Implementation of Academic Integrity Law May Face Challenges, Says Deputy Minister Kurbatov

Denis Kurbatov, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, has raised concerns about the potential challenges that may arise from the implementation of certain provisions of the 'Law on Academic Integrity.' In an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Kurbatov highlighted that although this law marks a substantial step forward, there remain questions that necessitate additional scrutiny.

Kurbatov pointed out that the law clearly stipulates the timeline for when new provisions can take effect. This means that all cases that occurred prior to this date will effectively be overlooked, despite the fact that issues related to academic integrity persist. 'This is undoubtedly a significant step forward, as there was no similar law before. However, I agree that there may be problems with the implementation of certain provisions. Why? Because the law specifies when they can be applied. It turns out that everything that happened before this seems not to have existed, even though there are indeed many problems,' he emphasized.

Moreover, the Deputy Minister expressed skepticism about the possibility of resolving plagiarism issues solely through legislation. 'If we have raised a generation of people for whom dishonesty has become a norm, legislation cannot change that. The situation can only be altered through approaches to educating new generations. We can only influence specific confirmed cases,' Kurbatov stated.

He also provided statistics indicating that last year, ten individuals were stripped of their academic degrees as a result of decisions made by the Ethics Committee of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, which confirmed instances of plagiarism. 'Is ten people out of a thousand significant? No, but it has a considerable educational effect. Have special councils and universities started paying more attention to this? Yes. This policy will continue. However, it is too early to say that we already have a super critical mass of people for whom academic integrity is a firm norm. There is still work to be done. I believe this is our goal and objective,' he concluded.

Additionally, Kurbatov noted that the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is already taking steps to improve the situation regarding academic integrity, without waiting for the new law to come into effect. 'We have already outlined requirements for integrity in many of our policies. This includes changes to the procedures for professional publications. For the first time, we have established a Publication Ethics Commission, which will operate according to the norms of the relevant International Committee on Publication Ethics. We have introduced the concept of 'predatory journals' into legislation—these are journals that provoke dishonesty, which may sell space for articles, sell citations, or even the publications themselves. We have already begun combating this. The law will undoubtedly help, but I want to emphasize that we cannot expect that any regulatory act will radically change the situation regarding integrity,' the Deputy Minister summarized.

It is important to recall that on December 18, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the 'Law on Academic Integrity,' which will come into force in August 2026. This document defines the principles and rules of academic integrity that all participants in the educational process at all levels of education, as well as all scholars during their scientific activities, must adhere to. The law regulates the procedures for responding to violations of academic integrity by students, the specifics of holding educational institution leaders and scientific institutions accountable, and the consequences of revoking awarded academic degrees, higher education degrees, or conferred academic titles.