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This study aims to investigate the effect of speckle pattern on displacement measurements using different speckle diameters and coverage ratios.

In order to compare the coverage ratio and speckle diameter during the evaluation of the correlation of digital images (DIC) study, template speckle plates were produced on a computer numerical control (CNC) punch press with 600 punches per minute. After the speckle plates were manufactured, the speckled pattern was randomly painted on a plain white side through the manufactured template plates, and then tensile tests were performed under the same loading conditions for each sample to observe displacement variation via correlation parameters.

During the manufacturing of templates with thin plates, a punch diameter of less than 1.7 mm will cause tool failure; therefore, uniform speckle size can be assessed before operation. A higher coverage ratio resulted in more accurate and reliable results in displacement data. With smaller coverage, the facet size should be increased to achieve favorable results.

If thick template plates are selected, speckle painting cannot be done properly; therefore, template thickness shall also be assessed before operation.

For randomly distributed DIC templates, increasing coverage beyond 50% does not make sense due to difficulties in the production process in the punch press.

Evaluating DIC results via templates manufactured in a punch press with different speckle diameters and coverage ratios is a new topic in literature.

Whistleblowing has received increasing attention and support in recent years as a means of detecting and correcting illegal, unethical or illegitimate practices in organizations. This study aims to examine the extent to which accounting students in Saudi Arabia, as prospective accountants, have the courage to blow the whistle.

A questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of final year accounting students in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire contained four groups of questions aimed at exploring the students' reaction to whistleblowing, the whistleblowing channel that students prefer, the encouraging factors for whistleblowing and the factors that discourage whistleblowing from the students' point of view. The instrument questions were developed with reference to previous studies conducted in other countries.

The findings of the study revealed that accounting students have the courage to whistle the wrongdoing. What encourages students to blow the whistle is their perception that fraud and corruption is an unethical behavior which goes against religious values and that the wrongdoer must take appropriate punishment. However, there are some factors that negatively affect the students' courage to blow the whistle, the most important of which is the fear of retaliation, in addition to their feeling that the wrongdoer will not be held accountable.

A sample of accounting students from one university limits generalizing the results to the population of accounting students in Saudi Arabia. Future research could examine this issue using larger samples of students, employees or professional accountants.

This study serves the Saudi vision 2030, which aims to combat fraud and corruption which negatively affect economic development. This study sheds light on the encouraging factors for Whistleblowing, which must be strengthened, as well as the discouraging factors, which must be addressed to mitigate their impact.

This study explores whistleblowing in Saudi Arabia where there is no research on this topic. This study comes at the appropriate time, as Saudi Arabia is currently witnessing an increasing interest in combating corruption, whether in the public or private sectors, and has recently introduced several legislations, as well as initiatives to encourage citizens to whistle the wrongdoing.