LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR ENSURING ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND THE PECULIARITIES OF IMPOSING ACADEMIC LIABILITY IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Introduction. In the context of the ongoing reform of the higher education system in Ukraine, integration into the European Higher Education Area, and increasing requirements for the quality of scientific research, academic integrity has evolved from an ethical category into a comprehensive legal institution. Particular relevance is attached to the effectiveness of mechanisms for preventing academic plagiarism, procedures for imposing academic liability, safeguarding the rights of participants in the educational process, and ensuring the compliance of national regulation with European standards of quality assurance in higher education.

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to conduct a comprehensive scientific and legal analysis of the mechanisms for ensuring academic integrity in Ukraine, to examine the specific features of the application of academic liability, to assess the effectiveness of the current legislative framework, and to identify directions for its improvement in light of European experience.

Materials and Methods. The study is based on the analysis of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Laws of Ukraine “On Education”, “On Higher Education”, and “On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activities”, regulatory acts of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, administrative court decisions concerning appeals against decisions on academic liability, documents of the European Higher Education Area, recommendations of the Council of Europe, and contemporary scholarly publications issued during 2022–2026. The research employs formal-legal, comparative-legal, systemic-structural, hermeneutic, logical-legal, and analytical methods of scientific inquiry.

Results. It is substantiated that the main challenge in ensuring academic integrity in Ukraine is not the absence of legal regulation, but rather the insufficient effectiveness of its practical implementation mechanisms. Five key problematic areas have been identified: inconsistent approaches among higher education institutions to the qualification of academic integrity violations, insufficient procedural certainty in reviewing such violations, difficulties in proving cases of academic plagiarism, limited effectiveness of preventive measures, and an insufficient level of legal culture among participants in the educational process. It has been established that the current legislation provides an adequate regulatory framework for ensuring academic integrity; however, it requires further clarification of certain procedural aspects. It is demonstrated that the European approach to academic integrity is based on a combination of preventive mechanisms, transparent procedures for reviewing violations, and effective guarantees for protecting the rights of all participants in the educational process.

Prospects. Promising areas for further research include improving legal mechanisms for preventing academic plagiarism through the use of modern digital technologies, developing unified standards for the classification of academic integrity violations, examining judicial practice concerning appeals against decisions on academic liability, and studying foreign experience in fostering a culture of academic integrity in the context of educational digitalization and the development of artificial intelligence technologies.