Background Undergraduate medical students in India participate in various research activities However, plagiarism is rampant, and we hypothesize that it is the lack of knowledge on how to avoid plagiarism. This study’s objective was to measure the extent of knowledge and attitudes towards plagiarism among undergraduate medical students in India. Methods It was a multicentre, cross-sectional study conducted over a two-year period (January 2018 – December 2019). Undergraduate medical students were given a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire which contained: (a) Demographic details; (b) A quiz developed by Indiana University, USA to assess knowledge; and (c) Attitudes towards Plagiarism (ATP) questionnaire. Results Eleven medical colleges (n = 4 government medical colleges [GMCs] and n = 7 private medical colleges [PMCs]) participated. A total of N = 4183 students consented. The mean (SD) knowledge score was 4.54 (1.78) out of 10. The factors (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]; 95% Confidence interval [CI]; p value) that emerged as significant predictors of poor knowledge score were early years of medical education (0.110; 0.063, 0.156; < 0.001) and being enrolled in a GMC (0.348; 0.233, 0.463; < 0.001).The overall mean (SD) scores of the three attitude components namely permissive, critical and submissive norms were 37.56 (5.25), 20.35 (4.20) and 31.20 (4.28) respectively, corresponding to the moderate category. Conclusion The overall knowledge score was poor. A vast majority of study participants fell in the moderate category of attitude score. These findings warrant the need for incorporating formal training in the medical education curriculum.

ObjectivesThough dissertation is mandatory for postgraduates (PG), it is unknown if adequate knowledge on plagiarism exists at that level. Thus, we intended to study the knowledge and attitude towards plagiarism among junior doctors in India.DesignCross-sectional studySettingPG medical residents and Junior faculty from various teaching institutions across south India.ParticipantsA total of N=786 doctors filled the questionnaires of which approximately 42.7% were from government medical colleges (GMCs) and the rest from private institutions.MethodsParticipants were given a pretested semistructured questionnaire which contained: (1) demographic details; (2) a quiz developed by Indiana University, USA to assess knowledge and (3) Attitudes towards Plagiarism Questionnaire (ATPQ).Outcome measuresThe Primary outcome measure was knowledge about plagiarism. The secondary outcome measure was ATPQ scores.ResultsA total of N=786 resident doctors and junior faculty from across 11 institutions participated in this study. Of this, 42.7% were from GMCs and 60.6% were women. The mean (SD) knowledge score was 4.43 (1.99) out of 10. The factors (adjusted OR; 95% CI; p value) that emerged as significant predictors of knowledge were number of years in profession (−0.181; −0.299 to –0.062; 0.003), no previous publication (0.298; 0.099 to 0.498; 0.003) and working in a GMC (0.400; 0.106 to 0.694; 0.008). The overall mean (SD) scores of the three attitude components were: Permissive attitudes—37.33 (5.33), critical attitudes —20.32 (4.82) and subjective norms—31.05 (4.58), all of which corresponded to the moderate category.ConclusionParticipants lacked adequate knowledge on how to avoid plagiarism suggesting a need for a revamp in medical education curriculum in India by incorporating research and publication ethics.

No abstract

Context.—Ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) represents a spectrum of ocular surface tumors ranging from intraepithelial to invasive. The genesis of OSSN is multifactorial, possibly including human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the role of which is controversial. Objective.—To evaluate the role of high-risk HPV16 and HPV18 in OSSN. Design.—Retrospective and prospective noncomparative case series. In this study, histologically proven cases of OSSN were evaluated in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections (n = 50) and fresh tissues (n = 7) for the presence of HPV by polymerase chain reaction using MY09/MY11 consensus primers, HPV16 and HPV18 type-specific primers, and in situ hybridization–catalyzed reporter deposition (ISH-CARD). Cervical tumors (n = 19) along with SiHa and HeLa cell lines served as positive controls for HPV analysis. Results.—The study included 48 patients with OSSN who accounted for 57 specimens, with a median patient age of 28.5 years (range, 1.5–70 years). These specimens included 36 squamous cell carcinomas and 21 conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasias. All of the cases were found to be negative for high-risk HPV using polymerase chain reaction and ISH-CARD assay, whereas the SiHa and HeLa cell lines were appropriately positive. Of the cervical tumors that served as positive controls, 18 were positive for HPV16, and 1 was positive for HPV18. Conclusions.—Sensitive, type-specific polymerase chain reaction for detection of HPV16 and HPV18, polymerase chain reaction assay for consensus HPV sequences, and ISH-CARD did not show the presence of high-risk HPV in OSSN. Thus, HPV appears to play no significant role in the etiology of OSSN in India.

Abiotrophia defectiva is a nutritional variant of Streptococci. We describe a case of microbial keratitis due to A. defectiva in a patient who had undergone penetrating keratoplasty and was on corticosteroid therapy for recent graft rejection. Isolation of this organism confirmed this to be an opportunistic infection.