Academic dishonesty, a cancer devouring academia: A Case Study of Academic Dishonesty at Two Zimbabwean Universities

Abstract

Academic dishonesty has dominated academia for a long time with researchers defining it, identifying its causes, forms, and probable ways of reducing or stopping it. The outbreak of COVID-19 saw many institutions of higher learning adopt technology in their teaching and learning which brought about new forms of academic dishonesty. This study aims to understand the perceptions and views of students (n=6) from two different universities in Zimbabwe and writers (n=2) about practicing academic dishonesty when writing their Bachelor dissertations. This qualitative study adopted an explanatory case study research design. Interviews were mainly used for data
collection and data was analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) modified Stevick-ColaizziKeen phenomenological data analysis process. The study results showed that students practice academic dishonesty when writing their dissertations by manipulating the plagiarism check index, ghost writing, and spousal academic-based dishonesty. The students also gave reasons for practicing academic dishonesty, and the flaws of academic dishonesty. The recommendations of the study are varied but what stands out most is for academic systems to come up with a system that may do away with the current structure of dissertation writing.