ABSTRACT
An observational study was conducted to describe the presence of plagiarism in medical thesis in 2008 performed at a public university in Peru. Search for plagiarism in 33 thesis introductions using a Google search algorithm, characterizes of the study type and we search in electronic form if the thesis mentor have published articles in scientific journals. We found evidence of plagiarism in 27/33 introductions, 37.3% (171/479) of all the paragraphs analyzed had some degree of plagiarism, literal plagiarism was the most frequent (20/27) and journals were the most common sources of plagiarism (19/27). The characteristics of the studies were observational (32/33), cross-sectional (30/33), descriptive (25/33) and retrospective (19/33). None of the authors had published in a scientific journal, and only nine of his tutors of them had at least one publication. No association was found between the characteristics of the thesis and the presence of plagiarism. In conclusion, we found a high frequency of plagiarism in theses analyzed. Is responsibility of medical schools take the necessary actions to detect and avoid plagiarism among their students.
Subject(s)
Academic Dissertations as Topic , Plagiarism , Schools, Medical , Cross-Sectional Studies , Peru , Public SectorABSTRACT
Se realizó un estudio observacional con el objetivo de describir la presencia de plagio en tesis de medicina ejecutadas en el año 2008 en una universidad pública peruana. Se buscó plagio en las introducciones de 33 tesis usando un algoritmo de búsqueda con Google, se caracterizó el tipo de estudio y se buscó en forma electrónica si los asesores de las tesis han publicado artículos en revistas científicas. Se encontró evidencia de plagio en 27/33 de las introducciones, 37,3 por ciento(171/479) de todos los párrafos analizados tuvieron algún grado de plagio, el plagio literal fue el más frecuente (20/27) y las fuentes de plagio más comunes fueron revistas científicas (19/27). Las características de los estudios analizados fueron observacionales (32/33), transversales (30/33), descriptivos (25/33) y retrospectivos (19/33). Ninguno de losautores había publicado en una revista científica, y sólo nueve de sus asesores de ellos tenían al menos una publicación.No se encontró asociación entre las características de la tesis y la presencia de plagio. En conclusión, se encontró unaalta frecuencia de plagio en las tesis analizadas. Es responsabilidad de las facultades de medicina tomar las medidas necesarias para detectar y evitar el plagio entre sus estudiantes.
An observational study was conducted to describe the presence of plagiarism in medical thesis in 2008 performed at apublic university in Peru. Search for plagiarism in 33 thesis introductions using a Google search algorithm, characterizes of the study type and we search in electronic form if the thesis mentor have published articles in scientific journals. We found evidence of plagiarism in 27/33 introductions, 37.3 por ciento (171/479) of all the paragraphs analyzed had some degreeof plagiarism, literal plagiarism was the most frequent (20/27) and journals were the most common sources of plagiarism (19/27). The characteristics of the studies were observational (32/33), cross-sectional (30/33), descriptive (25/33) and retrospective (19/33). None of the authors had published in a scientific journal, and only nine of his tutors of them had atleast one publication. No association was found between the characteristics of the thesis and the presence of plagiarism. In conclusion, we found a high frequency of plagiarism in theses analyzed. Is responsibility of medical schools take the necessary actions to detect and avoid plagiarism among their students.
