Conferences and symposiums Quality enhancement of compilation theses at Karolinska Institutet
At the end of the workshop you will be able to describe the fundamentals of thesis writing, specifically related to plagiarism and self-plagiarism/poor scientific practice.
This session is a part of KI's Educational Congress 2022
To be able to attend you need to register to the congress. More information of the congress: KI Educational congress 2022.
Moderators
Robert Harris and Ingeborg van der Ploeg.
Context
Faculty development.
Form
Workshop
Duration
2 hours
Background
Almost all doctoral theses at Karolinska Institutet (KI) and other medical faculties in Sweden are written as a compilation thesis composed of a comprehensive summary (the so called “kappa”) and papers (original peer-reviewed articles and manuscripts). The thesis is accessible to the public three weeks before the thesis defense both as a printed book and online in KI Open Archive, an open access research repository.
Aim
The quality of the thesis has during recent years come into increased focus at KI. On the one hand there is greater emphasis on achieving the learning outcomes for the doctoral education, including research communication skills that contribute to a well written kappa, and on the other hand the importance of appropriate handling sources and avoiding plagiarism.
Method
A variety of measures have been taken. First, an online course on avoiding plagiarism was made obligatory as part of the mandatory introduction for doctoral students. Second, a text matching system suitable for plagiarism checking of the kappa was implemented Third, the information on checking for plagiarism and on what is expected of the content of the thesis was improved for the benefit of doctoral students, supervisors, course leaders of scientific writing courses and of examination boards.
Results
The information and knowledge about plagiarism and why and how to avoid it and how to write a high-quality compilation thesis has increased at our university during recent years.
Conclusion
The institutional efforts to enhance the quality of the comprehensive summary/”kappa” at KI seem to pay off. Further quality enhancement might require more knowledge about why some students do not write a kappa of the quality expected.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the workshop you will be able to describe the fundamentals of thesis writing, specifically related to plagiarism and self-plagiarism/poor scientific practice.
Workshop
(1) Promoting academic integrity in examinations and acting right at the right moment, (2) an introduction to the topic followed by brainstorming about knowledge on different levels, (3) Padlet and /or Mentimeter will be used.