In the media

South Africa’s Academy of Science has released a revised 2025 Code of Best Practice in Scholarly Journal Publishing, addressing AI misuse, peer-review ethics, open access, data transparency, and diversity. The code strengthens editorial independence, accountability, and integrity, aiming to curb predatory publishing, plagiarism, and unethical authorship. Stakeholders describe it as a blueprint for credibility and a safeguard for research trust.

In Germany, the number of private universities has doubled over the last two decades, to 115, and the number of students has quadrupled. These institutions are financed from a variety of sources, including companies and family funds. Although the universities claim that their academic independence remains intact, concerns about transparency have been raised. Transparency International warns against the potential influence of companies on research through their funding and urges greater transparency to preserve academic integrity.

According to Transparency International, 66 per cent of the money Nigerian governments allocate to education is stolen by corrupt officials. Resource misallocation, corrupt procurement, exchange of sex for grades, examination malpractices, fake qualifications, teacher absenteeism, and corrupt recruitment practices are just some examples of the challenges the education systems is facing. This affects the quality of education, inclusion and learning outcomes with devastating consequences for national economic growth.

Educating school children and young adults on the subject of corruption on the Seychelles’ three main islands is the aim of a joint project between Transparency Initiative Seychelles (TIS) and the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles (ACCS). Other than educating students and pupils, key activities under the project consist of revising the existing Anti-Corruption Act, reinforcing the capacity of the Transparency Initiatives Seychelles and to improve the latter’s advocacy through technical assistance and equipment.

In a surprise move, the president of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany this week announced plans to overhaul controversial contracts governing the use of a €150 million donation from a philanthropic foundation. Critics have charged that the agreement gives the donor too much control over publishing decisions and faculty appointments at the school’s Institute of Molecular Biology, which the foundation helped create in 2009. The move, which could eventually influence similar funding arrangements at other German universities, only partly satisfies critics. They are pushing for greater transparency from universities and donors.

German university heads have welcomed proposals by the Stifterverband – a network of foundations, businesses and individuals supporting the country’s higher education and research – for improved transparency in collaborations between universities and industry. The recommendations, issued in mid-April, stress the “responsibility of universities, as autonomous institutions, to regularly and appropriately inform the public about their collaborative projects with industry”.

Federal prosecutors are investigating an agreement between a Brazilian Federal University and a state-controlled oil company, which allegedly subcontracted tenured staff meant to work solely for the university via an academic foundation. However, after the investigation appeared to show widespread irregularities and fraud, higher education groups in Brazil have denied that there is insufficient transparency in the relationships between public universities and private companies.

The Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (COTAE) has released a procurement report on the educational system in the country. The objective of the project is to ensure that the procurement within the education sector is conducted and executed in a transparent and accountable fashion.

Poor management and a lack of transparency are damaging the delivery of primary education in South Africa, according to a new report from Transparency International. The report shows that one quarter of the schools in the districts surveyed were considered to be at high risk of corruption, and one in three principals considered embezzlement a significant concern.

According to TIC, the total estimate of losses caused by the inefficiency and lack of transparency in public contract awarding procedures in 2004 amounts to CZK 32.4 billion (over $US 13, 6 billions). The main causes of this situation is political unwillingness to set a really efficient and enforceable framework for public procurement, the influencing of public contract awarding procedures by political representatives and lack of efficient controls.