Ben Carson Accused of Plagiarism in ‘America’ Book
A popular website’s claim that potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson plagiarized sources in a 2012 book he authored has been debunked by the source himself, National Review Online reported Thursday.
William Federer, author of such works as America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations and Treasury of Presidential Quotations, defended Carson’s material in his book, America the Beautiful, co-written by Carson’s wife, Candy.
“In my estimation, he has used my material exactly the way I wanted my material to be used,” Federer told National Review Online. “The fact that he had cited me 16 times shows that his intention was to be honest and up front in his use of my material and the two times that the BuzzFeed article cited that he had not, in my estimation, is an editor’s oversight, errata, and it’s not plagiarism.”
The Associated Press has reported Wednesday that Dr. Carson’s publisher is looking into allegations that Dr. Carson failed to properly credit Federer for some of the material in the book.
An article published Tuesday on buzzfeed.com alleged that “in many cases, Carson cites the works that he plagiarizes in endnotes, though he makes no effort to indicate that not just the source, but the words themselves, had been taken from different authors.”
Although Federer exonerated Carson of any wrongdoing, Carson admitted that he “inadvertently missed some” of the source citations.
“I attempted to appropriately cite and acknowledge all sources in America the Beautiful … I apologize, and I am working with my editors to rectify the situation,” Carson said.
Zondervan, a Christian publisher owned by HarperCollins, released a statement on Thursday that reiterated Carson’s stance.
“It has become apparent that further source citation is appropriate in Dr. Carson’s America the Beautiful. Any necessary updates will be made in subsequent printings.”
Carson’s 2014 book, One Nation, topped the New York Times best-seller list shortly after its release last spring. He spoke about many subjects concerning the book with Charisma News in June.
The 63-year-old Carson has written several books and has a new one, You Have a Brain: A Teen’s Guide to Think Big, scheduled from Zondervan next month.
