Supervising and examining research students
Topic: Editorial support for research students
What do you think...
Is the thesis the student's own work if it has been edited by someone else?
Read this short report:
“Plagiarism is frowned on. A less obvious but important question of authorship also arises when a thesis incorporates the work of a third party such as a professional editor. Does the increasing, and often invisible, use of this resource constitute plagiarism? … Arguably, the assessment process already involves feedback and guidance that could be seen as [colleagues and supervisors] directly intervening in the student's learning. Whether the supervisor suspects such assistance or it has been openly acknowledged, the dilemma is in determining a suitable approach to assessing the student's own achievements. Whose work is being marked? How do we decide whodunnit ?” (abstract) Evans, S., & Deller-Evans, K. (2002). A modern whodunnit: Whose work are we marking? In M. Kiley & G. Mullins (Eds.), Quality in Postgraduate Research: Integrating perspectives. CELTS, University of Canberra.* |
Focus questions
- Where would you draw the line in providing your own editorial input to your higher degree student's thesis?
- In what circumstances would you give written permission to your higher degree student to engage a professional editor to work on her / his thesis? In what circumstances would you decline to give this permission?
- Can you think of any ways in which third party editing might strengthen rather than compromise the academic integrity of a thesis?
* Used with permission of the authors.