Higher Education Under Siege: A Crisis of Academic Conmanship

Examination fraud and cheating have become sophisticated, with students employing advanced technology and unethical practices to gain unfair advantages. PHOTO/UoN.
  • Some “briefcase” virtual universities allow individuals to simply upload a thesis, pay the necessary fees, and within a few days, obtain a Master’s or PhD certificate. 
  • In a technique called rebranding, these con artists take executive and professionally edited photos in full graduation regalia while holding a handful of the certificates as a way of academically cleansing themselves.
  • Authorship fraud, where researchers claim credit for work they did not contribute to, has become common, driven by the pressure for academic staff to produce publications for career advancement.

In recent years, the global education sector has witnessed a disturbing rise in academic dishonesty, threatening the integrity of its institutions and devaluing the accomplishments of genuine scholars.

Universities, once symbols of intellectual growth and innovation, are now grappling with a culture of fraud that undermines the foundations of academic integrity. This culture of fraud—referred to as academic conmanship—has infiltrated all sectors, leaving a trail of unqualified individuals in positions of power and leadership, diminishing trust in higher education.

Kenya’s 2022 elections were marred by controversies over candidates’ educational qualifications, as doubts arose about the validity of degrees required for top political seats, a clear testimony of the extent of the problem.

Not known to many, is that there is a whole spectrum of these malpractices, ranging from fake degrees to rampant falsification of results. In this article, I unveil the dark side of Academia.

The proliferation of degree mills and fake degrees has escalated into a serious crisis, with unaccredited institutions offering qualifications for a fee without requiring any academic work.

Some “briefcase” virtual universities allow individuals to simply upload a thesis, pay the necessary fees, and within a few days, obtain a Master’s or PhD certificate. 

Nations such as the United States, Pakistan, India, and the United Arab Emirates are often cited as hotspots for these fraudulent operations. In the U.S., lax regulations in certain states allow unaccredited institutions to thrive, while in Pakistan and India, a booming demand for qualifications has led to a rise in fake degree providers.

The UAE, with its rapid expansion of online education, has also seen an influx of diploma mills, which target students seeking quick, unverified credentials.

Africa has not been left behind in this boom of degree mills and fake certificates. There is a sizable percentage of people in positions of authority who never completed their O-level basic education but with fake degrees.

All one needs to do, is to disappear from the public eye, by travelling locally or abroad, and reappear two or three years later with a fake certificate. In Africa, every country has a location that promotes academic conmanship.

River Road in Nairobi, Kenya, and Nasa Road in Kampala, Uganda, are just but examples of streets known as hubs for counterfeit degree certificate production.

Alarmingly, some individuals have taken this fraud further by awarding themselves degrees from institutions with big names like Harvard, Oxford, London School of Economics etc., to intimidate job selection panels.

In a technique called rebranding, these con artists take executive and professionally edited photos in full graduation regalia while holding a handful of the certificates as a way of academically cleansing themselves.

They exploit their respective countries inadequate due-diligence and verification systems, allowing them to ascend to top positions in government and private sectors.

Plagiarism and ghostwriting have become prevalent forms of academic dishonesty, eroding the integrity of higher education. Plagiarism, which involves copying another person’s work without proper attribution, is widespread, with some students’ theses passing university examination boards despite significant lapses in citation.

More troubling is the rise of ghostwriting services, where students pay others to write essays, theses, or research papers, presenting the work as their own. This practice has turned into a lucrative business, particularly among young people, who are cashing in on the demand for academic shortcuts.

Predatory publishing has emerged as a significant concern in Africa’s academic landscape, preying on researchers and academics eager to publish their work.

These fake journals charge publication fees while offering little to no legitimate peer review or editorial services. Individuals own these “briefcase” journals, where papers are published the same day they are submitted—provided the required fee is paid.

These journals often falsely claim to be indexed in reputable databases and even use fake ISSN, ISBN, and DOI numbers to appear legitimate. This practice lures unsuspecting researchers into publishing substandard work, damaging their academic credibility.

The manipulation of research data is a deeply troubling form of academic fraud in the world today, with serious implications for the integrity of scientific research. Two common practices, fabrication and falsification, undermine the credibility of academic findings.

Fabrication involves inventing data or results and presenting them as genuine, while falsification manipulates research processes or data to achieve a desired outcome.

These unethical practices are especially dangerous in fields like medical and environmental research, where falsified data can lead to misguided policies, ineffective treatments, and harmful real-world consequences.

The misuse of academic funding has become a pervasive issue in the research community, posing significant challenges for organisations like the National Research Fund (NRF) in Kenya.

Researchers often misrepresent their qualifications or the scope of their projects in grant proposals to secure funding. Once funds are disbursed, some divert the money for personal use or purposes unrelated to the research objectives.

False reporting of research progress is common, with researchers fabricating results or exaggerating milestones to ensure continued financial support.

