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The Impact of Online Article Purchases on Academic Integrity

1. Introduction to Online Article Purchases

Once faculty tasted the enticingly high pay, covetousness and entitlement became intrinsically involved. Also, these websites should not be confused with the legal alternatives encountered while following articles purchased at an academic seminar where only limited access, PDFs, and physical journals are permitted—much the same title an ATIZ lab forges a reviewer’s access log. Academic websites can also trade submitted conference papers to various digital library systems for a nominal price or offer the paper online at the faculty’s home network for a downloadable fee. It is unclear, however, how regularly academic websites make conference paper for purchase or download. In discussing internet companies, the claimed purveyors of forged conference papers are acknowledged to be one of the biggest suspects for university plagiarism detection software firms.

The trend of online article purchases and its association with an increase in academic integrity issues. Today, the modern academic journal is mainly digital, a complete change from the early 2000s. The capabilities of the web and various search engines have created a situation where individuals can easily look for a topic and get access to school journal articles, anywhere, anytime. Dubious websites operate through various front companies and lure clients, mainly terms to the effect that any purchased work is for personal use only. While some websites have strict rules prohibiting cheating and assuring the authenticity of the works, some unknown ones urge on writers to ‘just reword this in your own style’. It appears that these websites are more prolific, offering writing samples as well as a double-blind review system that ensures the best service. Subscribers to such sites may access the papers from the comfort of their homes without standing in long queues at college libraries or handle the typically rigid and slow interlibrary loan system. Moreover, individual abstracts can be obtained for an additional fee, and certain firms offer unlimited access to their article depositories, meaning repeated and uncontrolled plagiarism is possible. Some websites pay writers between £20 and £100, and the trade has afforded a normal week’s holiday in Hawaii.

2. Challenges and Controversies Surrounding Online Article Purchases

Obtaining published research requires a user to exchange values, often in the form of subscriptions or pay-per-view access fees. Externally, the article order (payment) system operates in a similar way to subscriptions and library access provision. Like subscriptions or site-licenses, online purchases and subscriptions through scholarly publishers are usually labeled as providing unlimited access to each issue of a journal (although actual use may be constrained by the individual publisher and platform settings). Articles moving into the public domain upon payment might decrease traffic to publicly accessible abstracts and interim (accepted) versions of publication, while paying for public access might increase traffic via the effect of adding searchable full-text into the websites’ databases.

Online article purchases are provisions of publishers that allow unregistered users to obtain articles for immediate download, print, and other rights in exchange for payment. They represent a model of ‘pay-per-view’ article provision based on post-hoc, user-initiated purchases. The right to personal research and use of work in this way is constrained by copyright laws and translated by business models. Debates and discussions about this topic center on plagiarism and dishonesty, Runshaw College, ethical concerns, criminality, and the publishing industry. Similarly, academic indeterminacy as a cross-disciplinary project appears threatened by online article purchasing. This is because, as a practical realization of ‘markets’, online article purchasing is insulated from the uncertainty which drives genuine scholarly communication.

3. Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity in the Digital Age

Many scientific and academic societies, including APS, have policy statements or guidelines covering scientific misconduct and promoting good practices. Publications by research funding agencies and research groups help to communicate how scientists and researchers should behave. Research on publications indicates that some universities and academics are not teaching the importance of ethics or preventing unethical behaviors. It is important to investigate (1) researchers’ awareness of the detrimental impact of purchasing online articles, (2) tools or assistance for establishing what work is original, and (3) what, if anything, is effective in deterring the fraudulent purchase of articles? Such a study would also indicate to APS and other publishers what policies or practices are likely to be most effective.

Given the findings of this study and those of previous research, what can academic institutions and publishers do to promote academic integrity, minimize unethical behaviors, and their impact on research quality? One strategy is to help researchers understand the potential negative consequences of purchasing online articles for their research and their field. To do so would require an educational campaign on the effects of such behavior. This could be conducted by research institutions or funding agencies through workshops and materials on responsible conduct in research. It could also include efforts to eliminate the stigma associated with less competitive work. Another strategy is to limit the conditions under which individuals may ethically purchase and use online articles. Editors and publishers may wish to consider adjusting their policies and practices to deter such activity. For example, some publishers, including, make it difficult for users to purchase individual articles by raising fees or including a subscription requirement. Finally, technology has improved researchers’ ability to detect duplicate publication and evidence of plagiarism. Consequently, research datasets could be scanned for copies of online articles, likely leading to retraction or censure by journal editors and publishers. Authors will be less likely to purchase online articles until there are more secure ways to purchase, copy, and outsource the work contained in the articles.

Section 3: Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity in the Digital Age