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In the book "Corruption in Higher Education: Global Challenges and Responses," 34 experts shed light on various corruption issues in higher education: contract cheating and outsourcing assignments; ambivalent hiring processes; fake universities that take various forms, from profit-driven schemes to students buying degrees without fulfilling obligations; corruption research involves scholars, administrators, and agencies, united against academic corruption. Future steps include integrity theory development, examining secondary education's impact, leveraging technology, avoiding social group stigmatization, and fostering global cooperation.

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.

11 university heads have been requested to file a detailed report on the financial and academic ability of the department or school within their institutions that trains PhD students. They are expected to provide details on how money disbursed by the state was used for PhD defense panels in the period 2020-21 and 2022-23. According to the Ministry’s guidelines, PhD applicants will be approved only if they have sufficient financial and academic means to carry out research projects.

According to a survey conducted by Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA), most universities in East Africa struggled to uphold the integrity of examinations that were administered online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead investigator at ESSA reports that students used materials prohibited during the examinations or breached university examination policies. Uganda and Kenya had the highest number of universities that struggled, at 31% and 27%, respectively.

Bias in research and its benefits, power imbalances and other inequities has long plagued scientific collaboration. “Unfairness, inequity and a lack of diversity must no longer prevent the global research enterprise from maximizing scientific integrity and realizing the ultimate societal value and benefits of research”, write ethics experts in the Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity through Fairness and Equity. The statement includes 20 recommendations to guide all stakeholders in achieving more just research practice.

Ethical bodies in Sub-Saharan Africa face challenges in their capacity to perform their work due to a lack of ICT resources and academic training in ethics and regulatory affairs. €1.5 million (about US$1.62 million) has been granted to Benin, the Gambia, and Ivory Coast to install the Research for Health and Innovation Organiser software, a cloud-based platform that could make the work of such bodies more efficient while enabling them to improve ethical conduct and research integrity, review processes, build capacities in oversight and monitoring.

A recent study made some alarming findings on the extent of plagiarism and other forms of unethical academic behaviour at Moroccan tertiary education institutions. About half of the respondents admitted to having plagiarised text; however, the study confirms that plagiarism is not always intentional, particularly among scholars whose native language is not English. One way to reduce plagiarism is to provide training on research integrity as well as on business ethics.

The new national agency for the evaluation and accreditation of Higher Education institutions and research centres in Tunisia aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s universities and develop a research system of international quality. However, the Union of Tunisian University teachers criticised the establishment of the agency and called on the Ministry to be transparent and explain how the agency will be funded, at what cost to taxpayers, and what accountability mechanism will be used to stop the wastage of public money and nepotism.

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.