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Moor (1985) designated two major problem sources typifying the social and ethical implications of computer technologies, namely, “policy vacuum” and “conceptual muddles.” Motivated by Moor’s seminal definition and Floridi’s (2013) conceptualization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as re-ontologizing technologies, this study aims to explore Omani undergraduates’ cognition regarding ICT ethics.

Adopting a grounded theory approach for the constant comparative thematic analysis, the constituents of ICT ethics-related cognition among undergraduates and influencing factors were scrutinized. Qualitative data were gathered via focus group discussions with undergraduates and interviews with academics and information systems professionals at Sultan Qaboos University.

In total, 10 thematic categories revolving around a core category, constructing conceptual perceptions of and attitudes toward the realms constituting ICT ethics using an ontological, object-oriented approach, emerged from the comparative analysis. Undergraduates were found to adopt an applied approach when defining professional ICT ethics codes and policies, with a particular focus on information privacy and integrity.

This qualitative study was conducted at a single research site. This may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Postgraduates were not considered when designing this qualitative inquiry.

The findings of the study hold theoretical and methodological significance with regard to ICT ethics-related cognition in the era following the fourth industrial revolution by sustaining feminist ethics in this research. Ultimately, the study developed a substantive theory scrutinizing the constitutive elements of ICT ethics-related cognition among Generation Z.

Despite the ever-increasing importance of cultivating information, communication and technology literacy skills among college students, they have yet to be related to comprehensive measuring instruments. A glance at the empirical literature reveals that most pertinent scales have been confined to measuring Internet literacy skills, whereas educators in the 21st century advocate an inclusive conceptualization of ICT literacy. Such a comprehensive conceptualization embodies technical, critical, cognitive and emotional competencies. Additionally, more empirical evidence is needed to indicate gaps in testing measurement invariance of ICT literacy scales across genders or cultures. To that end, the current study aims to adapt and cross-validate an ICT literacy self-efficacy scale across gender by testing the measurement invariance using a multiple-sampling confirmatory factor analysis (MCFA). Furthermore, the current study aims to verify the ICT literacy self-efficacy scale's psychometric properties to establish its construct validity and understand the scale's underlying factorial structure.

The current study has administered the scale to a cross-sectional sample of 3560 undergraduate students enrolled in six universities in the Sultanate of Oman.

The results have revealed that the ICT literacy self-efficacy exhibits satisfactory indices of construct validity. On the other hand, the results of MCFA demonstrate that the differences in the goodness of fit indices between the nested models and the baseline model were below the cut-off criterion of 0.01, indicating invariance. Therefore, the scale has proved to be amenable for comparing genders on their ICT literacy self-efficacy using an one-way multivariate analysis of variance.

The study has several implications for research and pedagogical practices. The study provides empirical evidence for establishing ICT literacy self-efficacy as a distinct high-domain construct of task-specific self-efficacy beliefs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the development and validation of a self-report structured questionnaire based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The questionnaire was used to investigate university undergraduate students’ cognition, behavioural intent, and behaviour concerning the ethical use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

A quantitative correlational cross-sectional approach to data collection was used by administering a self-report questionnaire to a sample of 327 undergraduate students. To establish the construct validity of the questionnaire, internal consistency reliability and factorial analyses were performed.

Significant but different correlations between the constructs were under study. The behavioural intention had the greatest and most significant correlation with behaviour pertaining to information ethics. Overall, the scales, which constitute the instrument, showed acceptable indices of measurement validity.

The research implications of this paper shed light on the applicability of the TPB to the specific context in which this study was conducted. The results imply that the TPB framework can be extended and employed to understand better the influence of comprehending information-ethics concepts on the intentions and practices related to the ethical use of ICTs.

The paper has methodological value for researchers who seek to develop empirical instruments for measuring the factors that bear upon the attitudes and the behaviours related to information ethics. Furthermore, the paper has pedagogical value for students, teachers, and developers of information-ethics educational programmes at the tertiary level.

A research line has emerged that is concerned with investigating human factors in information systems and cyber-security in organizations using various behavioural and socio-cognitive theories. This study aims to explore human and contextual factors influencing cyber security behaviour in organizations while drawing implications for cyber-security in higher education institutions.

A systematic literature review has been implemented. The reviewed studies have revealed various human and contextual factors that influence cyber-security behaviour in organizations, notably higher education institutions.

This review study offers practical implications for constructing and keeping a robust cyber-security organizational culture in higher education institutions for the sustainable development goals of cyber-security training and education.

The value of the current review arises in that it presents a comprehensive account of human factors affecting cyber-security in organizations, a topic that is rarely investigated in previous related literature. Furthermore, the current review sheds light on cyber-security in higher education from the weakest link perspective. Simultaneously, the study contributes to relevant literature by gaining insight into human factors and socio-technological controls related to cyber-security in higher education institutions.