Ex-senator’s wife accused of plagiarizing book she was paid to write from Wikipedia

A former senator’s wife was paid $1million to write a book about the county where she lives – but has now been accused of plagiarizing entire passages from Wikipedia and local media. 

Jean McCorquodale is married to former California State senator Dan McCorquodale, who also served as the supervisor of Santa Clara County in the 1970s and 1980s. 

In 2009, Jean was hired by the county as its grant writer. She was given a five-year contract worth $740,000. 

She was rehired in 2012 her annual salary shot up to $220,000 in 2016 and 2017, according to The Mercury News. 

In 2018, she was given an additional $280,000 to also produce a history book about the county – bringing her earnings that year to $510,000. 

Jean McCorquodale is married to former California State senator Dan McCorquodale, who also served as the supervisor of Santa Clara County in the 1970s and 1980s

One of the passages she plagiarized was from the Wikipedia page of Colonel John Stevens

In total, she has been paid $2.45million by the county over the last 13 years.  

When she handed in the final draft in January this year, entire passages were found to have been ripped straight from Wikipedia and the newspaper. 

Now, the county is launching an investigation. 

Jean McCorquodale is married to former California State senator Dan McCorquodale, who also served as the supervisor of Santa Clara County in the 1970s and 1980s

According to The Mercury News, passages were also lifted from the History Channel’s website. 

In a response to the allegations, McCorquodale said the passages had all been removed and were never intended to make the final version. 

‘The paragraphs you cited were highlighted in my working copy, and all have long been removed or substantially rewritten, drawing from numerous sources and incorporated in the final bibliography. 

‘The paragraphs you refer to and others were utilized as placeholders and were never intended to be included in the final copy,’ she told the newspaper. 

It’s unclear how The Mercury News obtained the manuscript but the newspaper ran it through Scribbr, an app that searches passages of text for other versions. 

The newspaper says the manuscript also took passages lifted from The Los Angeles Times, Encyclopedia Britannica, S.F. Geneaology and the California Supreme Court Historical Society among others. 

It is unclear now what will come of her book. 

County Executive Jeff Smith said the newspaper’s findings made him ‘shocked and concerned’. 

The book was about the history of Santa Clara County in California