Conspiracy theorists seek acceptance by the academic world they distrust.

Evidence

Indeed, conspiracy theorists insist on being judged by the very canons of proof that are used in the world they despise and distrust, the world of academia and the intelligentsia. For all its claims to populism, conspiracy theory yearns to be admitted to the precincts where it imagines the conspirators themselves dwell. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 194

Categorization

• XREF: The antiscience/populist craving academic legitimacy connects to Barkun’s broader pattern of anti-expertise movements that nonetheless brandish scholarly apparatus — parallel to how contemporary flat-earth and climate-denial literature cites credentialed sources selectively.