False attribution may refer to:
One particular case of misattribution is theMatthew effect. Aquotation is often attributed to someone more famous than the real author. This leads the quotation to be more famous, but the real author to be forgotten (see also:obliteration by incorporation andChurchillian Drift).[2]
Such misattributions may originate as a sort of fallacious argument, if use of the quotation is meant to be persuasive, and attachment to a more famous person (whether intentionally or through misremembering) would lend it more authority.
In Jewish biblical studies, an entire group of falsely-attributed books is known as thepseudepigrapha.
A fraudulent advocate may go so far as to fabricate a source in order to support a claim. For example, the "Levitt Institute" was a fake organisation created in 2009 solely for the purposes of (successfully) fooling theAustralian media into reporting thatSydney was Australia’s most naive city.[3]
Contextomy (quoting out of context) is a type of false attribution.[4]
