The article discusses the problem of counteracting academic promotion won on the basis of apparent achievements. Attention was drawn to the growing problem of so-called “Slovak habilitation and degrees”, to the pedagogical promotion of persons from outside of pedagogy that is not justified by achievements of good quality, but is based on popular science publications, to the phenomenon of softening and ignoring negative reviews and the reviewers’ tendency to mitigate the final conclusions of their opinions. Some ways to prevent promotional pathology are also recommended as worth using in academic practices.