01/12/2026

Where does responsibility for academic integrity start and end?

by Jane Forbes

Image credit: Author using AI in Canva.

While doing a literature search recently, I came across a recently published, fantastic dissertation. The abstract said all the right things to help fill a gap in my research. To verify the applicability of its findings to my own work, I dove into the literature review and methodology section further.

I then did what most researchers do…..I went down that colossal time waster, yet highly informative rabbit hole and read the references. The reference section was filled with great articles that could help me expand my research. I then started a new document I so astutely called ‘need to look these up’. I cut and pasted about 15 references that sounded very promising from the titles and as applied in the dissertation.

Then I went through the articles, one by one, to try to find them. The keyword here is ‘tried’. Beyond a general internet search, I went into my University library’s search engine and various databases, attempting to find each of them. Only two of the 15 articles on my look up list were openly accessible with accurate DOI links. Two others were found after some digging, with incorrect links or location (title of journal/website) information.

Three of the referenced articles were listed as published in an academic journal which focuses on the profession discussed in the dissertation. So, I went to that journal’s website. I put the article titles in the search bar of the journal, yet no results were found. I looked in the journal’s archives for the volumes and page numbers for the three references. The journal’s published articles and authors for the referenced volumes and page numbers did not match the ones I was hoping to find.

I even searched for the authors listed on some of the references individually. Although some authors appeared, none related to the articles I was looking for. One author in particular, wrote quite a bit on the topic, yet all of their work was 15 years after the article stated it was published in the reference. I looked at the authors’ ResearchGate and other similar sites, but no articles by the referenced names exist. I now have a lot of questions. So many questions.

Here comes my ethical dilemma related to academic integrity. I have just read a dissertation published only a few months ago, where at least a handful of references are unfindable. This is a sign of non-original student work, likely produced by generative artificial intelligence. What do I do with this information? Something? Nothing? If this was one of my students in my course, we would be having a conversation about originality and resource attribution. I also might be filling out a student conduct report for the student who submitted non-original material. What would you do?

When I think about the process a doctoral student goes through to get to the completed dissertation, I wonder at what stage(s) of their learning journey they could have been guided on original work. Also, at what point was there a breakdown in verifying student work; with the instructor in whose class the student likely did literature reviews, by the doctoral committee who hopefully repeatedly read and finally approved the document, or even the department chair who is ultimately responsible for academic standards?

I do not know the generative artificial intelligence use policies at the school. Perhaps students are encouraged to use such sources in their daily coursework. I do not know the student academic conduct policies at the school. However, I do know that the University has condoned and published a student’s dissertation that was not entirely their own, as I cannot find the articles they purportedly used as the basis of their research. Submitting work with falsified references certainly violates all student conduct policies I have read. In my view, though, the most severe problem is I cannot trust anything written in that dissertation for use in my own research. I cannot be certain that the evidence in it was not hallucinated by artificial intelligence or that the student did not simply make up information throughout.

If you have read this blog, you are now also burdened with the knowledge that this document exists out there in the web-o-sphere. We all know it is not alone. You have surely already come across unverifiable references in works you have read. We know non-original work is being submitted even by researchers and getting published in reputable journals. Is it my responsibility to notify the University’s research board, the department chair, or committee who signed off on it? If I do notify them, will it come back to negatively impact me in some way?

What is the responsibility of the organization and its employees for academic integrity when this comes to light after a student has left? There actually have been court cases on this exact issue with mixed findings. 

Where does responsibility for academic integrity start and end for students, researchers, and higher education institutions? What is the ethical responsibility for someone who randomly found a dissertation with unverifiable references?

Bio: Dr. Jane K. Forbes is Sociology adjunct faculty and a student conduct board member at American Public University System. Last year, she completed her Doctorate in Education Leadership, studying the relationship between motivational factors and likelihood to report academic dishonesty amongst higher education faculty.