Ghostwriting concept: the Study of Academic Miscundot in Iranian Higher Education Context

Academic dishonesties, especially phenomena such as paper and/ or thesis and its related business, are increasing in Iran and now it is a challenge in higher education at the national level. Before any national policy making for controlling this phenomenon, determining different aspects of it can be helpful in further understanding and achieving a conceptual framework necessary for efficient and effective decisions. According to the importance of this subject, studying the related body of literature revealed that this phenomenon has not been paid from its main players i.e. writers and customers' points of view till now.

achieving a contextual and structural concept of this phenomenon, this research sought to study the experiences of these two main players with an inductive approach and a mix of ethnographic and grounded theory methods to find a pattern.

Results showed that ghostwriting phenomena can be conceptualized using seven dimensions including the name of phenomenon, its scope, ghostwriters attributes, introducing channels, the economy of ghostwriting, attributes of ghostwriting customers, and attitudes toward ghostwriting. The results provide policymakers and researchers with the necessary understanding of ghostwriting phenomena.

This research is the first qualitative study that seeks to conceptualize ghostwriting as one of academic misconduct.