• Several plagiarism scandals have recently rocked Harvard University, and Americans' trust in the university is on the decline, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
• Since December, multiple Harvard University employees have been accused of research misconduct.
• “When misconduct occurs in academia or elsewhere, trust is eroded. We academics trust each other to do the right thing. Students trust us to know we are doing the right thing. I believe in it,” New Books Network founder and former Harvard University professor Marshall Poe told DCNF.

Multiple plagiarism scandals have rocked Harvard University in the past few months, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation, as Americans' trust in the university wanes.

Since December, former Harvard University President Claudine Gay, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Shelley Charleston, neuroscientist and professor Khalid Shah, and several researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Several Harvard University officials have been accused of plagiarizing academic papers. Meanwhile, Americans' confidence in higher education fell 12% month-over-month. 2018 to 2023Education experts say this trend is expected to continue. (Related: Donor who gave $300 million to Harvard University says he's 'not interested' in funding the university, questions 'DEI agenda')

“When misconduct occurs in academia or elsewhere, trust is eroded. We academics trust each other to do the right thing. Our students trust us to do the right thing. We trust them. The American people trust us to do the right thing, and when we don't, they begin to wonder if they deserve that trust.” Founder and former Harvard professor Marshall Poe told DCNF.

Gay resigned from his position as president of Harvard University on January 2, following multiple allegations of plagiarism, including in his doctoral thesis. Shah was accused of falsifying data by presenting images of other scientists as his own in 44 different cases between 2001 and 2023.

“It's probably not uncommon for a few passages to be included within a Ph.D. Papers may be copied from elsewhere, but compared to copying the full text from someone else it's very “It's mild. This is much rarer. Most of the problems discovered recently could be somewhere in between,” said Elizabeth Bick, the research manipulation expert who uncovered Shah's research fraud allegations. told DCNF.

Charleston is alleged to have plagiarized more than 40 texts across his academic works, including his 2009 doctoral dissertation and a single peer-reviewed paper. In January, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School plans to retract six studies and correct 31 papers as part of an ongoing investigation into several cancer researchers and administrators. It was announced that.

The Harvard plagiarism scandal is “very surprising and concerning,” Harvard theoretical physicist Avi Loeb told DCNF.

According to a Gallup poll, confidence in higher education has fallen from 48% in 2018 to 36% in 2023, both down from 57% in 2015. Declines were recorded across all demographics surveyed, including education, gender, and age.

“There is too much pressure on the academy to cut corners, manipulate data, and quickly resolve potential problems during peer and editorial reviews. The academy will likely rebalance the quality and quantity of research output. We need to do that,” Adam Kissel, visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation Center for Educational Policy, told DCNF.

“According to Gallup, even as of last summer, public trust in higher education was in a 'precipitous' decline,” Jonathan Butcher, an education researcher at the Heritage Foundation's Education Policy Center, told DCNF. “That was before the recent episode with Harvard's gay president. Nothing going on at Harvard is doing anything to restore that confidence.”

According to Gallup, confidence in higher education among Democrats, independents, and Republicans fell by 3%, 12%, and 20%, respectively.

“Are scandals a bigger cause of damage to credibility and trust than, say, the overtly politicized nature of many academic institutions and the social sciences and humanities fields? No one knows,” says Rutgers University Psychologist. Professor Lee Ju-shim told DCNF.

“There's too much information out there and not enough time to check it. When you review a paper or book, you're not looking for plagiarism. You just believe that the scholar hasn't committed a crime. The whole system is based on trust,” Poe told DCNF. “Trust is earned and we need to earn it.”

Harvard University did not respond to DCNF's request for comment.

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