Dpty Minister Kurbatov warns of potential implementation hurdles for academic integrity law
Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Denys Kurbatov believes that the implementation of certain provisions in the Law "On Academic Integrity" may face challenges.
"This is certainly a significant step forward, as no such law existed previously. However, I agree that implementing some norms could be problematic. Why? Because the law specifies the year or moment from which they apply. It turns out that everything prior to that seemingly did not exist, even though plenty of problems actually remain," Kurbatov said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine, addressing criticism of the law from the anti-plagiarism community.
At the same time, he expressed skepticism that any law alone could solve the problem of plagiarism. "If we have raised a portion of a generation for whom dishonesty has become a version of the norm, a law cannot change that. The situation can only be shifted through the upbringing of new generations. We can only influence specific confirmed cases," the deputy minister added.
Specifically, he noted that 10 people were stripped of their scientific degrees last year following decisions by the ethics committee of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance regarding confirmed plagiarism.
"Is 10 people out of thousands significant? No, but it has a substantial educational effect. Have specialized councils and universities started paying more attention to this? Yes. This policy will continue. However, we cannot yet say we have a critical mass of people for whom academic integrity is a firm norm," Kurbatov said.
He noted that even before the law takes effect, the Ministry of Education has already embedded integrity requirements into various policies.
"This applies, in particular, to changes in the regulation of professional publications. For the first time, we introduced a Publication Ethics Commission, which will operate according to the standards of the relevant International Committee on Publication Ethics. We have introduced the concept of ‘predatory publications’ into legislation—journals that provoke dishonesty and may sell article placements, citations, or the publications themselves for money. We have already begun to fight this," the deputy minister stated.
As reported, on December 18, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law "On Academic Integrity," which is set to enter into force in August 2026. The law defines the principles and rules of academic integrity for all participants in the educational process and all scientists. It regulates response procedures for violations and the consequences of being stripped of scientific degrees, higher education degrees, or academic titles.
