Cambridge University Press, which published a book by University of Arkansas professor Shirin Saeidi based on her Cambridge PhD dissertation, is investigating claims that the work contains fabricated or unauthorized interviews with female victims of the Iranian government.<\/p>\n
Iran International has also learned that Cambridge University is reviewing allegations related to Saeidi\u2019s PhD dissertation itself.<\/p>\n
University of Arkansas President Jay Silveria dismissed Saeidi over matters unrelated to the Cambridge investigations. She has appealed her termination, and the university\u2019s Board of Trustees is set to review the case on May 21.<\/p>\n
Saeidi\u2019s book, Women and the Islamic Republic: How Gendered Citizenship Conditions the Iranian State, is now under scrutiny in Britain.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Cambridge University Press told Iran International that the publisher \u201ctakes all complaints about our publications seriously\u201d and is continuing to investigate the allegations \u201caccording to standard COPE guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n
COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics, is an organization that addresses ethical standards in scholarly publishing.<\/p>\n
Iran International obtained a copy of a complaint submitted to Cambridge University Press by Maryam Nouri, author of the memoir In Search of Liberation, accusing Saeidi of fabricating interviews and using her work without permission.<\/p>\n
Nouri, who was imprisoned by the Islamic Republic in 1985 while pregnant and later gave birth in prison, wrote that \u201cI am writing to submit a formal complaint regarding the unethical and unauthorized use of my personal memoir and the fabrication of interview material by Dr. Shirin Saeidi.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cI never met with Ms. Shirin Saeidi, nor have I had any interview with her in the city of Cologne or in any other city in Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Nouri, Saeidi used material from her memoir \u201cin both her doctoral dissertation and her published book without my written or verbal permission, for her own personal benefit, including advancing her academic credentials, university status, and professional position.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI consider this misuse a clear violation of my personal rights and dignity, and I strongly condemn it,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
A Cambridge University spokesperson told Iran International that the university \u201ctakes allegations of academic misconduct seriously\u201d and that concerns raised would be reviewed \u201cin line with the relevant University policies and procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a series of posts published on X in December, former Iranian political prisoner Nasrin Parvaz also denied ever being interviewed by Saeidi.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew Saeidi, and I never had an interview with her,\u201d Parvaz wrote, adding that Saeidi had only used the Farsi version of her memoir published more than two decades earlier.<\/p>\n
Numerous requests for comment sent by Iran International to Saeidi and her attorney, JJ Thompson, went unanswered.<\/p>\n
Saeidi had already drawn controversy prior to her dismissal from the University of Arkansas. The university had previously disciplined her for allegedly using official university letterhead in an appeal seeking the release of Hamid Nouri, an Iranian official convicted in Sweden in 2022 over his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988.<\/p>\n
Saeidi has said she had permission to use the letterhead.<\/p>\n
Lawdan Bazargan, director of the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), who first publicized Saeidi\u2019s support for Hamid Nouri, later began examining the sourcing in Saeidi\u2019s academic work.<\/p>\n
Bazargan told Iran International that several former political prisoners named in Saeidi\u2019s dissertation and book had publicly denied being interviewed by her, raising broader questions about documentation, recordings, consent forms, and sourcing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe credibility of oral history research depends entirely on documentation, informed consent, and verifiable sourcing,\u201d Bazargan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf key testimonies cannot be substantiated, then the scholarly foundation of the book itself comes into question, because its central arguments rely heavily on those contested interviews.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bazargan also called for scrutiny of the supervisory process behind Saeidi\u2019s Cambridge dissertation, including the role of her PhD supervisor, Professor Glen Rangwala. Iran International sent a request for comment to Rangwala.<\/p>\n
Saeidi also drew criticism over social media posts praising former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and defending the Iranian establishment during the recent war. Her X account has since been suspended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cambridge University Press, which published a book by University of Arkansas professor Shirin Saeidi based on her Cambridge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[34,67,63,60,61,64,58,62,59,65,49,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-113522","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-iran","9":"tag-iran-and-china","10":"tag-iran-covid","11":"tag-iran-economy","12":"tag-iran-government","13":"tag-iran-media-iran-and-the-united-states","14":"tag-iran-news","15":"tag-iran-nuclear","16":"tag-iran-politics","17":"tag-iran-us","18":"tag-middle-east","19":"tag-us-sanctions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116572906226775983","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}