Algeria has approved new measures for combating academic fraud at universities and other higher education institutions in an effort to protect academic integrity.

Hana Saada, a doctoral student at the University of Algiers Benyoucef Benkhedda, told University World News: “These new measures are highly appreciated, intervening at the right moment, given the increasing cases of academic misconduct.”

Algeria has the fourth-highest rate of research retractions of the 10 Arab North African countries, after Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, with 0.0350% of papers published by researchers between 1996 and 2018 ending up being retracted, according to a recent press report based on figures derived from Retraction Watch, an independent website that tracks academic papers that have been officially declared false.