Academic Freedom Monitoring Project
Posted April 15, 2016
SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project focuses on developing a greater understanding of the volume and nature of attacks on higher education communities in order to develop more effective protection responses.
The Monitoring Project aims to identify, assess and track incidents involving one or more of six defined types of conduct which may constitute violations of academic freedom and/or the human rights of members of higher education communities:
- Killings/violence/disappearances
- Wrongful imprisonment/detention
- Wrongful prosecution
- Restrictions on travel or movement
- Retaliatory discharge/loss of position/expulsion from study
- Other significant events
SAR staff identify, record, and analyze incidents of attacks on higher education systems, institutions or personnel, attaching corroborating primary and secondary source material when possible. SAR processes, verifies and consolidates reports of incidents for distribution and the mobilization of advocacy responses.
Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report.
View Historical Monitoring Reports
View Frequently Asked Questions
View the Methodology
Notifying SAR of attacks on higher education: SAR invites individuals aware of an attack on higher education or academic freedom to submit information by emailing sarmonitoring@nyu.edu with a brief description of the incident and links to relevant sources. Before submitting information, we ask that you first review SAR’s methodology to ensure that the incident matches at least one of SAR’s six types of attacks. SAR will review each submission for reportability and will only issue reports on incidents that are backed by sufficient evidence and that fit within SAR’s methodology. Please note that we are unable to respond to each submission.
