Richard Labunski goes public with complaint about book using his findings

Using someone's research findings without acknowledging the contribution is frowned upon (to put it mildly) in academe. But many scholarly authors say that their findings end up in trade books without appropriate credit all the time.

Richard Labunski, a professor at the University of Kentucky, was determined to fight for credit for his work, and this week he won an acknowledgment from Regnery Publishing that one of its books should have provided credit to his work on James Madison. But Regnery acted only after Labunski went public with a detailed explanation on History News Network of his grievance, and of why the material in question couldn't have come from another source -- and of how Regnery had not followed through on pledges to give his work credit.

He says his story shows that scholars can insist on credit -- using public exposure when private requests go unanswered.

The material in question appeared in Labunski's James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights, published by Oxford University Press to good reviews. One chapter deals with Madison's election to the first Congress -- a race in which he upset another future president, James Monroe. Labunski argues that had Madison not won that election, and used his new seat to argue on behalf of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the evolution to American government might have have been quite different from what happened....