Is there plagiarism in the most influential publications in the field of andrology?

Abstract

Plagiarism is a common form of academic misconduct that extensively jeopardises the quality of scientific publication. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of plagiarism in the most influential andrology articles. A total of 77 highly cited andrology articles were analysed for their similarity index using iThenticate and Turnitin. The articles were categorised based on the year (before and on/after 2000) and type of publication (review and research articles), and the similarity indices were compared. Furthermore, the analysed articles were categorised based on the level of similarity using an arbitrary similarity index range (low: ≤10, moderate: 11–20, high: 21–50 and very high: >50) and average incidence rate (%) was determined. Our analysis revealed a higher percentage of the similarity indices for reviews than research articles. We noticed a higher similarity index for articles published on/after 2000 than those published before. The majority of the influential articles in the field of andrology showed a low similarity index, while some articles exhibited moderate to high levels of similarity. These findings support the need for the development of similarity index guidelines as a major pre‐requisite for establishing a more transparent and efficient system to address plagiarism in scientific publications.

A Plagiarism Paperdemic - Plagiarism in infection journals in the era of COVID-19

“…One of the major factors believed to have influenced the rise in plagiarism seen in the past decade is the mounting academic pressure to get published (Baskaran et al 2019). No doubt, the novelty and the worldwide focus on COVID19 has exacerbated this(Dinis-Oliveira 2020).…”

Plagiarism detection and prevention: a primer for researchers

“…Preliminary evidence suggests that there are differences in the prevalence of textual plagiarism across academic disciplines, necessitating careful checks in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics journal submissions [38]. Additionally, in the era of digitization and open access, reviews are more likely to contain "copy-and-paste" written sections, pointing to the particular need for checks of this type of article [39].…”

Plagiarism in the most influential publication in andrology and similarity check

“…with a great interest [1]. Baskaran et al (2019) noted that "the majority of the influential articles in the field of andrology showed a low similarity index, while some articles exhibited moderate to high levels of similarity" and also suggested for "the need for the development of similarity index guidelines as a major pre-requisite for establishing a more transparent and efficient system to address plagiarism in scientific publications." We would like to share ideas on this publication.…”

“…There are many software tools for crosschecking a manuscript with previous publications to look for a similar text. In the study by Baskaran et al (2019), two commonly used software are tested. The inter-observer and inter-software analyses were performed to test for reliability of their results.…”

“…A rechecking is required for any suspicious case. Since Baskaran et al (2019) used screening tools, a rechecking by direct proofreading and comparison is necessary for verifying duplication.…”