Patchwork plagiarism – a jigsaw of stolen puzzle pieces

Plagiarism remains at the top in terms of interest to the scientific community. In its many vicious forms, patchwork plagiarism is characterized by numerous unresolved issues and often passes “below the radar” of editors and reviewers. The problem of detecting the complexity of misconduct has been partially resolved by plagiarism detection software. However, interpretation of relevant reports is not always obvious or easy. This article deals with plagiarism in general and patchwork plagiarism in particular, as well as related problems that editors must deal with to maintain the integrity of scientific journals

Prevalence and attitudes towards plagiarism among medical students

Cilj istraživanja. Utvrditi pojavnost i učestalost prisvajanja autorskoga vlasništva u studenata medicine te ispitati stajališta o akademskoj čestitosti i autorskom vlasništvu. Ispitanici i metode. Istraživanje obuhvaća 295 studenata druge godine studija medicine (63% žene) tijekom tri akademske godine. Pojavnost plagiranja ispitana je na modelu studentskih seminarskih radova s pomoću programske potpore za otkrivanje prepisanog teksta. Studentske skupine u tri akademske godine razlikuju se u upozorenju o zabrani plagiranja. Prva skupina bila je upozorena da rad treba biti autorsko djelo, sljedećoj skupini istaknuta je i zabrana prepisivanja, a posljednja skupina upozorena je da će se radovi kontrolirati i prekršitelji kazniti. Stajališta studenata o akademskoj nečestitosti ispitana su s pomoću upitnika na primjeru priča u kojima se opisuju postupci: samoplagiranje, plagiranje uz privolu i bez privole autora, plagiranje od podređenog, ispitna prijevara i izdavanje nalaza bez učinjenog pregleda. Anonimnim upitnikom ispitana su i opća stajališta o autorskom vlasništvu i akademskoj čestitosti. Rezultati. Studenti su u svojim radovima prosječno prepisivali 7% (5.95. percentila=084%) teksta. Na udio prepisanog teksta utjecalo je samo upozorenje o kontroli radova i posljedičnoj kazni, upozoreni studenti prepisivali su znatno manje (2% naspram 17% i 21%, P<0,001). Većina studenata (6790%) slučajeve plagiranja smatra neispravnim no i opravdanim (2155%). Većina ispitanika slučaj samoplagiranja smatra ispravnim (65%) i opravdanim (75%). Četvrtina ispitanika postupak prepisivanja na ispitu smatra ispravnim, polovina opravdanim i nepotrebnim kazniti. Približno polovina studenata počinila bi postupke opisane u pričama (3966%) u određenim okolnostima, a do 46% svjedočilo je sličnim postupcima u svojoj okolini. Opća stajališta o akademskoj čestitosti u dvije trećine studenata su prihvatljiva, ali se trebaju promatrati u svjetlu socijalno poželjnih odgovora. Zaključak. Plagiranje je prisutno u studenata medicine i samo se upozorenjem o kontroli radova nepristranim postupkom i prijetnjom kazne smanjuje udio prepisanog teksta. Stajališta studenata medicine o povredama akademske čestitosti zabrinjavajuća su i ukazuju na potrebu izobrazbe studenata o akademskoj čestitosti.Aim. To determine the prevalence of plagiarism among medical students and investigate students’ attitudes towards academic integrity and intellectual property. Subjects and methods. During the three academic years, 295 secondyear medical students (63% women) attending a mandatory course in Medical Informatics wrote an essay based on one of the four scientific articles offered as template. The essays were examined by WCopyfind software for plagiarism detection and the rates of plagiarism were calculated. The first generation of students was warned that the essay was expected to be an original paper, the second generation was strictly prohibited to copy, and the third generation received an additional warning that the essays would be examined by plagiarism detection software and the students who had plagiarized would be punished. Furthermore, students’ attitudes towards six fictitious scenarios were investigated as follows: the case of self plagiarism three cases of plagiarism (copying an essay from a fellowstudent with and without his or her consent and a professor copying from his junior associate), cheating on exams, and issuing a false medical report. Finally, general attitudes towards intellectual property and academic integrity have been examined by a sixitem questionnaire. Results. The average plagiarism rate was 7% (5th95th percentile=084%). Students warned about the use of plagiarism detection software and the consequent penalties plagiarized less (2% vs. 17% vs. 21%, P<0,001). Although plagiarism cases were considered inappropriate by majority of students (6790%, depending on case), a quarter to half of them found these acts justified. Majority of students found case of selfplagiarism appropriate (65%) and justified (75%). Quarter of students found the case of cheating appropriate and half of them thought it was justified and deserved no penalty. Approximately half of the students (3966%) would act as described in the scenarios, if the need be, and up to 46% witnessed similar cases in their environment. Attitudes towards academic integrity in twothirds of students could be described as appropriate. Discrepancy between student behavior and attitudes implied that some answers were given as socially desirable. Conclusions. Plagiarism is present among medical students. If there is no plagiarism detection software and penalty threat, plagiarism among students may be expected. Medical students’ attitudes toward academic integrity are disturbing. Students need clear guidelines and further education on academic and scientific integrity

