In a major escalation of the European push to curb academic misconduct, Montenegro has passed a law to make plagiarism a criminal offence.
“Montenegro is taking the lead,” said Dennis Farrington, president of the board of the South East European University in North Macedonia and an adviser on the law. “This is the only such law that brings together different elements of academic integrity. It is a positive step in advancing quality and countering allegations of corruption, nepotism, etc.”
Although considered a serious problem in academia, plagiarism has generally not been treated as a criminal matter globally. In many jurisdictions, plagiarism is only illegal if it also involves copyright infringement. Montenegro’s move represents a significant escalation of the war on plagiarism in research.