Search Page

In Ghana, it is common to find journalists, university teachers, and government officials plagiarizing other people’s works. Recently, a senior lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, who is also the Head of the Banking and Finance Department, plagiarized a Facebook post and sent it to the Daily Graphic, which published it, both online and in print. When the lecturer was caught, he denied the offense, until the author of the content found sufficient evidence against him. University authorities have never investigated the case.

In order to reduce the alarming proportions of plagiarism in universities, teaching modules on ethics and professional conduct are introduced in various branches of higher education and scientific research sectors in Algeria. According to local news reports, the Ministry of Education called for the establishment of local ethics councils at the university level.

Perth’s Murdoch University and other universities have become heavily reliant on foreign student fees to bolster their incomes. 50 professors from the Australian Research Council’s Laureate Fellowship condemned the decision to take legal action against an associate professor from the university. Deeply concerned about the integrity of academic teaching, the professor complained on television that the university was not only enrolling international students whose English was inadequate but also allow them to graduate.

The University of Lagos has suspended a lecturer who was caught on film propositioning and sexually harassing an undercover BBC reporter. Several students in the film also made allegations of abuse against the lecturer. The university said it was "highly embarrassed" by the allegations and pledged to do "all that is necessary" to investigate and combat the "menace" of harassment at the institution.

In an interview with a local daily newspaper, Malaysia’s Education Minister said that efforts are underway to do a large-scale change in the world of academia. A review of the Statuary Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 605 to exclude academics from several rules governing civil servants will be carried out. This involves issues of academic freedom, integrity, plagiarism, and others.

The national Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program revealed that Universities across Australia enroll hundreds of thousands of foreign students simply as ‘cash cows’, however unprepared to undertake degree courses. Academics told ABC they have seen record numbers of academic misconduct cases and more and more international students struggling, some using phone apps to translate lectures. Following the ABC broadcast, the National Tertiary Education Union called for greater public accountability for universities in dealing with international students.

Secretive clauses are being used to conceal the extent of harassment and bullying at higher education institutions. Dozens of academics told BBC News they were “harassed” out of their jobs and forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) by their university after making complaints. British universities have spent about £87 million on bribes to staff members who come with “gagging orders” the past two years. This highlights a broader lack of transparency in the way universities deal with all kinds of misconduct and discrimination.

Reports that one of Japan's most prestigious medical universities tampered with female applicants' entrance exam scores have sparked an outcry on social media. Tokyo Medical University began altering results in 2011 to ensure under 30% of successful applicants would be women. The private university says it will investigate the discrimination reports. Users online took aim at the Japanese government over the scandal. Critics suggested the allegations were ironic given Prime Minister stated commitment to boost female participation in the workforce. The biggest daily newspaper in Japan, Yomiuri Shimbun, published the report examining student admission numbers on Thursday, generating complaints.

The excitement that marks the beginning of the academic year in the Algerian higher education sector, belies a crisis of credibility in the wake of several recent incidents of cheating. Last October, teachers in the faculty of economics at the University of Algiers disclosed the names of students accused of cheating in a doctoral entrance examination, but thus far no action against the students has been reported in the media. In a city east of Algeria two masters examinations were cancelled in October after model answers were leaked, while in the west, four doctoral projects in the faculty of arts and literature were nullified following complaints of academic dishonesty.

Scientists from the University of Ottawa, The Ottawa Hospital and other top-tier institutions across Canada keep publishing their results in fake science journals, tainting the work despite years of warnings. One veteran science publisher warns all the work that produced these studies “is just thrown away.” Until recently, the scope of the problem of “predatory” journals has been hard to measure. Now, one giant in the fake publishing field, OMICS International of India, has improved the search engine for 700 journals. Hundreds of Canadian scientists were found to have published recently with the Indian firm — the same company that accepted this newspaper’s analysis of how pigs fly.