Some defenders of Michael Bellesiles`s Arming America have insisted that his critics have yet to bring forth any evidence to suggest scholarly fraud. One apologist points to the "searching examinations" of Bellesiles`s book in the January 2002 issue of the William and Mary Quarterly, which, "although severely critical, eschews charges of fraud or misrepresentation." To be sure, "charges of fraud" do not appear in the Quarterly`s forum on Bellesiles. But what is truly remarkable about that forum is what does appear there: scathing appraisals of his book`s misuse of sources and evidence which some might regard as consistent with academic fraud, such as repeatedly misquoting, distorting, falsifying, or perhaps even deliberately inventing evidence to support one`s thesis.
Read Original at: History News Network
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