Newswise — San Francisco, CA – February 15, 2011 – The leading journal in the field of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine, Anesthesia & Analgesia, is now using CrossCheck to scan all article submissions for plagiarism. CrossCheck, launched in June 2008 by CrossRef, uses iThenticate plagiarism software and scans submissions against a database of full-text articles. CrossRef is viewed as being best suited to filtering academic content because of its extensive database of relevant literature.
The findings by Anesthesia & Analgesia have been surprising. Steven L. Shafer, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia, explains: “I started using CrossCheck when allegations of plagiarism were raised about particular submissions. However, the more I used it, the more I realized that many, and perhaps most, manuscripts are created by weaving original text with text pasted from other sources. Rarely is this an attempt to steal scholarship. The vast majority of plagiarism is simply laziness or sloppiness on the part of the authors.”
Shafer scans more than 150 submissions per month for plagiarism using CrossCheck. About 10% of these manuscripts are returned to the authors with a request to rewrite the plagiarized text in their own words. “The types of plagiarism detected include intellectual theft, intellectual sloth, plagiarism for scientific English, technical plagiarism, and self-plagiarism,” continues Shafer. “Intellectual theft results in a strong rejection letter and institutional follow-up for misconduct. Fortunately, intellectual theft is rare.”
Shafer goes on to note that “We try to follow the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines for plagiarism whenever possible. However, the COPE guidelines are focused on intellectual theft – true academic misconduct. COPE has not yet produced guidelines that deal with incidental plagiarism. I am hoping that COPE can provide a graduated response to plagiarism.”
In Dr. Shafer’s view, the solution to the problem of ubiquitous plagiarism is for authors to screen their own manuscripts for plagiarism prior to submission. He explains: “The tools are freely available, easy to use, and the results are eye-opening. Screening for plagiarism before submission will save authors embarrassment, and it could even save their academic careers.” The March 2011 issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia contains a review of free web sites that authors can use to screen manuscripts for plagiarism prior to submission.
About Anesthesia & AnalgesiaAnesthesia & Analgesia has been continually published since 1922, and has been a monthly journal since 1980. A&A exists for the benefit of current and future patients under the care of health care professionals engaged in the disciplines broadly related to anesthesiology: perioperative medicine, critical care, and pain management. The journal furthers the care of these patients by reporting the fundamental advances in the sciences of these clinical disciplines and by documenting the clinical, administrative, and educational advances that guide therapy.
About the IARSThe International Anesthesia Research Society is a nonpolitical, not-for-profit medical society founded in 1922 to advance and support scientific research and education related to anesthesia, and to improve patient care through basic research. The IARS contributes nearly $1 million annually to fund anesthesia research; sponsors an annual meeting for anesthesiology leaders to share information and ideas; maintains a worldwide membership of more than 16,000 health professionals in anesthesia-related practice; sponsors the SmartTots initiative in conjunction with the FDA; and publishes the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia. Additional information about the society may be found at www.iars.org and www.anesthesia-analgesia.org.
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