Training on anti-plagiarism and referencing: A step toward sensitizing and improving scientific authenticity in medical literature writing among academicians.

Abstract

Background: Growing misconduct in the academic field is a worldwide concern. Among health professionals, this may be attributed to lack of awareness either due to no or inadequate formal training in anti-plagiarism and referencing. Objectives: The present study aimed to document the outcome and use of focused workshops on anti-plagiarism and referencing in improving awareness to academic misconduct. Method: Data of half-day workshop on anti-plagiarism and referencing conducted in a series of programs in the year 2018- 2019 were retrieved and reviewed. To evaluate the effectiveness of the training program knowledge of participants was analyzed based on their pre-test and post-test performance scores. Results: A total of 134 participants participated in 5 sessions over 2 years. Analysis of mean pre-test score (12.23 ± 4.5) and post-test scores (17.28 ±3.56) exhibited statistically significant improvement in knowledge with training provided. Conclusions: A low pre-test score with the improvement of scores after training points toward the necessity to address this lacuna in knowledge through structured training on anti-plagiarism and referencing to eliminate scientific misconduct. This study would provide a reference for other institutions to develop similar efforts to overcome hurdles towards better and more authentic medical literature writing.