Sir,
The article on plagiarism is very interesting.[1] Patra noted that “Plagiarism in scientific publication has increased recently due to the recent Medical Council of India eligibility criteria for academic promotion to be the first or corresponding author in two original articles during the last tenure of holding that post.[1]” Indeed, plagiarism can be seen in many countries. Plagiarism can occur regardless of eligibility criteria for academic “promotion to be the first or corresponding author.” The rooted unethical behavior is usually the cause of plagiarism. We would like to share ideas and experience on this issue. First, the “criteria of first or corresponding author” is usually mentioned at present. I agree that not only “ first or corresponding author” but all authors have to contribute and correspond to the work. In case of plagiarism, all authors have to own responsibility to the problem. In our country, there has ever been the case that the junior resident who is the first author was accused of plagiarism and all other authors including to senior staff denied responsibility despite having allowed their name in the work. When a senior performed an unethical plagiarism, there is usually no action from his/her institute and there is sometimes no action from the journal.[2]
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REFERENCES
- 1.Patra R. Plagiarism and its effect on pediatric surgery publications. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg. 2017;22:199–201. doi: 10.4103/0971-9261.214458. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Joob B, Wiwanitkit V. Fate of articles and authors with approved plagiarism after a 10-year period: Cases from international PubMed indexed journals in Thailand and reflection on responsibility. Account Res. 2017;24:373–4. doi: 10.1080/08989621.2017.1350577. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]