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The new Globethics.net University Ranking (GUR) will provide a unique global ranking instrument that places values, ethics, and sustainability as central principles of higher education institutions worldwide. It encompasses a new higher education framework to assess student learning experience, and key stakeholders on integrity, values-driven leadership, and sustainability commitment. Universidad de Santiago, a private institution in Cape Verde, received the highest overall score and gained the best marks for student sustainability and integrity.

Between 2019 and 2021, Trinity College had 445 cases of suspected cheating, 143 cases of plagiarism and another 154 cases of cheating. In 2022 there were 33 cases of suspected exam cheating and 138 cases where a student plagiarised work for their assignments. The University said the data did not include supplemental assignments that were in progress at the time, meaning the figures could still rise slightly.

167 final-year medical students at the University of Oxford will have to resit the exam after alleged misconduct in a clinical examination. The number of investigations related to academic misconduct such as cheating, malpractice and plagiarism has increased from 35 in 2018-19, to 68 in 2019-20 and 77 in 2020-21. The university said that of the investigations conducted in 2020-21, only eight cases of alleged academic misconduct were upheld as an offence, representing a small proportion of the 55,000 exams sat, of which the vast majority were open-book exams.

In a national survey on research integrity by Dutch academics, 40,000 researchers, from PhD students to full professors, admitted to committing at least one of the 11 questionable research practices. One in 12 researchers is estimated to have fabricated or falsified research results in the last three years. According to a postdoctoral researcher and lead investigator of the survey, findings are already being discussed with policymakers in universities and medical centres in the Netherlands.

Last April, the Office for Students set out a list of recommendations aimed at helping universities to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and misconduct on campus. According to ministers in the UK, universities failing to take tough action on sexual misconduct should risk losing their official status.

Six vice-chancellors from Cambridge, Exeter and UCL have signed up to a pledge which commits universities to stop using legally binding non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) against students and staff who report sexual harassment. The Higher Education Minister stated that universities should end the use of NDAs which “buy victims’ silence” in sexual misconduct cases.

On the English version of its website, Kim Il Sung University has listed past, current and alleged partnerships with “sister universities” and claims, “international academic exchanges are in full swing”. Many of the named universities disagree and do not want to be associated with North Korea. They try to have their names removed from the website, but so far the University has failed to respond to their requests.

The “proliferation” of essay mills over the past 5 years has led to an increase in the number of plagiarism cases. Last year, 338 cases were reported by universities in the North, with the majority of cases at Aberdeen University and Robert Gordon University. 1,000 essay mills companies are currently operating across the UK. Some are allegedly involved in exploiting graduates overseas where they are forced to work 12-hour shifts producing essays for as little as $1 an hour.