On 11 October 2019, staff members, researchers and students of the North-West University (NWU) came out in numbers to attend the 20th public lecture in the NWU Research and Innovation Seminar Series on the campus in Potchefstroom.
Prof Ida Sabelis, an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, presented a lecture on research integrity and plagiarism.
According to Prof Sabelis, who has a longstanding relationship with the NWU, ethics and integrity are more complex than what meets the eye.
“Researchers share a number of common values such as honesty, transparency and accountability, but are sometimes blinded by tragedies that can have a negative influence on their careers,” says Prof Sabelis.
She explains that “tragedies” are an acronym for temptation, rationalisation, ambition, group and authority pressure, entitlement, deception, incrementalism, embarrassment and stupid systems.
Prof Sabelis encourages researchers and academics to focus on the end goal and manage these interconnected tragedies within their work environments, rather than falling into the trap of these career-shattering pitfalls.
She also touched on various issues that affect academics and researchers when they don’t collaborate with academics from other disciplines.
Dr Shernice Soobramoney from the NWU’s Global Engagement office with Prof Ida Sabelis and Prof Nnenesi Kgabi, director of the Research Support office.
