Turkey: Academic Misconduct Index Country Profile

TL;DR

Turkey: P=43.52, R=21.2, Q4 (Probably not looking). High contract cheating demand (D1=83), elevated collusion (D5=69) and plagiarism (D4=62). YÖK provides oversight but no specific contract cheating ban and limited mandatory disclosure.

AMI scores at a glance

• Prevalence Score (P): 43.52 — 17th of 39 countries
• Response Quality (R): 21.2
• Quadrant: Q4 — Probably not looking
• Data quality: A (5/6 dimensions from live data)
• Region: Europe/Asia

Dimension breakdown

What drives Turkey's score

Contract cheating (D1 = 83)

Turkish-language essay mill demand is well-documented. Eret & Ok (2014) was one of the first peer-reviewed studies to quantify cheating attitudes in Turkish higher education, and subsequent work has shown elevated demand for contract cheating services. Search volume for Turkish equivalents of essay mill terms places Turkey in the elevated band.

Collusion (D5 = 69)

Turkey's D5 score is the third highest in the dataset, behind only Nigeria (75) and India (72). The Eret & Ok survey and follow-up work consistently show high rates of unauthorised collaboration on individual assessments. Large class sizes and group-study norms create conditions where the line between cooperation and collusion is regularly crossed.

Data fabrication (D6 = 50)

Turkey's Retraction Watch signal is moderate. Turkish research output has grown substantially over the past two decades; the misconduct-linked retraction rate is consistent with regional peers but elevated relative to Q1 European countries.

Plagiarism (D4 = 62)

The 2016 dissertation plagiarism scandal — which led to revocation of academic credentials for several political figures [verify specific cases] — exposed systematic issues in Turkish doctoral oversight. YÖK responded with stricter thesis-checking requirements, but the underlying culture and the volume of historical cases remain.

R-Score breakdown

• Legislation: 10 — general fraud provisions only
• Detection tools: 35 — partial Turnitin and iThenticate deployment
• Disclosure: 15 — limited public reporting
• Penalties: 25 — institutional codes; YÖK can revoke credentials

YÖK

The Council of Higher Education (YÖK) is the central regulator of Turkish universities. YÖK has the authority to mandate detection tool deployment and disclosure requirements but has not exercised this comprehensively. The 2016 dissertation reforms were a partial step but did not extend to undergraduate or master's-level systematic checking.

Why Turkey is in Q4

The Q4 placement reflects moderate Prevalence (43.52) and low Response (21.2). The high D1, D4, and D5 signals suggest the actual misconduct rate is likely higher than the Prevalence score alone indicates — characteristic of the "Probably not looking" diagnosis.

Implications

For Turkish policymakers, the most direct levers are mandatory detection tool deployment across the university sector (currently partial) and required misconduct disclosure through YÖK. Both could be implemented through regulatory action without statutory change.

For employers and admissions offices, Turkish credentials warrant verification proportional to the Q4 placement. The elite Turkish institutions (Boğaziçi, Koç, Sabancı) have stronger integrity practices than the broader public university system.

Sources

• Eret, E. & Ok, A. (2014). Internet plagiarism in higher education: tendencies, triggering factors and reasons among teacher candidates
• YÖK plagiarism policy documentation
• Retraction Watch Database, Crossref/GitLab (2026)
• Academic Misconduct Index v1.5 methodology

View full methodology | Download dataset

Related data

• View Turkey on the AMI scatter plot
• Read the full methodology
• See the full country rankings