Following an increase in breaches of academic integrity during the remote fall term, two teaching assistants (TAs) are asking Queen’s University to take action against academic misconduct. In grading final assignments using Turnitin, they found that four of her five plagiarism cases had copy rates of 50 and 60 per cent. When reporting the cases of plagiarism, the administration claimed the process was ‘’intense’ while the professor of the course suggested marking the assignment with a 20 per cent grade deduction because they “didn’t want to make this misconduct a big deal.”

A significant number of faculty members are being accused of securing their academic promotions through predatory publications and other sub-standard means. To combat this unethical practice, the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE) issued a new Harmonised Standard for Academic Staff Promotion in Public Universities in October 2020. The MoSHE says the safest way to avoid predatory publications is for academics to submit manuscripts to peer-reviewed journals indexed by databases such as Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed.

A University of North Sumatra (USU) rector has been involved in four separate plagiarism allegation: one in 2014, two in 2017 and one in a 2018 dissertation submitted to apply for a professorship. This is the third plagiarism case at USU following a 2013 case involving a lecturer and a professor in 2015. The two had been sanctioned with delayed promotion and were not allowed to hold any academic position inside or outside the university. The rector could face similar sanctions if found guilty.

A former administrator from Houston Independent School District was sentenced to one year of probation for her involvement in the admission scandal that ensnared wealthy parents across the country. She was accused of taking bribes from the admission consultant at the center of the scheme in exchange for allowing someone to sit exams on behalf of their clients ‘children or correct their answers. 50 more people were arrested last year in the scheme, in which authorities say undeserving kids were admitted to top universities with bogus athletic credentials or fake test scores.

The University of California system inappropriately admitted 64 wealthy and well-connected students as favors to donors, family, and friends and denied applicants that are more qualified an equal opportunity to education. 55 people were charged with bribery and fraud to secure admission included faking credentials of student-athletes.

Academic corruption linked to the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the urgency of strengthening transparency and accountability in African universities. Such corruption includes research malpractice, questionable research management, mismanagement of research funds and procurement fraud. Several university officials bypassed public procurement procedures for the purchase of materials and equipment for coronavirus research. 33 papers were identified as unsuitable for public use and either retracted, withdrawn, or noted with concern.

A survey of staff at South Australia’s three major universities has uncovered widespread bullying and harassment, with managers accused of being more concerned with their institution’s reputation than academic and general staff well-being. The Independent Commissioner Against Corruption survey received responses from more than 3,000 staff and one in five said that their university did not have adequate protections for those reporting misconduct and more than 10 per cent said their organization actively discouraged reporting.

The Director of the now-closed Christian University of Rwanda and the former Prime minister received a three-year jail sentence and a fine of RWF892.2 million (US$907,000) after he was found guilty of issuing cheques that bounced and for failing to pay the teaching and administrative staff. The Rwanda Investigation Bureau also arrested the former vice-Chancellor of the University of Kibungo for alleged nepotism and mismanagement of the university’s finances.

A former Harvard coach accepted $1.5m in bribes in exchange for helping a businessperson get his two sons into the Ivy League school as fencers. They face charges with conspiracy to take bribes under federal programmes. The coach was fired in July 2019 for violating Harvard’s conflict-of-interest policy.

Six officials at the Apex School of Theology orchestrated a scam to fraudulently claim $12 million in Federal student aid. The scheme involved recruiting fake students, forging fake applications for financial aid, as well as plagiarizing schoolwork and diplomas. FBI called the conspiracy a “blatant abuse of a Federally funded program” and “an insult to all taxpayers.