Good but not original!

The issue of plagiarism is of growing concern within biomedical and life science research. As a result, most major academic publishers now use plagiarism detection software. Importantly, even in cases of coincidental similarity, when detected, the author is always assumed to be guilty of attempted deception. Do you know enough about plagiarism to avoid unwarranted accusations of intellectual theft? Are you at risk of over-zealous plagiarism detection software?

We wanted to tell you about our latest Insider's Insight - Good But Not Original: An Insider’s Insight into Plagiarism - you may find it valuable. Freely available but ultimately invaluable it can prepare you for success by simply reminding you, for example, of important rules you should follow and why:

• When reading source documents, keep them well-organised and highlight important passages as you go. This will help you to keep track of what you need to cite in your final manuscript
• Never cite articles that you have not read yourself. Always check that the source article aligns with the proposed interpretation if you plan to include an opinion from a review article or online resource that reproduces information from somewhere else
• Avoid relying on just one or two major review articles for your background information. You want to minimise any chance that your narrative appears similar to existing texts

Information in the current Insider's Insight was compiled by Dr Susan Reijntjes, one of our Senior Medical Writers, and summarises the collective experience of our Medical Writing Team, which has over 100 years of service in the industry.

While you are downloading our current guide please check out our other Insider's Insights (here). We welcome any suggestions on how our Insider’s Insights might be improved and requests for future topics you would like us to cover. You can also register to receive regular updates.