Zimbabwe is in the process of developing new medical research legislation aimed at modernizing its approach to health research. This initiative seeks to address concerns such as outdated laws, lack of data transparency, and dependence on foreign funding. By fostering local research initiatives and collaborations between academia and industry, Zimbabwe aims to enhance its capacity for medical research and innovation, aligning with national priorities and advancing towards its Vision 2030 goals.

A new study highlights the necessity of training Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in Sub-Saharan Africa to manage the ethical and legal complexities inherent in data-intense research, particularly concerning data protection and sharing. Findings reveal a lack of awareness among REC members regarding existing laws at the national level, possibly resulting in research data crossing borders without appropriate agreements or permits. Establishing transparent and standardized data governance could foster shared ethical values and ensure responsible big data research practices across the subcontinent.

This video is made by IIPE-UNESCO, and aims to demonstrate the power of open data in education How can educational agents promote integrity and transparency in the education sector? Open school data is a powerful way to integrate the entire educational community: they share with the public information about school funding, student and teacher numbers, school equipment, textbooks, and test scores.

University of Florida (UF) launched an investigation after an internal report detailed a culture of fear among faculty members claiming political influence on campus as well as instances of pressure to destroy and delay publication of COVID-19 research data. The report was the result of a three-week investigation into academic freedom at UF after three full-time professors were prevented from testifying as paid experts in a lawsuit brought against the state over voting rights.

A recent study warns policy-makers in developing countries about the poor quality of research evaluation. The findings show the infiltration of journals suspected of predatory practices into the citation database Scopus. 324 journals that appear both in Beall’s lists and on Scopus and 164,000 articles published from 2015-17 were identified. As a result, the Scopus Content Selection and Advisory Board removed underperforming journals.

The world's largest multi-disciplinary research integrity survey is at risk of failing to achieve its objectives with two-thirds of the institutions invited to collaborate having declined to participate because of the sensitivity of the subject and fear of negative publicity. As a result, the researchers who conducted the Dutch National Research Integrity Survey found themselves alone in scraping up many e-mail addresses and soliciting responses. They gathered feedback from less than 15% of the 40,000 targeted participants.