A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya
The GAIN network (Global Academic Integrity Network) is dedicated to the exchange of best practices, the promotion of international standards in academic quality assessment, and the collaboration in the fight against plagiarism and corruption within the university sector.
Academic integrity refers to the ethical standards and honesty expected in educational settings. It involves being truthful and fair in all aspects of academic work, such as completing assignments, taking exams, and conducting research. This means avoiding cheating, plagiarism and any form of dishonesty or misconduct that could give a learner an unfair advantage. Upholding academic integrity ensures that the learning process remains credible, and the value of educational achievements is maintained.
Contract cheating is a form of academic misconduct where a learner uses a third party to help them to produce work for academic credit.
Commercial contract cheating occurs when money changes hands during the contract cheating process, often via international essay mills. It is a global billion-euro industry that has the potential to cause significant reputational harm to education providers, learners and professionals and cause a significant loss of trust in our national qualifications systems.
Commercial contract cheating services have exploited the move to digital learning and online activity over recent years to sell their services to learners. The tactics they use to reach learners are increasingly sophisticated and predatory. They have been known to extort and blackmail students, meaning that engaging in contract cheating can have serious repercussions for learners, extending far beyond third-level education, into their careers.
Nationally, quality assurance agencies, regulators and education providers have been taking proactive measures to inform learners and staff about the threat posed by global commercial cheating services and educating them about they can support and maintain academic integrity within institutions. Some countries have developed regulatory approaches or contributed to the development of legislation to tackle commercial cheating services. However, this action at national level can have a limited impact when faced with the global nature of commercial contract cheating.
The Global Academic Integrity Network was established in 2022 by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and Australia’s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA. It is an international platform for members to discuss, collaborate and share information about commercial contract cheating services and other emerging threats to integrity. Topics discussed to date include:
The network also aims to explore approaches to disrupting and preventing commercial contract cheating as well as publishing joint statements to call stakeholders to action and support the achievement of GAIN's objectives.
Membership is open to organisations with an established legal basis and formally recognised by a competent public authority, who have responsibility for external Quality Assurance, regulation, accreditation or qualifications/qualifications recognition. There are now forty members of the network (6 which are from Spain alone) representing twenty-nine countries around the world. It is also endorsed by ENQA, the Council of Europe, the European Network for Academic Integrity, and the European Students Union.
For more information on GAIN and its membership, visit Global Academic Integrity Network.