The Free Speech Union has just issued the following press release about a current academic cancellation.
“A peer-reviewed paper by a Māori clinical psychologist has been removed from her profession’s journal on the grounds that keeping it accessible could harm Māori. It was not retracted for error, fraud or misconduct, which are ordinarily the only reasons for such an action.
The Free Speech Union is calling on the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists to explain the decision.
The paper was submitted in 2024, peer reviewed, and published in the Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists in 2025. According to the explanation given to members, the College’s governing Council determined that keeping the article available was inconsistent with the College’s values. The involvement of the College’s governing body in removing a published paper raises questions about the journal’s editorial independence.”
Read the rest of the press release here.
The citation for the original journal article is Mitchell, A. (2025). He Wero Ano: Don’t Just Tell Me, Show Me How Science and Psychology Are Racist in New Zealand. Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, 35(1), 36–64 and can be found at this link below. It was published on 11th August 2025 and subsequently removed: https://zenodo.org/records/16743836
This article argues for the maintenance of the scientist-practitioner model
as a way of maintaining professional integrity and boundaries in psychology.
It is worth noting that after publication, Mitchell’s paper attracted significant international academic attention. Could this interest have influenced the decision to retract the paper?
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