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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”.

Every researcher in the Netherlands is to be questioned about whether they have committed research misconduct or engaged in “sloppy science” as part of a major national effort to bolster scientific standards. In response to rising concerns over a “reproducibility crisis” in science and a series of high-profile fraud cases in the Netherlands, the country is to commit 8 million euros ($9 million) to understanding the problem, finding solutions and trying to reproduce critical studies.

Most students are happy to work hard, try their best and accept the consequences. But there are a host of commercial essay writers who are prepared to help those who can't be bothered. Universities have responded to the threat by trying to change the way they assess students. Increasingly students are being asked to orally present their work in front of a seminar group, or to answer questions from lecturers.

In December 2015, a prominent member of Russia’s ruling party was accused of plagiarising a large portion of his economic dissertation. But the strangest thing about the alleged plagiarism is not the accused’s lack of defence—it's that the Russian public didn't really seem to care. In fact, the Chairman of the State is one of more than 1,000 high achieving Russians who have been caught plagiarising. The accused include politicians, judges, prosecutors, police officials and even heads of universities.

The first seminar on "Corruption, Transparency and Education" was held on May 28, 2016 at the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus by Transparency International-Cyprus (TI-C). TI-C has included in its Strategic Plan for 2016 the important issue of education in an effort to raise awareness and build capacity for primary school teachers on Transparency, corruption and education. Given the success of the first seminar, TI-C looks forward to conducting more seminars for interested teachers who will act as the force to building capacity for the youngsters and ensure that they will not tolerate corruption.

Copying is stealing. This anti-plagiarism adage is at the heart of a case which has shaken the small world of French medievalists for the last two years. Today the case has come back with a new demonstration of plagiarist behaviour which is forcing universities and scientific communities to be face up to their responsibilities. And more generally, raises the question of whether the university system as a whole has the ability to tackle this issue, over and above the case in question.

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.

More than 30 fake universities have been shut down by the Government following a crackdown on worthless degrees, after a website in China was found selling degree certificates from dozens of UK universities for £500 each. However, the UK is powerless to act against roughly 80 per cent of offenders because they are based outside the country and cannot be prosecuted, according to Prospects, the graduate careers expert. As the project starts its second year, it will focus on dealing with offenders at a local level through international collaboration with the equivalent authorities overseas, HEDD said.

The acting rector of National Aviation University of Ukraine, was detained on 26 August on charges of taking a €100,000 (US$112,000) bribe for a job appointment. The accused was reportedly detained by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau detectives and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s office and Security Service officers. The following day, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau reported on its website that during the search in his apartment, detectives found the cash, and also confiscated nine gold bars. In response, the acting rector claims he was set up.

The acting rector of one of Ukraine’s flagship technical universities was arrested in his office for taking a bribe of €170,000, which is roughly equivalent to US$200,000. In a country where the average salary is the equivalent of a meagre US$100 a month, this sum sounds astronomical. This is not the first incident where a university rector has been arrested in connection with a bribe. If there were a ranking that rated world higher education institutions based on how corrupt they are, Ukraine’s universities would doubtless take some of the top spots.