TAM Report / Kosovo - Academic integrity

GENERAL INFORMATION

TAM title: Academic Integrity: Challenges and Solutions in Higher Education

Type of Event: Seminar

Modality: Presential

Location: Ministry of Education, Sciences, Technology and Innovation, Pristina

Country: Kosovo

Dates: 19 June 2025

Participants: The seminar gathered around 40 participants including lecturers, professors, deans, researchers, senior management, administrators, policymakers, and representatives from MESTI and the EU Office in Kosovo, with both public and private HEIs represented.

THEMES COVERED

• Academic integrity principles and institutional accountability
• Plagiarism, contract cheating, and AI-related misconduct
• Legal and policy gaps in Kosovo’s higher education system
• Digital tools for plagiarism detection (e.g., Inspera)
• Global best practices and ethical culture-building
• Strategies for prevention, detection, and education around misconduct

KEY OUTCOMES

During the workshop, participants:

• Deepened their understanding of academic integrity challenges and their impacts on institutions
• Identified legal, institutional, and technological gaps in current practices
• Explored practical strategies to strengthen policies, ethical culture, and reporting mechanisms
• Discussed effective use of digital detection tools and their integration into HEI systems
• Gained awareness of new integrity risks linked to generative AI
• Reflected collaboratively on institution-specific solutions and long-term improvements

OVERVIEW

The TAM seminar provided an in-depth exploration of integrity-related issues affecting Kosovo’s higher education sector. Through expert-led sessions, workshops, and discussions, participants examined institutional and legal gaps, the rise of plagiarism and AI-related misconduct, and global best practices for promoting academic honesty. The seminar also offered space to reflect on the cultural, technological, and structural factors shaping academic integrity, highlighting the need for coordinated institutional action.

Interactive activities encouraged critical reflection on Kosovo’s specific challenges and supported participants in identifying actionable, context-appropriate solutions. Participants engaged actively in discussions, sharing experiences from their institutions and considering how to better align policy, practice, and technological tools. The event strengthened national dialogue on ethics in higher education and laid the groundwork for long-term capacity building, improved institutional policies, and stronger quality assurance mechanisms, reinforcing the importance of cultivating a sustainable culture of integrity across Kosovo’s HEIs.

THE FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY

Title: Follow-Up Interview with HEREs on Academic Integrity and Ethical Education in Higher Education

Dates: 4–17 November 2025

Audience: The follow-up activity engaged a small, targeted group of HERE members from Kosovo, comprising higher education experts involved in policy development, quality assurance, and institutional reform, participating either in person or online.

Description: The follow-up activity consisted of a series of hybrid, semi-structured interviews with members of the Higher Education Reform Expert (HERE) team – Kosovo, conducted as a continuation of the TAM seminar “Academic Integrity: Challenges and Solutions in Higher Education.”  The activity aimed to deepen reflection on the challenges identified during the TAM and to gather expert insights on advancing ethical education and academic integrity across Kosovo’s higher education system.

Through targeted discussion and open reflection, the interviews explored issues such as ethics in curricula, institutional integrity policies, staff and student training needs, integrity assurance mechanisms, and the applicability of European good practices in the national context. The activity strengthened expert consensus and provided qualitative evidence to inform future institutional and policy-level actions.

ENHANCING IMPACT: PROPOSED NEXT STEPS

• Develop and enforce clear academic integrity policies, including defined procedures, responsibilities, and sanctions for misconduct.
• Establish institutional ethics structures—such as integrity committees, helpdesks, and reporting mechanisms—to strengthen accountability and trust.
• Invest in continuous training for staff and students on academic integrity, ethical practices, plagiarism prevention, and responsible use of AI.
• Integrate plagiarism detection tools (e.g., Inspera Originality) into university systems and provide training on their effective use.
• Promote a culture of ethics and prevention, embedding integrity education, academic writing support, and student engagement across curricula.
• Develop national guidelines on academic integrity and AI ethics, ensuring coherence across the higher education system.
• Monitor and evaluate integrity initiatives regularly, adapting strategies to address emerging challenges such as contract cheating and AI-generated plagiarism.

RESOURCES AND BACKGROUND MATERIAL

• European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) (2015). Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015). Available at: https://www.enqa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ESG_2015.pdf
• UNESCO (2023). Guidance for generative AI in education and research. Available at: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/guidance-generative-ai-education-and-research
• Council of Europe (2019). Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)9 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on fostering a culture of ethics in the teaching profession. Adopted on 16 October 2019 at the 1357th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.