Academic dishonesty in stricto sensu postgraduate programs in accounting

ABSTRACT The aim of this article was to analyze academic dishonesty in stricto sensu postgraduate courses in accounting from the perspective of students, teachers, and teaching institutions. There is a gap in the research on academic dishonesty in stricto sensu postgraduate programs in accounting, especially from the analysis perspective of this study, which considers hypothetical situations classified into five categories of dishonesty: fraud/cheating, helping other students, plagiarism, fabricating information, and self-plagiarism/similarities. The study is important due to the role of stricto sensu postgraduate courses not only in training professionals who work or will work in public and private institutions, but also and primarily in training teachers and researchers. Dishonest behaviors can influence the professional lives of those involved, who are predominantly motivated by opportunistic interests that cause damage to the image of professionals in the area and to society. The data were collected through applying two questionnaires adapted from the studies of Braun and Stallworth (2009) and Oliveira and Chacarolli (2013). Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon statistical tests were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated the existence of an expectations gap between teachers and students regarding academic dishonesty in stricto sensu postgraduate programs in accounting. The significant differences found in perceptions regarding cases of dishonesty underline the difficulty for students and teachers to evaluate what is dishonest or not in situations of fraud/cheating and helping other students to engage in academic dishonesty. The differences in students’ and teachers’ perceptions may occur due to a lack of clear rules in the teaching institutions. Therefore, universities could undertake actions to address/prevent dishonest behaviors by establishing internal regulations and promoting discussions involving the whole academic community.