each department and using sanctioning as a deterrence strategy are highly recommended.