This is much more than a witch hunt, racist or otherwise. It raises very serious questions about academic honesty. Plagiarism has always been the equivalent of a capital offense in academic circles. Think about it, gentlemen. Copying and pasting another member's post while claiming it is your original writing will get you into trouble on Asean Now and AN is a far cry from Cambridge U. For those who want more background: Cambridge academic loses backing over plagiarism claims The president of Wolfson College has withdrawn her support for Jason Arday after he was accused of copying work in his PhD thesis "The president of a Cambridge college has withdrawn her support for the Cambridge professor Jason Arday after he appeared to admit plagiarising parts of his PhD thesis." https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/jason-arday-professor-dame-ijeoma-uchegbu-withdraws-backing-5qt3zgxn5 Race, Cambridge and the Jason Arday Plagiarism Scandal "The most damning similarities are between those of Arday’s 2015 dissertation and the 2009 dissertation of Paula Zwozdiak-Myers, who was studying at Brunel University. Though Arday’s dissertation routinely cites Zwozdiak-Myers, there is significant text that is used verbatim without quotation marks." https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2026/07/28/race-cambridge-and-the-jason-arday-plagiarism-scandal/ The above article is very even-handed and tells both sides of the story. The author appears to be quite sympathetic to Prof. Arday, but believes solid reasons exist for a thorough examination of the plagiarism charges, Exclusive: News outlet killed story on plagiarism allegations after Cambridge prof hired law firm "In September 2025, Times Higher Education had a bombshell story in the works: A star sociology professor at the University of Cambridge had allegedly plagiarized parts of his Ph.D. thesis and several journal articles." Prof. David Sanders, an expert on academic plagiarism and misconduct at Purdue U. in the U.S., "reviewed a 63-page dossier of text comparisons prepared by the publication last year and came back with his own findings. 'There is no question that there is extensive plagiarism,' Sanders told us." https://retractionwatch.com/2026/07/27/cambridge-jason-arday-plagiarism-allegations-times-higher-education-exclusive/#more-135490 And the plagiarism charges are only half the story. It seems Prof. Arday is a fabulist, maybe even an old-fashioned liar. More on that in my next post.
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