Perception and Prevalence of Plagiarism among Postgraduate Medical Students in Twin Cities of Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To compare the perception and prevalence of plagiarism in doctors pursuing academic postgraduate qualification versus clinical postgraduate qualification Methods: All doctors pursuing a postgraduate qualification in six institutes of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan were included in the study from April to October 2018. Data was collected through a validated, self-administered and structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 126 participants, the reported prevalence of plagiarism was 57.14% (n=72) with a higher proportion among clinically oriented specialty students (65.43%, n = 53) as compared to their counterparts doing academic degrees (42.22 %; n=19). Majority of respondents (80.24%) knew about plagiarism, but only 35.80% were aware of its legal consequences. 67.9 % of the MD/MS/ FCPS students did not consider plagiarism as unprofessional or unethical as compared to 40% of the M.Phil./PhD students (p