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Manchester probe academic over self-love text

University of Manchester (photo: iStock)

Well, you have to hand it to them. After an outcry, Manchester University has now told Mr S that they’re investigating a PhD student who published a research paper in which he detailed how he masturbated for three months to extreme Japanese comics featuring young boys. 

The saga started earlier today after Tory MP Neil O’Brien tweeted a link to an article in the journal Qualitative Research titled ‘I am not alone – we are all alone: Using masturbation as an ethnographic method in research on shota subculture in Japan.’ O’Brien noted that ‘the non-STEM side of higher education is just much too big, producing too much that is not sociallly useful.’ That’s putting it mildly…

PhD student Karl Andersson was researching subcultural Japanese comics at the University of Manchester but began masturbating after ‘hitting a wall’ in his studies. He

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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