On August 14, Dr. Jason Arday was found dead in Battersea, South London.
Arday was a Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and was the youngest black person to obtain a professorship at the institution. This was made more impressive given that he learned to speak at 11 and to read and write at 18 after being diagnosed with autism at 3 years old.
His death came after an investigation into a string of plagiarism accusations, which were launched by a US academic, Nathan Cofnas.
The investigation gained mass media attention; Matt Walsh from The Conversation found that 242 articles were written about Arday by various UK publications since the situation was brought into the public eye.
The Mancunion has compiled a timeline of the events from the plagiarism accusations up to Arday’s passing.
July 21: Nathan Cofnas published an article on his Substack titled ‘DEI Fraud and Cover-Up at Cambridge’, alleging that some of Arday’s publications were plagiarised. Cofnas used the software ‘Copyleaks’, which detects plagiarism, to check eleven of his publications, including his PhD thesis.
The results were mixed; some of the works had no detected plagiarism, whilst others, including the thesis, were flagged for similarities to existing academic works — notably a 2009 dissertation by Paula Zwozdiak-Myers.
Cofnas “characterises his views as race-realism“, and once worked at Cambridge, where he was under investigation in 2023 for a blog post that “provoked considerable controversy”. The investigation found it “did not contravene University regulations designed to uphold free speech”.
July 27: Retraction Watch, a blog that comments on retractions within the scientific community, learned that the Times Higher Education (THE) had a potential story about plagiarism allegations against Arday’s dissertation and some of his journal articles back in September 2025.
According to sources who spoke to Retraction Watch, the story was never picked up as THE received a letter from a lead UK defamation firm “enlisted” by Arday.
July 31: Arday gave his first public interview to The Times. He defended his work by taking accountability for the errors, but was critical of the claims.
In the article, it was revealed that Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), where he received his PhD, set up a panel in 2025 after receiving “a complaint of plagiarism” regarding his dissertation.
Arday “did not dispute the allegations” and defended himself, saying he “received inadequate supervision and support, especially given his autism and ‘complex learning disabilities'”.
They write that, in March 2026, Arday was cleared of wrongdoing and that his dissertation complied with LJMU’s policies.
August 2: The University of Cambridge acknowledged Arday’s “allegations of academic misconduct”.
They also note that LJMU and journals that published his works were investigating the matter.
August 5: Arday resigned from his posts at the University of Cambridge, and the institution opened its own investigation into his qualifications, including complaints of academic misconduct.
Concurrently, reporter Jack Grove from THE released an article detailing his research into an unpublished article about potential plagiarism in the dissertation. He compiled a report which was sent to The University of Cambridge and LJMU, citing similarities with Paula Zwozdiak-Myers’ work.
August 6: The Guardian reported that faculty at Cambridge were calling for an internal investigation “into the processes and circumstances around Arday being [appointed]”.
August 7: Cambridge assured that their investigation will continue in light of Arday’s resignation.
Around this time, universities such as Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Glasgow launched their own inquiries into Arday.
August 12: Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, sent a letter to faculty stating that they were investigating Arday’s appointment, which would be “carried out independently by senior academics from within and beyond Cambridge”.
Durham University is stated to have started investigating his tenure.
August 14: Arday was found dead.
Both LJMU and the University of Cambridge have since released statements addressing Arday’s death. Notably, LJMU reiterated that his PhD “still stands”.
Nathan Cofnas was suspended from his post at the University of Ghent on August 20 and is under a “preliminary disciplinary investigation”.
Following this, academics from various institutions signed an open letter disputing Confas’ suspension and that he was ‘exercising his academic freedom’.
As of August 26, the inquest into Arday’s death began.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, Duncan Ivison, released a statement, reminding students that support is available in light of Arday’s death.
Additionally, the Elected Officer Team for UoM’s Student Union released their own statement, expressing solidarity with those mourning.
Resources for those affected are available through the University’s support service page.
