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The term "Dodgy Dossier" was coined when Channel 4 News examined a copy of the dossier in Microsoft Word format. By reading the source as ASCII they discovered that much of the work had been plagiarised from various uncredited sources, most notably from a postgraduate thesis published on the internet. Whole sections of Californian student Ibrahim al-Marashi 's article on "Saddam's Special Security Organisation" were repeated verbatim (with some typographicalTypography is art and technique of selecting and arranging type styles, point sizes, line lengths, line leading, character spacing, and word spacing for typeset applications. These applications can be phyiscal or digital. The two primary functions of typo errors included), and minor modifications had been made which strengthened the wording - for example: "monitoring foreign embassies in Iraq" became "spying on foreign embassies in Iraq", and "aiding opposition groups in hostile regimes" became "supporting terrorist organisations in hostile regimes".

The report itself claims in its opening paragraph to draw "upon a number of sources, including intelligence reports". Ahead of the document's release it had been praised by Tony BlairThe Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953) has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1997, when he brought the Labour Party into power after 18 consecutive years of Conservative government. After becoming the and Colin PowellColin Luther Powell (pronounced Coe-lin, born April 5, 1937) is the 65th United States Secretary of State, sworn in on January 20, 2001, and the highest ranking African American government official in the history of the United States. He was nominated by as further intelligence and quality research.

A day after Channel 4Channel 4 is a television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television), launched on November 2, 1982. Like the BBC, it has a public service remit and is operated by a non-profit corporation, Channel 4 Television Corporation. Unlike the BBC,'s allegations, Downing StreetDowning Street is the world-famous street in central London which contains the buildings that have been, for over two hundred years, the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers, the First Lord of the Treasury, an office hel issued a statement, admitting a mistake was made in not crediting its sources, but that this error did not alter the quality of the report's content.

The claims of both the "September" and "Dodgy" dossiers were called into question during the 2003 war on Iraq, when Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) had failed to be used or found, and the dossiers were the subject of an enquiry by the House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 659 members, who are known as "Members of Parliamen Foreign Affairs Select CommitteeAlternative meaning: Select Committee (U. Congress A Select Committee of the British Parliament is a committee made up of a small number of members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues. They can be appointed from the House of Commons, like th. The Committee subsequently reported that the sources should have been credited, and that the dossier should have been checked by ministers before being released. The dossier had only been reviewed by a group of civil servants operating under Alastair Campbell. The committee stated that the publication was "almost wholly counter-productive" and only served to undermine the credibility of the government's case.

The controversy over the "Dodgy Dossier" was mentioned frequently in the government's fight with the BBC over the September Dossier that Iraq could deploy biological weapons within 45 minutes of an order to do so, and the controversy surrounding the death of Doctor David Kelly. See September Dossier for details.