Plagiarism and medical writing

Abstract

AbstractPlagiarism constitutes an action where authors use matter from different publications, usually without referencing them, and try to pass it off as their own work. Plagiarism seems to have increased with the availability of Internet access, simply because so much matter is easily available and it is so easy to copy matter. This appears to be happening across the world and is significantly prevalent in India as well. Recent medical literature suggests that while plagiarism is definitely a punishable offence, there is a deep need to educate writers on the nuances of plagiarism. This article attempts to explain, and illustrate with examples, what kind of writing is considered plagiarism and what is not. We have also touched upon some implications of plagiarism.