The lack of transparency and accountability in the use of research funds makes it difficult to obtain timely progress reports, undermining the integrity of academic research and wasting valuable resources meant to advance knowledge.

With advances in Information Technology (IT) hardware and software, academic credential fraud has become a rampant issue globally, with individuals falsifying transcripts and references to gain admission to higher education institutions or secure employment.

These include inflating grades, awards, and honours to appear more qualified for scholarships or job opportunities. For instance, converting a grade C to a grade A or Pass degree classification to 2nd class honours upper division has become a common tactic in what is known as academic documents cleaning.

The sophistication of these fake documents, combined with the lack of accessible databases for credentials verification, presents a significant challenge for employers and educational institutions.

The situation is complicated by the presence of multiple government agencies, handling the same function of verification of academic documents.

In Kenya, the Commission for University Education (CUE) and the Kenya National Qualifications Authority (KNQA), both do verification of academic qualifications which creates confusion.

Contract cheating has become a thriving industry world over, undermining the integrity of higher education. Essay mills and thesis writing services offer custom-written assignments that students purchase and submit as their own work.

These services have turned academic writing into a full-time business for individuals and companies, some of whom employ writers with lower educational qualifications than the students they are writing for.

The rise of such cyber café services has made it increasingly difficult to maintain academic standards, as software designed to detect plagiarism is often ineffective against original, custom-written papers.

Examination fraud and cheating have become sophisticated, with students employing advanced technology and unethical practices to gain unfair advantages.

From using small electronic devices like mobile phones to leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted tools, students are finding new ways to outsmart traditional examination security measures.

The problem is complicated by the leakage of examination papers, often facilitated by rogue lecturers or poor examination handling practices, allowing students to purchase papers ahead of time and prepare with insider knowledge. Hired proxy exam-takers, especially in online education, are normal irregularities in universities.

Misrepresentation in academic publications is a growing issue in the academic sector, as individuals seek unethical ways to boost their credentials.

Authorship fraud, where researchers claim credit for work they did not contribute to, has become common, driven by the pressure for academic staff to produce publications for career advancement.

This is compounded by gift and ghost authorship, where individuals who made little to no contribution to a study are included as co-authors, or conversely, deserving contributors are left out.

Double publication, where the same research is submitted to multiple journals without proper disclosure, further distorts the academic record and diminishes the value of authentic research.

Ethical concerns in peer review and citation manipulation are casting a shadow over Kenya’s academic integrity. Biased peer reviews, where reviewers reject or delay publications for competitive reasons, have become a subtle form of academic sabotage, compromising the objectivity and fairness essential to scholarly advancement.

Even worse, some reviewers exploit their positions by publishing their own work in journals they oversee, creating conflicts of interest. Citation rings, a growing problem, involve groups of researchers colluding to excessively cite each other’s work, artificially inflating citation metrics and distorting academic merit.

All these academic dishonesty practices among others, have far-reaching effects that include severely compromising the integrity of the nation’s higher education system.

Apart from devaluing legitimate qualifications, they also tarnish the reputation of genuine institutions. Fraudulent activities, erode public trust and hinder genuine academic efforts. This crisis not only affects students and researchers but also threatens the credibility of the entire academic landscape.

Addressing the growing issue of academic conmanship in Kenya demands a unified effort from educational institutions, government bodies, and society at large.

Key solutions include educating students and staff on the dangers of academic fraud and encouraging the use of verification tools to check the legitimacy of institutions, credentials, and publications.

Strict penalties such as expulsion, funding loss, and legal action should be enforced against offenders. Universities must also adopt advanced plagiarism detection software and proctoring technologies to prevent cheating.

Furthermore, international cooperation between academic institutions and governments is crucial to combat degree mills and predatory publishers.

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Institutions should publicly display their lists of graduates and create national databases, feeding into an international system to facilitate cross-border verification and ensure the authenticity of academic qualifications.

In a world where education should empower, academic conmanship is eroding its very foundation. The future of higher education in Kenya—and globally—depends on the collective effort to uphold academic integrity and ensure that qualifications are earned, not bought.

Only through a strict commitment to transparency, verification, and ethics can we restore the value of legitimate academic achievement.

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Prof. Okoth has been in the university sub-sector for 34 years. Academic positions: -Graduate Assistant -Tutorial Fellow -Lecturer -Senior Lecturer -Associate Professor.Responsibility positions: -Course Coordinator -University Timetabler -Postgraduate Coordinator, -Assistant Registrar (Examinations) -Deputy Registrar Academics -Director, Quality Assurance -Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Students’ Affairs) -Vice-Chancellor | University organs served in; -Departmental Boards -School Boards -Committee of Deans -Senate -University Management -Council | University type Served at; -Public and -Private universities | Regional Service; -Chair, Executive Committee, Inter-University Council for East Africa. His email: okothmdo@gmail.com

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