After allegations of plagiarism against AfD leader Alice Weidel in connection with her doctoral thesis, the University of Bayreuth does not see enough evidence for further examination. According to the Commission for Scientific Integrity, there were isolated citation errors in the work, the university announced on Thursday. However, these passages were not sufficient to prove grossly negligent or intentional scientific misconduct.
“There is a single-digit number of passages in which textbook knowledge is reproduced,” the university said. The committee therefore unanimously decided on Wednesday not to initiate main proceedings in the case to examine the allegations.
The university announced in December 2023 that it was investigating “suspicion of plagiarism” after the Southgerman newspaper had reported that two plagiarism detectors had contacted the university. Accordingly, the two accused Weidel of not or not sufficiently identifying the sources of individual passages, coherent sentences or even sentence fragments in their doctoral thesis from 2011, which was awarded summa cum laude.
After speaking of a campaign against her in December, Weidel now said that she “never had any doubts” that the fabricated plagiarism allegations would collapse like a house of cards. She would like to thank everyone involved “for the thorough and comprehensive review.” The University of Bayreuth “acted very quickly and calmly.”