The recent rise of East Asian universities has greatly impressed the academic world. However, a number of terms have been used to describe the academic culture in East Asian universities, such as integrity, ethics, misconduct and even corruption. Academic culture has been cited as a significant impediment for East Asian higher education to reach a leading status in the world. The toxic academic culture is another expression of East Asia’s greatest challenge: universities have not yet figured out how to combine the 'standard norms' of Western higher education with traditional values.

A number of students in a law school were caught cheating in exams; one student was found writing answers already copied in a smart watch. The student either programmed answer sheets or recorded course materials into the device. One practicing lawyer in Abuja said such attitude may have long-term effects on those involved; it had undermined the integrity and independence of the graduands and could possibly increase the likelihood of the abuse of the attorney-client privilege as well as create weak industry-wide anti-corruption standards.