Talk:Plagiarism/@comment-82.45.191.208-20110227164346/@comment-77.102.36.127-20110228222601

Well, I think we have to let this matter lie (let sleeping dogs lie so to speak)- LSE investigated and cleared this thesis and they have insisted that they will not revoke his PhD; they found no evidence of plagiarism and I am inclined to agree with them. I read some of the thesis and can see that the style of writing is pretty even throughout- one give away of a plagiarised work is an uneven style of argument and poor spelling. The reality is that there are very few original works around and most writers will quote and paraphrase from other writers, so sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether work has been plagiarised or not. Also we have to remember that English is not Saif's first language but this seems not to have been a bar on the guy's ability to complete his thesis. I can assure you that it is possible to complete a thesis in 3-4 years if you put your mind to it, even with lots of travelling and networking around the world. According to Lord Desai, Saif has earned his PhD on merit (I believe Desai was one of his examiners).