Ethics for a Sustainable World: Academic Integrity and Corrupt Behaviour

Dear Colleagues,

Academic integrity and corrupt behaviour among educational institutions around the world is cause for concern. Several environmental, cultural, economic, political, social, and psychological consequences result from such harmful practices. Educational corruption is remarkably damaging because it reinforces tolerance towards corrupt acts from an early age. One of the main functions of education is to teach young students how to behave in the future; so, if the same educational system itself is corrupt, it is logical to expect corrupt citizens in modern societies.

Additionally, there is no sustainability without considering ethics. The world will only survive if it is based on ethical values. Global warming, political corruption, fiscal fraud and exacerbated individualism are some examples of what we should change if we really want a long-term and sustainable planet. In our opinion, all of this will be only possible by fostering ethical practices in academic settings, from an early age to young adults.

Consequently, our proposal consists of a rigorous analysis of variables associated with academic integrity and corruption. The present Special Issue seeks novel and high-quality contributions addressed to understand the underlying mechanisms of ethical and unethical practices in an academic setting. We also intend to reach novel conclusions regarding the design of policies aimed to tackle corruption and unethical practices contrary to sustainability. Some of the topics especially welcomed to this issue are the following ones (but not limited to):

• Corrupt behaviours (favouritism, bribery, embezzlement, fraud…) in all sustainability-related areas and in academic settings;
• Academic integrity (plagiarism, cheating…) in all educational levels;
• Other manifestations of ethical and unethical behaviours at the educational level (both in public and private organizations).

Manuscripts will contribute substantially to the scientific development of behavioural ethics in education. Contributions from multiple perspectives and disciplines (e.g., psychology, economics, sociology, politics, natural sciences…) are highly encouraged due to the complex nature of these theoretical and practical problems. We also encourage authors to forward this invitation to their colleagues who might be interested in publishing in the present issue.

Prof. Dr. Tomas Bonavia
Prof. Dr. Martin Julián
Guest Editors

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