Basic Books to 'review sources and rectify omissions' in Reeves reprints after plagiarism row

Publisher Basic Books says material lifted from other sources in Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves’ new book “should have been rewritten and properly referenced”, acknowledging “this did not happen in every case”. 

The Financial Times reported Reeves’ new book The Women Who Made Modern Economics included reproduced material from online blogs, Wikipedia, the Guardian and a report foreword by Labour MP Hilary Benn without acknowledging the sources. 

A statement from her publisher Basic Books, the non-fiction imprint of John Murray Press, said: “At no point did Rachel seek to present these facts as original research. There is an extensive and selective bibliography of over 200 books, articles and interviews. Where facts are taken from multiple sources, no author would be expected to reference each and every one.  

“When factual sentences were taken from primary sources, they should have been rewritten and properly referenced.  We acknowledge this did not happen in every case. As always in instances such as these, we will review all sources and ensure any omissions are rectified in future reprints.” 

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House, Reeves said: "I’m the author of that book, I hold my hands up and said, I should have done better." 

She added: "Obviously, I had research assistants on the book, but I take responsibility for everything that is in that book. 

"But for me, what I wanted to do is to bring together the stories of these women. 

"And if I’m guilty of copying and pasting some facts about some amazing women and turning it into a book that gets read, then I’m really proud of that."