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110 offices selling forged degrees from non-Saudi universities have been identified by the Ministry of Higher Education. Prices for a fake bachelor’s or master’s degree can cost anywhere from SR3,000 to SR30,000 while a bogus doctorate can cost up to SR90,000 from an institution in the west. The degrees supplied by these diploma mills are issued by institutions that offer courses without approved standards or are simply issued by the transfer of money into an overseas account. Measures have been taken to detect such agencies.

According to 10 Ukrainian scientists, plagiarism, pseudoscience, bribes, and cheating are some of the big threats to academia in Ukraine. Around 90 percent of all science professors in Ukraine are not legitimate researchers. A study of undergraduate students in the Ukrainian city of Lvivs shows that 93 percent of students reported that they had plagiarized schoolwork and 48 percent said they had paid bribes at their university.

Academic corruption exists in doctoral education even though this should reflect the highest standards of academic integrity. Doctoral degrees have become especially popular among politicians, state bureaucrats, civil servants and people seeking employment in academia. An entire market has formed in Ukraine that offers ghostwritten dissertations to order. This market consists of not only individuals but also officially registered firms. If in 2009, there were 16 such firms, by 2016 the number tripled, reaching 46.

Many institutions in Australia provide training programmes for their Ph.D. students but these programmes vary in quality, content and reach. The temptation to judge a researcher’s performance for grant funding by the number of published research papers and the focus on the quantity over quality is very strong. They are not just driving bad behaviour for researchers but are also creating a market for criminals to enter scholarly publishing.

Following the University Grants Commission’s regulations for the promotion of academic integrity, Andhra University decided to implement a technology-based mechanism to prevent plagiarism. No thesis with a similarity index above 20% can be submitted. In addition, the students must submit an undertaking stipulating that their work is original.

Academics in Algeria are concerned about the practice of ordering and paying for ready-made theses that are growing among students at all levels, including masters and Ph.D. The amount of money requested by the “institution” ranges between DZD50, 000 (US$420) and DZD200, 000 (US$1,670) depending on the quality of service, educational level, and the period taken to deliver the requested thesis.