Report: University investigates suspected plagiarism against AfD leader Weidel
According to the report, two plagiarism investigators had previously contacted the university. They accuse Weidel of having used external sources in her doctoral thesis from 2011 and of not or not sufficiently labeling them. According to the newspaper, both have drawn up an expert opinion on Weidel's work and submitted it to the University of Bayreuth.
"We do not see any large-scale plagiarism in Ms. Weidel's dissertation, but many small fragments of plagiarism," the lead author of the report told the SZ. "There is a suspicion of plagiarism here." According to the report, both authors wanted to remain anonymous for fear of possible danger. According to the newspaper, the University of Bayreuth did not comment on the case "for personal and data protection reasons".
According to theSZ, which has access to the report by the two plagiarism experts, the allegations are presented on 36 pages. According to the report, 32 plagiarized fragments and 18 incorrectly marked quotations are listed. These are all individual text passages, a few coherent sentences or sentence fragments that Weidel is said to have copied verbatim or in spirit without making this sufficiently clear.
Weidel wrote in the online service X (formerly Twitter) of "absurd accusations". "My doctoral thesis has probably already been checked by dozens of plagiarism examiners in as much detail and attention as it has been inconclusively," she said in a video published at the same time.
Unknown persons had sent the "SZ" an anonymous report, "in which no classic plagiarism was discovered, but citation errors that were blown up into plagiarism," Weidel continued. "The political motivation is obvious."
She has since "asked for an independent opinion from a scientist", Weidel continued, without giving any further details about the scientist. He had come to the conclusion "that the accusations are rejected as unfounded and the allegations of plagiarism are considered unfounded".
Weidel's doctoral thesis deals with the pension system in China. She received the top grade summa cum laude for her work.
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- The University of Bayreuth is currently investigating suspected plagiarism in the doctoral thesis of AfD leader Alice Weidel, as reported by SZ.
- Two plagiorism investigators accused Weidel of using external sources in her 2011 thesis without properly labeling them.
- According to the report, the experts identified 32 plagiarized fragments and 18 incorrectly marked quotations in Weidel's work.
- Weidel disputes the allegations, saying her thesis has already been thoroughly checked for plagiarism multiple times.
- The AfD leader also suggests political motivation behind the accusations, claiming no classic plagiarism was found, but only citation errors.
- Weidel requested an independent review of her thesis from a scientist, who dismissed the accusations as unfounded.
- The University of Bayreuth, however, remains silent on the matter, citing personal and data protection reasons.
Source: www.stern.de