Prevalence and attitudes towards plagiarism among medical students

Cilj istraživanja. Utvrditi pojavnost i učestalost prisvajanja autorskoga vlasništva u studenata medicine te ispitati stajališta o akademskoj čestitosti i autorskom vlasništvu. Ispitanici i metode. Istraživanje obuhvaća 295 studenata druge godine studija medicine (63% žene) tijekom tri akademske godine. Pojavnost plagiranja ispitana je na modelu studentskih seminarskih radova s pomoću programske potpore za otkrivanje prepisanog teksta. Studentske skupine u tri akademske godine razlikuju se u upozorenju o zabrani plagiranja. Prva skupina bila je upozorena da rad treba biti autorsko djelo, sljedećoj skupini istaknuta je i zabrana prepisivanja, a posljednja skupina upozorena je da će se radovi kontrolirati i prekršitelji kazniti. Stajališta studenata o akademskoj nečestitosti ispitana su s pomoću upitnika na primjeru priča u kojima se opisuju postupci: samoplagiranje, plagiranje uz privolu i bez privole autora, plagiranje od podređenog, ispitna prijevara i izdavanje nalaza bez učinjenog pregleda. Anonimnim upitnikom ispitana su i opća stajališta o autorskom vlasništvu i akademskoj čestitosti. Rezultati. Studenti su u svojim radovima prosječno prepisivali 7% (5.95. percentila=084%) teksta. Na udio prepisanog teksta utjecalo je samo upozorenje o kontroli radova i posljedičnoj kazni, upozoreni studenti prepisivali su znatno manje (2% naspram 17% i 21%, P<0,001). Većina studenata (6790%) slučajeve plagiranja smatra neispravnim no i opravdanim (2155%). Većina ispitanika slučaj samoplagiranja smatra ispravnim (65%) i opravdanim (75%). Četvrtina ispitanika postupak prepisivanja na ispitu smatra ispravnim, polovina opravdanim i nepotrebnim kazniti. Približno polovina studenata počinila bi postupke opisane u pričama (3966%) u određenim okolnostima, a do 46% svjedočilo je sličnim postupcima u svojoj okolini. Opća stajališta o akademskoj čestitosti u dvije trećine studenata su prihvatljiva, ali se trebaju promatrati u svjetlu socijalno poželjnih odgovora. Zaključak. Plagiranje je prisutno u studenata medicine i samo se upozorenjem o kontroli radova nepristranim postupkom i prijetnjom kazne smanjuje udio prepisanog teksta. Stajališta studenata medicine o povredama akademske čestitosti zabrinjavajuća su i ukazuju na potrebu izobrazbe studenata o akademskoj čestitosti.Aim. To determine the prevalence of plagiarism among medical students and investigate students’ attitudes towards academic integrity and intellectual property. Subjects and methods. During the three academic years, 295 secondyear medical students (63% women) attending a mandatory course in Medical Informatics wrote an essay based on one of the four scientific articles offered as template. The essays were examined by WCopyfind software for plagiarism detection and the rates of plagiarism were calculated. The first generation of students was warned that the essay was expected to be an original paper, the second generation was strictly prohibited to copy, and the third generation received an additional warning that the essays would be examined by plagiarism detection software and the students who had plagiarized would be punished. Furthermore, students’ attitudes towards six fictitious scenarios were investigated as follows: the case of self plagiarism three cases of plagiarism (copying an essay from a fellowstudent with and without his or her consent and a professor copying from his junior associate), cheating on exams, and issuing a false medical report. Finally, general attitudes towards intellectual property and academic integrity have been examined by a sixitem questionnaire. Results. The average plagiarism rate was 7% (5th95th percentile=084%). Students warned about the use of plagiarism detection software and the consequent penalties plagiarized less (2% vs. 17% vs. 21%, P<0,001). Although plagiarism cases were considered inappropriate by majority of students (6790%, depending on case), a quarter to half of them found these acts justified. Majority of students found case of selfplagiarism appropriate (65%) and justified (75%). Quarter of students found the case of cheating appropriate and half of them thought it was justified and deserved no penalty. Approximately half of the students (3966%) would act as described in the scenarios, if the need be, and up to 46% witnessed similar cases in their environment. Attitudes towards academic integrity in twothirds of students could be described as appropriate. Discrepancy between student behavior and attitudes implied that some answers were given as socially desirable. Conclusions. Plagiarism is present among medical students. If there is no plagiarism detection software and penalty threat, plagiarism among students may be expected. Medical students’ attitudes toward academic integrity are disturbing. Students need clear guidelines and further education on academic and scientific integrity

