BILLINGS — The Daily Montanan, a nonprofit, nonpartisan online news organization, recently published an article pointing to possible plagiarism in multiple sections of the book "Mudslingers: A True Story of Aerial Firefighting" by Montana Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy, published in 2023.
Darrell Ehrlick, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Montanan and author of the article, said they first received a tip that the book seemed "suspicious." So, the organization ran the book through software to check for similar work online.
“There were four passages that were, I would say questionable, if not outright plagiarism,” Ehrlick said. "This is a book that does not have end notes, footnotes, or citations."
The book is both an autobiography and history piece, which Ehrlick said makes it difficult for the reader to distinguish when Sheehy was writing his personal experience or about a historical event.
“Let's be clear, there's nothing wrong with taking other sources, citing, attributing, quoting. All of those are perfectly legitimate. The challenge becomes when you don't give the proper citation or reference,” Ehrlick said. “There was no pattern, necessarily. However, I would say that the information that I think was likely plagiarized, that the software picked up on as well, it's never the kind of information that is bombshell. It's more just supporting information.”
According to the article, the plagiarism ranges from using a definition from Wikipedia without citation, to full paragraphs with just a few words changed.
“It's important for Montana voters to know his background. It's also important for them to know what is the work product that he has produced so far, and I think that basically every time you receive a ballot, it is in a sense asking for trust,” Ehrlick said.
MSU-Billings political science professor Dr. Paul Pope, who was also quoted in Ehrlick's article, said if plagiarism happens in his class, it would be a serious offense.
“In many cases, the student who plagiarizes, they're going to fail the course,” Pope said. “This is a bigger deal than some people might even think. Plagiarism, it does erode the trust.”
Both MTN News and the Daily Montanan requested comment from Sheehy through his campaign but received no response.
