How will plagiarism be punished: the main thing about the new law
18 December 20:22
On December 18, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the second reading and in general the draft Law on Academic Integrity No. 10392. As announced in the parliament, the law has no analogues in the European Union and is aimed at forming and establishing a culture of academic integrity in accordance with European standards in educational institutions, research institutions, and society as a whole.
How it will help in the fight against plagiarism, bought diplomas and “zero” knowledge after defending dissertations, found out
The adopted law should lead to:
- increasing confidence in diplomas and academic degrees;
- improving the quality of education through independent work of students and respect for intellectual labor;
- improving the quality and integrity of science with personal responsibility of the authors;
- educating honest professionals for the civil service, courts, business, etc.
Currently, there are significant problems with trust, quality, and integrity in the Ukrainian academic sphere, which this law should address. In particular, it should put an end to the practice of writing papers to order by prohibiting related advertising and intermediation.
The main types of violations:
- misappropriation of authorship
- academic plagiarism
- self-plagiarism;
- fabrication and falsification;
- failure to complete assignments independently, etc.
Consequences for dishonesty: The law provides for a strict system of sanctions, ranging from educational measures to a lifetime ban from science and the revocation of academic degrees.
- For professors and researchers: exclusion from academic councils, prohibition on leadership, participation in grants, dismissal, deprivation of degrees and titles.
- For students: warnings, repeated assignments, revocation of scholarships, expulsion.
- The main consequence: detection of plagiarism, fabrication or falsification in a qualification work leads to the revocation of a diploma or degree.
“Turnkey” thesis from $4,000
The industry of writing term papers, diplomas, master’s and doctoral theses in Ukraine is on a wide footing. University professors themselves have always been guilty of this sin, and it has always been their stable extra income. But for about 15 years now, this area has been on the rise. Today, you can find many specialized websites on the Internet that offer help in writing a diploma. And while it takes a real scientist three years to write a PhD thesis, the “masters” offer turnkey work in six months, and add 50-60% to the price for urgency (less than 4 months).
The cost of a PhD thesis depends on the field of study:
- Humanities – from 120,000 UAH.
- Economics – from 130,000 UAH.
- Foreign languages – from 145,000 UAH.
- Medicine – from 165,000 UAH.
- Engineering – from 175,000 UAH.
- Programming – from UAH 185,000.
At the same time, as entrepreneurs promise, each work is written from scratch according to an approved plan, with obligatory references to the works of other scientists. The average uniqueness of a finished dissertation is 85%. It is these “ghost authors” that the new law is primarily intended to combat.
Demand will not fall
Today, the demand for PhD and doctoral dissertations remains high. Firstly, many men have “hit” science in an attempt to avoid mobilization. Secondly, it is still fashionable for officials to flaunt their academic degrees. Third, for many, the title serves as a salary supplement.
Ukrainian legislation provides for additional payments:
- For honorary and academic titles and degrees, they are 15-30% of the salary.
- Teachers who have been certified receive a monthly supplement of 20% of their salary.
“Everyone remembers how the late former MP Ilya Kiva defended his PhD. He was not the only one. Every third judge is a PhD. Few people believe that they are engaged in science after work, but everyone is silent. Moreover, you can give up your degree at any time, as the Minister of Education himself did when he was found guilty of plagiarism. There is currently no administrative punishment for someone else’s work,” he emphasizes in his commentary
[Kommersant] lawyer Valentin Serkov emphasizes in his commentary to "Komersant Ukrainian".
The cost of dissertations will increase
According to sociologist Yuriy Havrylechko, the demand for dissertations will not go away, but prices will rise.
“The more we struggle with something, the higher the prices for solving issues become. As long as a diploma has a market value, plagiarism will flourish, because knowledge is not valued here. We need to raise the salaries of specialists: a teacher should be paid more than his or her student, so that knowledge, not papers, is valued,” the expert says.
The law comes into force six months after the president signs it. However, experts are skeptical: those who are interested in easy titles will look for new ways to disguise their activities.
Author: Alla Dunina