Scientific integrity - the basis of existence and development of science

Poštenje u znanosti čini sam temelj njezina postojanja. Znanstvenu je etiku teško opisati i sažeto definirati. Sve što se radi u znanosti potrebno je raditi pošteno, biti objektivan, zatomiti želju za osobnom korišću i samopromidžbom, biti iskren u zaključcima, pravedan prema suradnicima, biti ustrajan u točnosti i nikada ne mijenjati niti izmišljati podatke, ne prisvajati sebi tuđe intelektualno vlasništvo, ma kako se to bezazlenim činilo. I najmanja sjena povrede znanstvene čestitosti u znanstvenom radu sasvim obezvrjeđuje rad i dovodi do nepovratna gubitka ugleda. I najmanji znanstveni doprinos vrijedan je dio u veličanstvenom mozaiku ljudske znanosti, ali samo ako je iskren i pošten. Svaki znanstvenik, pa i onaj čiji jeznanstveni rad manji dio njegova svakodnevnog, rutinskog posla, tom radu mora pristupati čista srca i otvorena uma.Science integrity is the very basis of the existence of science. The ethics of science is hard to describe and summarize. Everything in science should be done honestly and objectively. Scientists should suppress their vanity and self-importance, and be straight in concluding, fair to colleagues; diligent and accurate in data collecting and writing; should not misappropriate the work of the others, even if it may seem unimportant. Even the smallest shadow of scientific misconduct will devaluate scientific work and lead to the loss of respect. Even the smallest achievement in science is great and important in the magnificent kaleidoscope of human science only if it is fair and honest. Every scientist should be aware of this, and should work in science - one of the greatest achievements of mankind - wholeheartedly and open mind

How do we handle self-plagiarism in submitted manuscripts?

Self-plagiarism is a controversial issue in scientific writing and presentation of research data. Unlike plagiarism, self-plagiarism is difficult to interpret as intellectual theft under the justification that one cannot steal from oneself. However, academics are concerned, as self-plagiarized papers mislead readers, do not contribute to science, and bring undeserved credit to authors. As such, it should be considered a form of scientific misconduct. In this paper, we explain different forms of self-plagiarism in scientific writing and then present good editorial policy toward questionable material. The importan-ce of dealing with self-plagiarism is emphasized by the recently published proposal of Text Recycling Guidelines by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Lamellar body count as a diagnostic test in predicting neonatal respiratory distress syndrome

Aim To determine the lamellar body count (LBC) cutoff value for fetal lung maturity and to evaluate the clinical usefulness of LBC in predicting the severity of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Methods A prospective study was conducted from 2002 until 2010. LBC was estimated in uncentrifugated amniotic fluid samples using Cell-Dyn 1800 analyzer. Amniotic fluid samples were obtained by amniocentesis or by puncturing embryonic membranes during cesarean section. The presence of mild, moderate, and severe RDS was assessed by neonatologist. Results A total of 313 patients with singleton pregnancies (24-41 weeks) were included in the study and 294 met the inclusion criteria. RDS was diagnosed in 28 neonates – mild in 8, moderate in 10, and severe in 10. In premature neonates (<37 gestational weeks), significant differences in LBC were only found between the subgroup without RDS and the group with moderate and the group with severe RDS (P < 0.001). In all neonates, significant differences were found between neonates without RDS and neonates with RDS. Using LBC cutoff value of ≥20,000/μL, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of LBC in determining mature fetal lungs were 96%, 88%, 45.6%, and 99.5%, respectively. Conclusion This study suggests that LBC cutoff value of ≥20,000/μL can predict pulmonary maturity and reduce the risk of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome

