History professor Michael Bellesiles has appealed a report from an independent panel that was charged with evaluating his research for his award-winning book on gun culture in America.

Bellesiles is the author of Arming America: Origins of a National Gun Culture, which claims that guns were more rare in early America than previously thought.

The book's thesis contradicts long-held images of frontier Americans who used guns as indispensable tools and places a different light on the founding fathers' intentions when they wrote the Second Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing citizens the right to bear arms.

The University announced in an April press release that it would make public the committee's findings as soon as the investigation ended, then slated for the end of summer. Although the panel's inquiry ended in July, its conclusions have not yet been released.

Interim University Provost Woody Hunter said last week that the full findings would still be released once Bellesiles had a chance to appeal the results of the report. He did not say when Bellesiles appealed the report but said the appeal process would finish "soon."

Hunter would not elaborate further on the nature of the report or Bellesiles' appeal.

Bellesiles, who did not respond to e-mail requests for an interview, is on paid leave for the semester.

The University launched an informal investigation into Bellesiles' book in February, after some members of the national academic community accused him of basing his research on fraudulent and long-destroyed records. The results of that internal inquiry led Interim Dean of the College Robert Paul to launch a second external investigation by a panel of "distinguished scholars."

Bellesiles' case marks the first time a College professor has been charged and investigated for research misconduct.

Released in September 2000, Arming America initially received rave reviews from academics, particularly for its innovative use of probate records and militia roles to support Bellesiles' claim. It won the prestigious Bancroft Prize from Columbia University (N.Y.) in 2001.

Professor of History Michael Bellesiles is not the first faculty member Emory has investigated for research fraud. Click to read this article.