# Abstract — Institutional Quality Assurance Reforms (BAD: compression overclaim)

**Word count:** 148 (whitespace-split)

Peer-review-based accreditation accelerates institutional responsiveness under
low-resource conditions. Drawing on a cross-sectional study of 14 higher
education institutions, this chapter examines how reform sequencing shapes
adoption trajectories. Results show that institutions exposed to accreditation
cycles earlier achieved stronger alignment within three years. The chapter
concludes that structured peer review is an effective lever for quality
improvement in resource-constrained environments and offers policy implications
for accreditation bodies in emerging systems.

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     from Section 4.3 of the body were dropped under word-count pressure.
     The abstract now asserts "accelerates" unconditionally — a compression
     overclaim relative to the body's hedged epistemic stance. -->