Plagiarism as a violation of scientific and academic integrity

Plagiranje je neovlašteno preuzimanje tuđih ideja, postupaka ili teksta bez odgovarajuće naznake s nakanom da se prikažu kao vlastita. Preuzimanje već objavljenih vlastitih ideja ili preuzimanje vlastitog već objavljenog teksta prikazujući ga novim i originalnim naziva se samoplagiranjem i smatra se jednako lošim kao i plagiranje. Učestalost plagiranja je u porastu, razvoj informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije olakšava neovlašteno preuzimanje teksta, no istovremeno, zahvaljujući istoj tehnologiji, razvijaju se računalni programi i mrežne usluge za otkrivanje plagiranja. Za provjeru tekstova i činjenice jesu li oni plagirani postoje različita programska rješenja. Većina se zasniva na konkordanciji, tj. usporedbi teksta pri čemu program iznalazi i označava podudarne dijelove teksta i izračunava njegov udio s obzirom na cijeli tekst. Neki od programa, osim što uspoređuju tekstove, pretražuju internet radi iznalaženja tekstova s podudarnim sadržajem. Svi programi mogu uspoređivati tekstove napisane na istom jeziku; međujezično pretraživanje nije moguće uz pomoć programske potpore. Primjeri programa su računalni programi (WCopyfi nd) i mrežne usluge (eTBlast, CrossCheck). Prednost mrežne usluge je mogućnost pronalaženja mogućeg teksta izvornika. eTBlast je besplatna mrežna usluga za pronalaženje podudarnih i vrlo sličnih sažetaka znanstvenih radova (pretražuje i bazu podataka Medline) koja je poslužila kao temelj za izradbu baze podataka Déjà vu. Mrežna usluga CrossCheck dostupna je samo članovima (akademske ustanove i časopisi), a korištenjem računalnog algoritma za pronalaženje sličnosti Then cate tvrtke iParadigms (Oakland, CA, SAD) provjerava podudarnost teksta ispitivanog članka s cijelovitim tekstovima sadržanim u bazi podataka CrossCheck ustrojenom suradnjom uredništva i izdavača znanstvenih časopisa koji objavljene članke pridružuju bazi podataka, što omogućuje nesmetano pretraživanje sadržaja zaštićenog pretplatom. Vrlo je važno prepoznati plagiranje i podučavati o njemu u akademskoj zajednici na svim nivoima obrazovanja. Urednici znanstvenih časopisa i znanstvenici trebaju se zajedno boriti protiv neetičnih istraživanja koja su suprotna znanstvenoj ideji i štetna za znanstvenu i opću zajednicu, kritički čitati i provjeravati znanstvenu publicistiku, prijavljivati plagiranje i ostale sumnjive postupke u istraživanjima uredništvima časopisa i nadležnim tijelima.Plagiarism is unauthorized appropriation of other people’s ideas, processes or text without giving correct credit and with intention to present it as own property. Appropriation of own published ideas or text and passing it as original is denominated self-plagiarism and considered as bad as plagiarism. The frequency of plagiarism is increasing and development of information and communication technologies facilitates it, but simultaneously, thanks to the same technology, plagiarism detection software is developing. There are diff erent software solutions for checking plagiarism. Most of them are based on concordance, i.e., comparison of text where program tools isolate and mark correspondent parts of the text and calculate its rate regarding the whole text. Several programs, besides comparing the texts, also search the Internet aiming for text with corresponding content. All programs can compare text written in the same language but translingual comparison with plagiarism detection software is not yet possible. The software is available through computer programs (WCopyfi nd) or Web Services (eTBlast, CrossCheck). Their advantage is in the possibility of fi nding the original source paper. eTBlast is the free of charge web based service for searching corresponding and highly similar scientific paper abstracts (it searches also Medline database), which served as the ground for constructing Déjà vu database. Web based service CrossCheck is accessible only for members (academic institutions and journals) and by using computer similarity algorithm iThen cate of company iParadigms (Oakland, CA, USA), it checks accordance of the given text with the complete texts in the CrossCheck database. It is organized by collaboration of journal editorial boards and publishers who pass the published papers to the base and enable searching of content usually protected by subscription. The importance of recognizing and teaching plagiarism in the academic community at all levels of education is enormous. Scientific journal editors and scientists should fight together against unethical researches which are opposite to the scientific idea and harmful for scientific community and society, critically read and examine scientific publications, report plagiarism and other suspicious research misconduct to journal editorial boards and institutional authorities