In the media

Kenya is a major hub for academic ghostwriting, with an estimated 40,000 shadow scholars in Nairobi alone, producing essays, dissertations, and coursework for international students. Earnings range from under 1 GBP per page to thousands of pounds for dissertations. Despite the 2022 ban on essay mills in the UK, ghostwriting practices persist, now increasingly intertwined with generative AI.

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.

Ghanaian universities face new research paper retractions in top international journals, following nearly 1,000 removals last year. The articles, initially peer-reviewed and indexed by leading global institutions, are now marked as compromised, highlighting fake credentials, ethical lapses, and peer review issues, intensifying “publish or perish” pressures and calls for stronger higher education oversight.

Artificial intelligence is now scanning academic literature for fraud, plagiarism, and errors on a large scale. Tools like Image Twin and Proofing detect manipulated images, while others flag ghostwriting and fake citations. A global AI-powered audit could soon expose widespread scientific flaws. Experts warn that such revelations may erode public trust, unless the scientific community leads the reform and communicates transparently.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched a blockchain-based platform to verify academic degrees, aiming to curb widespread diploma fraud. The move follows a 2023 audit that found nearly one in three diplomas submitted for verification was either fraudulent or unverifiable. Developed in partnership with TindaTech, the system enables universities to issue tamper-proof credentials, helping restore trust in education and promote transparency nationwide.

A global Research Integrity Risk Index placed over a dozen top Indonesian universities in high-risk zones due to systemic integrity issues. The Ministry of Higher Education urged institutions to prioritize research quality and ethics over publication quantity. Critics cite unrealistic academic demands, weak oversight, and flawed incentives as contributors to unethical practices. The report has sparked calls for reform and greater emphasis on academic integrity in Indonesia’s higher education system.

Kuwait’s Court of Cassation sentenced three education Ministry employees including the head of the ministry’s secret printing unit, a teacher, and another staffer for leaking confidential high school exam papers. The breach occurred within the Ministry’s secure printing unit, where classified papers were distributed in exchange for personal favors.

According to a report published by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the International Quality Group, corruption in higher education vary between countries but it highlights unethical, inappropriate, and illegal practices. Some examples include university leaders and professors with fake or undeserved doctoral degrees impacting on the governance of some Russian universities, ‘ghost advising’ or absenteeism by senior academics, delegating their responsibilities for teaching or supervision to junior colleagues or research students, is widespread in Kosovo, or students and teachers sexually harassing, threatening or harming academic teaching staff in Uganda.