Led by Research Auditor Simulacrum
About this course
The third and final course in the Foundation Curriculum. Research Methods and Source Integrity equips the student to evaluate the methodological quality of research they read and to use sources honestly in research they produce — including the specific new risk of AI-generated hallucinated citations.
Your host is the Research Auditor Simulacrum. Module 2 is led by the Bibliography Auditor Simulacrum and the Academic Integrity Coach Simulacrum.
Led by Research Auditor Simulacrum
The question
Does the methodology support the claims? You will study how to read a research paper for method rather than content — identifying the research question and claims, the methodology type and its validity requirements, the gap between method and claims, common methodological limitations, the replication standard, and what statistical significance does and does not establish.
Outcome
You can analyse the methodology and claims of a research paper — identifying the method-claims gap and applying the stress-test framework including replication, bias, and the limits of statistical significance.
Sub-units
Led by Bibliography Auditor Simulacrum
The question
Is every citation verified, and is every source used honestly? You will study citation verification (including the specific risk of AI hallucinated citations and the verification procedure), source selection criteria, genuine paraphrase versus its imitations (mosaic plagiarism, patchwriting), and the attribution standard.
Outcome
You can verify citations to graduate standard, identify the hallucinated-citation risk in AI-assisted research, and distinguish genuine paraphrase from patchwriting and mosaic plagiarism.
Sub-units