5, 21 Moreover, journal coverage may vary from one database to the other as reported in a recent paper on research dissemination in South Asia. Certainly, database search for papers tagged for plagiarism is limited to indexed journals only, which keeps non-indexed journals (both low-quality and deceptive journals) out of focus. However, what we see now may not necessary be true i.e., the cases of plagiarism might be higher than we know. This suggests that the papers retracted for plagiarism are in fact higher than the papers published on this issue. Similarly, Scopus search for plagiarism in title of journal articles found 2,159 results. 1, 2, 3, 4, 18, 19, 20 As of today (1 April 2020), the search conducted in Retraction Database ( ) for papers retracted for plagiarism found 2,280 documents. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 17 Previous studies have pointed that plagiarism is prevalent in developing and non-English speaking countries but the occurrence of plagiarism in developed countries suggests that it is rather a global problem. 14, 15, 16Įvidence suggests that the first paper accused for plagiarism was published in 1979 and there has been a substantial growth in the cases of plagiarism over time. To begin with, plagiarism maybe defined as “ when somebody presents the published or unpublished work of others, including ideas, scholarly text, images, research design and data, as new and original rather than crediting the existing source of it.” 13 The common types of plagiarism, including direct, mosaic, paraphrasing, intentional (covert) or unintentional (accidental) plagiarism, and self-plagiarism have been discussed in previous reviews. At the end, suggestions are provided for authors and editors from developing countries so that this issue maybe collectively addressed.ĭefining plagiarism and its prevalence in manuscripts Therefore, this paper aims to 1) define plagiarism and growth in its prevalence as well as literature on it 2) explain the difference between similarity and plagiarism 3) discuss the role of similarity checking tools in detecting plagiarism and the flaws on completely relying on them and 4) discuss the phenomenon called Trojan citation. In order to answer these questions, it is important to have a thorough understanding of plagiarism and bring clarity to the less known issues about it. 12ĭespite aggregating literature on plagiarism from non-Anglophonic countries, the answers to the aforementioned questions remain unclear. 9, 10, 11 The cases of plagiarism in non-English speaking countries have a strong message for honest researchers that they should improve their English writing skills and credit used sources by properly citing and referencing them. In some papers, journals from non-English speaking countries have specifically discussed the cases of plagiarized submissions to them and have highlighted the drawbacks in relying on similarity checking programs. 8 in their global survey of editors reported that around 63% experienced some plagiarized submissions, with Asian editors experiencing the highest levels of plagiarized/duplicated content. According to an unpublished data based on 1,679 students from four universities of Pakistan, 85.5% did not have a clear understanding of the difference between similarity index and plagiarism (unpublished data). 6, 7 However, the problem has not been adequately addressed and specific issues about it remain unresolved and unclear. 5 In Pakistan, Journal of Pakistan Medical Association started a special section titled “Learning Research” and published a couple of papers on research writing skills, research integrity and scientific misconduct. 1, 2, 3, 4 A study reported that duplication of text, figures or tables without appropriate referencing accounted for 41.3% of post-2009 retractions of papers published from India. 1 Several studies have reported similar findings with Iran, China, India, Japan, Korea, Italy, Romania, Turkey, and France amongst the countries with highest number of retractions due to plagiarism. According to a report published in 2018, papers retracted for plagiarism have sharply increased over the last two decades, with higher rates in developing and non-English speaking countries. What constitutes plagiarism? What are the methods to detect plagiarism? How do “plagiarism detection tools” assist in detecting plagiarism? What is the difference between plagiarism and similarity index? These are probably the most common questions regarding plagiarism that many research experts in scientific writing are usually faced with, but a definitive answer to them is less known to many.
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