Examination of USC doctor’s earlier books finds more troubling instances of plagiarism
LOS ANGELES — With just days to go before the publication of his already-bestselling title, “The Book of Animal Secrets,” Dr. David Agus said he was surprised to learn that at least 95 passages appeared to be copied from other uncredited sources, sometimes word for word.
Sales of the book were suspended, and Agus pledged to rewrite it before it was released. “I take any claims of plagiarism seriously,” the University of Southern California oncologist and media personality said in a statement last week after a Los Angeles Times investigation identified the parallel text.
The Times has since reviewed Agus’ three previous books — “The End of Illness,” “A Short Guide to a Long Life” and “The Lucky Years” — and found more than 120 passages that are virtually identical to the language and structure of previously published material. Sources include newspaper and magazine stories, scientific journal articles, popular science books, Wikipedia and blogs.
Some of the passages go on for multiple pages. Scores of paragraphs are near-exact copies of other people’s work. Few of those original authors are credited in Agus’ books, which were published by Simon & Schuster.
The Times presented the company this week with a list of the passages. The publisher responded two days later with a statement saying it was aware of “these
