A Cambridge University history professor who gained attention as the university’s youngest black professor has been accused of plagiarism.
Jason Arday has been accused of including passages in his PhD thesis and other publications that are identical or substantially similar to previously published academic papers without the proper attribution. Arday has argued that the allegations are part of a racist smear campaign, a position supported by Cambridge. The university said Arday is the victim of a “vile campaign to undermine his credibility.”
However, according to a report by The Telegraph, an independent analysis of Arday’s doctoral thesis identified 100 passages identical or nearly identical to a 2009 PhD thesis by a Brunel University student. Critics have also urged the university to investigate instances of close paraphrasing that plagiarism-detection programs may not flag.
“In my opinion, important sections of the work of Professor Jason Arday, both his PhD thesis and some subsequent published articles, solo and jointly written, seem to display indications of serious plagiarism. I can think of no other plausible explanation for what I have read,” said Dave Harris, emeritus professor at Plymouth Marjon University. Harris first alerted the universities that awarded Arday his PhD about concerns of plagiarism.
“I notified both Liverpool John Moores and Cambridge universities of my initial concerns, and they have done nothing. Of the journal editors I notified, two have asked for corrections,” he said.
Another professor at a Russell Group university, who remained anonymous, said they noticed "inconsistencies” in Arday’s published research. They “identified extensive textual overlap with an earlier PhD thesis submitted by another academic at a different university.” The professor also said that “the similarities were not confined to isolated passages but formed an extensive pattern of close paraphrasing,” meaning it would not be detected by computer programs.
Arday gained attention in 2023 after being appointed a professor at Cambridge at age 37, becoming the youngest black professor in the school’s history. He was also diagnosed with autism as a child and did not speak his first word until he was 11 years old.
He has recently been writing a memoir set to be published next month that highlights his “improbable triumphs and heart-breaking setbacks.”
Cambridge’s director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Center, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, along with Professor of Education Ricardo Sabates, circulated a letter headed “URGENT PLEASE SIGN ANTI-RACISM LETTER FOR JASON ARDAY.” The letter referenced an earlier document that “was sent to the Minister of State and to which there has been progress in terms of how to tackle these issues” and warned of a “potential public attack on Jason.”
Additionally, a spokesperson for the University of Cambridge claimed, “Professor Arday has been the victim of a vile campaign to undermine his credibility, which must stop. Allegations of plagiarism regarding his thesis and journal publications have been thoroughly investigated by the relevant institution and the journals in question. Professor Arday has been cleared by those investigations of any wrongdoing.”
