The Arday Affair

Jason Arday and the Story Behind the Story of the Times’ ‘Impossible Data’

The newspaper of record failed to distinguish between corrections and retractions in the work of the late Cambridge University academic, fuelling the media firestorm that engulfed him. Special investigation by Nafeez Ahmed

Jason Arday, Cambridge University’s Professor of Sociology of Education, resigned in August after the institution announced it would investigate his appointment and work – following intense media scrutiny around allegations that parts of his 2015 PhD thesis had been plagiarised.

After stepping down, hundreds of articles were published on Arday – on many aspects of his life beyond academia, including his charity fundraising and his childhood mutism – across the established press in the UK and internationally. The 41-year-old was found dead at his home days later on 14 August.

One of the key articles that raised questions about the credibility of Arday’s work beyond his PhD – ‘Jason Arday: Times Analysis Finds “Impossible” Data in His Work’ by Emma Yeomans – was published by The Times on 5 August.

Cambridge University announced its investigation into Arday later that day.