Pointed out for plagiarism, the historian Laurent Turcot comes out of silence and again defends his integrity, believing that he is the victim of relentlessness. He relies on his two publishers, who exonerate him from all responsibility and attest to the thesis of the error in good faith.
The historian, known for his numerous media appearances, reiterated in a video posted Tuesday on Facebook that references in his books were removed during the editing process for the sake of lightening the form. Some passages from his books Sports and leisures. A story of originspublished in 2016, and History will tellpublished last year, should therefore have been accompanied by a footnote.
He ensures that the few errors present will be corrected in the next editions in order to clarify everything. “These omissions were in no way premeditated. At no time did I want to appropriate the work of others,” claims Laurent Turcot.
It was the first time that the historian took the floor following an article published at the end of December in The Journal of Montreal. It read that Laurent Turcot was the subject of an investigation by the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières (UQTR), where he teaches, in connection with nearly 120 cases of alleged plagiarism.
A few months earlier, the same daily had revealed that the UQTR had noted 13 cases of plagiarism in Sports and leisures. A story of origins following an initial investigation in 2021. The university had not sanctioned the professor, not seeing it as a deliberate error.
Laurent Turcot says he does not know who is behind these investigations and who transmitted this information to the media. “Surely someone enjoys sending anonymous complaints. That’s what I call relentlessness, and that’s difficult, “he said in an interview with the Duty Tuesday.
Common practice
However, certain examples highlighted by The Journal of Montreal were quite eloquent. Passages taken from the historian’s books indeed resemble, word for word, certain extracts from websites. However, Laurent Turcot explains today that these same sites are inspired by books, which are often cited correctly at the bottom of the page in his works. He also indicates that certain references that are said to be missing in his books are in fact very present, but later, or earlier in the book.
“The anti-plagiarism software that is available today is the work of computer tools that often do not take into account the type of work that is done and the way of presenting the sources”, he argued in the short video posted on his Facebook page.
Laurent Turcot benefits from the support of its publishers: Gallimard for Sports and leisures. A story of origins and Hurtubise for History will tell. In an email that Laurent Turcot shared on social networks, the vice-president of Éditions Hurtubise, Arnaud Foulon, reminds us that it is very common to reduce the number of references in historical works intended for the general public in order to simplify reading. This practice has been used, among other things, for books by Marcel Tessier, Jacques Lacoursière and even Denis Vaugeois, he said.