Plagiarism on Personal Statements: A Disturbing Symptom of a Broader Trend
Authors: Maxine A. Papadakis
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2010)

Editorials20 July 2010Plagiarism on Personal Statements: A Disturbing Symptom of a Broader TrendMaxine A. Papadakis, MD and David Wofsy, MDMaxine A. Papadakis, MDFrom University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143.Search for more papers by this author and David Wofsy, MDFrom University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-153-2-201007200-00010 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In this issue, Segal and colleagues (1) report on the frequency of plagiarism in the personal statements of applicants to 5 residency programs. In a carefully performed study, the authors used a Web-based tool (2) to check the content of personal statements and identified statements in which at least 10% of the material was copied. On the basis of this standard, the authors detected evidence of plagiarism in more than 5% of applications and concluded that “a concerted, nationwide effort to detect and deter plagiarism is warranted” (1).It seems safe to assume that no one will step forward in ...References1. Segal S, Gelfand BJ, Hurwitz S, Berkowitz L, Ashley SW, Nadel ES, et al. Plagiarism in residency application essays. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:112-20. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Turnitin. Accessed at turnitin.com/static/index.html on 10 June 2010. Google Scholar3. Papadakis MA, Teherani A, Banach MA, Knettler TR, Rattner SL, Stern DT, et al. Disciplinary action by medical boards and prior behavior in medical school. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:2673-82. [PMID: 16371633] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Papadakis MA, Arnold GK, Blank LL, Holmboe ES, Lipner RS. Performance during internal medicine residency training and subsequent disciplinary action by state licensing boards. Ann Intern Med. 2008;148:869-76. [PMID: 18519932] LinkGoogle Scholar5. Accepted.com. Med essay services. Accessed at www.accepted.com/med/essayediting.aspx on 10 June 2010. Google Scholar6. Peterson's EssayEdge. Premium essay editing services. Accessed at www.essayedge.com/medical/editing/medical_premium.html on 10 June 2010. Google Scholar7. Peterson's EssayEdge. About us. Accessed at www.essayedge.com/compinfo/aboutus on 10 June 2010. Google Scholar8. Accepted.com. Medical FAQ. Accessed at www.accepted.com/medical/faq.aspx#342 on 10 June 2010. Google Scholar9. Hanson MD, Dore KL, Reiter HI, Eva KW. Medical school admissions: revisiting the veracity and independence of completion of an autobiographical screening tool. Acad Med. 2007;82:S8-11. [PMID: 17895698] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Siu E, Reiter HI. Overview: what's worked and what hasn't as a guide towards predictive admissions tool development. Adv Health Sci Educ Theory Pract. 2009;14:759-75. [PMID: 19340597] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. Eva KW, Rosenfeld J, Reiter HI, Norman GR. An admissions OSCE: the multiple mini-interview. Med Educ. 2004;38:314-26. [PMID: 14996341] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Maxine A. Papadakis, MD; David Wofsy, MDAffiliations: From University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M10-1275.Corresponding Author: Maxine A. Papadakis, MD, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue S-245, San Francisco, CA 94143; e-mail, [email protected]ucsf.edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Papadakis: University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue S-245, San Francisco, CA 94143.Dr. Wofsy: University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0633, San Francisco, CA 94143. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPlagiarism in Residency Application Essays Scott Segal , Brian J. Gelfand , Shelley Hurwitz , Lori Berkowitz , Stanley W. Ashley , Eric S. Nadel , and Joel T. Katz Plagiarism in Residency Application Essays Jonas B. Green Plagiarism in Residency Application Essays Michael Kirsch Plagiarism in Residency Application Essays Jason P. Lott Response to Comments on Plagiarism in Residency Application Essays Scott Segal , Brian J. Gelfand , and Joel T. Katz Metrics Cited byStudent and faculty perceptions of plagiarism in health sciences educationPlagiarism in Personal Statements of Anesthesiology Residency ApplicantsAcademic misconduct in teaching portfoliosCompeting DutiesHow to select the doctors of the futureThe Personal Statement for Residency Application: Review and GuidanceResponse to Comments on Plagiarism in Residency Application EssaysScott Segal, MD, MHCM, Brian J. Gelfand, MD, and Joel T. Katz, MDPlagiarism in Residency Application EssaysJonas B. Green, MD, MPHPlagiarism in Residency Application EssaysMichael Kirsch, MDPlagiarism in Residency Application EssaysJason P. Lott, MD, MSHP 20 July 2010Volume 153, Issue 2Page: 128-129KeywordsBehaviorConflicts of interestDisclosureFearForecastingGraduate medical educationInternetResidencyStrokeTheft ePublished: 20 July 2010 Issue Published: 20 July 2010 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2010 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...