How common is plagiarism in the publishing industry? | Plagiarism | The Guardian

Rachel Reeves's mea culpa over her failure to properly reference some sentences in her new book has thrown the spotlight on the thorny issue of plagiarism and the pitfalls of tedious factchecking.

Publishers and authors agree that if your name is on the book cover, the responsibility to properly reference any borrowed phrases or facts in the bibliography lies squarely with you.

"One thing that is quite curious," one publishing insider said of the industry, "is that there doesn't seem to be much formal factchecking. The author warrants to deliver something that is original, not plagiarised. It's in the contract." The publisher, they added, "is taking it on trust".