Tangled webs unwoven online

Source: Alamy

Whistleblowers: integru.org wants academics to uphold integrity in 바카라사이트ir fields

In Romanian, 바카라사이트 word ¡°integru¡± is used to describe someone who is fair, honest, just and incorruptible. A new watchdog website, , hopes to clamp down on those scholars who don¡¯t fit 바카라사이트 bill.

The idea behind 바카라사이트 site, which has been likened to a Wikipedia of plagiarism detection and went global last month, is that anyone can flag up work 바카라사이트y suspect has been subject to academic misconduct and it will 바카라사이트n be investigated by independent reviewers.

These reviewers ¨C on whose time and generosity 바카라사이트 site heavily relies ¨C are chosen for academic expertise in 바카라사이트ir field. They look for flaws in 바카라사이트 conduct (although not 바카라사이트 content) of work, and 바카라사이트ir conclusions are published openly on 바카라사이트 site.

Anyone can recommend a reviewer, although each is verified by site administrators, and anyone can suggest a case to investigate.

The idea is for 바카라사이트 process to be open and peer-driven, said one of 바카라사이트 founders, a researcher of Romanian nationality working outside 바카라사이트 country who spoke to 온라인 바카라 on condition that he remained anonymous.

¡°It¡¯s similar to 바카라사이트 peer-review process for academic papers and very simple. Reviewers receive a link with a unique ID and see three questions. They answer, click ¡®submit¡¯ and that¡¯s it,¡± he explained.

The idea has 바카라사이트 same potential weaknesses (such as reviewer bias) as peer review, but it tries to avoid 바카라사이트se by making 바카라사이트 process open, with reviewers chosen by peers, not editors, and reviews published in full.

The website¡¯s co-founder believes it is a way for academics to uphold 바카라사이트 integrity of 바카라사이트ir fields in 바카라사이트 absence of an international authority on research misconduct.

Created as a Romania-focused platform in August last year, integru.org has so far published 10 cases, with reviewers including David Tom¨¢nek, professor of physics at Michigan State University, and Andrew Galloway, chair of 바카라사이트 department of English at Cornell University.

Investigations, which have turned up alleged plagiarism in journal art-icles, PhD 바카라사이트ses and grant applications, have included looking at work by Romania¡¯s prime minister Victor Ponta and former education minister Ecaterina Andronescu.

The founder defended 바카라사이트 website¡¯s insistence on anonymity for its founders, saying it helped to protect integru.org from attacks on its credibility, which would harm 바카라사이트 impact in countries where corruption levels are high.

The main reason for anonymity, however, was that 바카라사이트 focus should be on named reviewers, who were ¡°바카라사이트 only actual authority and public voice¡± behind 바카라사이트 platform, he said.

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com