In the media

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Sydney reveal a global, organized network of academic fraud involving paper mills and collusive peer review. The investigation shows bulk-produced papers, paid authorships, citation trading, and editorial misconduct. The study highlights systemic issues in scientific publishing and calls for stronger review processes and fraud detection technologies incentives.

Since January 1st, 2025, a new law requires Californian school board members to undergo two hours of ethics training at least once every two years. This mandate also applies to school districts, county boards of education, and governing bodies of charter schools. The training covers topics such as legal issues, conflicts of interest, respect, and professional discourse.

A survey of 125 university librarians across the US has discovered differing opinions on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education. Looking into the ethics of AI use, the report said that 8% of librarians stated a definitive ‘yes’ when asked if they believe it is cheating if students use AI products for research, while 42% felt this to be somewhat true. Major concerns include cheating, eliminating or reducing critical thinking and originality, and replacing human jobs.

The new Globethics.net University Ranking (GUR) will provide a unique global ranking instrument that places values, ethics, and sustainability as central principles of higher education institutions worldwide. It encompasses a new higher education framework to assess student learning experience, and key stakeholders on integrity, values-driven leadership, and sustainability commitment. Universidad de Santiago, a private institution in Cape Verde, received the highest overall score and gained the best marks for student sustainability and integrity.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the accounting firm, Ernst & Young, with cheating on ethics exams for Certified Public Accountant licensing and lying about it to investigators. Along with the $100 million fine, the firm will have to undertake extensive remedial measures to fix the firm’s ethical issues. Auditors say that SEC is investigating three other large public accounting firms for conflicts of interest.

The number of undergraduate data science programmes in the US increased from 13 in 2014 to at least 50 in 2020. According to a new study, the undergraduate training for data scientists does not sufficiently prepare students for the ethical use of data science, privacy, and systemic bias. Only 50% of the investigated degree programmes required an ethics course.

In the three months before March 15, the company ProctorU, which monitors tests remotely, confirmed cheating in 2,547 cases. In the three months after, when the pandemic triggered campuses across the US to move online, ProctorU verified 57,597 cheating incidents. Ethicists say that students Googling answers on tests have an unfair advantage over students who do not. This same behaviour by medical students or apprentice pilots has consequences that are even more serious, as it places others in jeopardy.

The Josephson Institute, which conducts a survey of high school students every two years, reports that while 50% of students admit cheating, 93% are "satisfied with their own ethics and character". A professor at Rutgers University also suggests that half of their students cheat at least once a year. To demonstrate a united global front against cheating, Member institutions from the International Centre for Academic Integrity participate in the 5th annual Day of Action Against Contractual Cheating.

The 2017 Kessler International survey highlighted that “79% of students admitted to plagiarizing their assignments from the internet, 42% purchased custom papers online, and 28% said they had a service take their online classes for them.” An expert on integrity and ethics in education argues that minimizing cheating during remote education requires effective communication and instruction, and that classwork and assessments should focus on mastery rather than performance.

Boston University is investigating cheating after chemistry and physics students used the Chegg tutoring service to ask questions and get answers to online quizzes and exams. The university expects students to continue to behave ethically through remote learning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.