رد: تصّورات االنتحال بني طالب الطب والتمريض يف أربيل، العراق

Re: Perceptions of Plagiarism Among Medical 
and Nursing Students in Erbil, Iraq

Dear Editor, 

We read with great interest the recent study by Ismail published in the May 2018 issue of SQUMJ.1 In this 
study, the author concluded that “there is an urgent need to increase students’ understanding of plagiarism and its 
consequences so as to reduce the incidence of this type of academic misconduct”.1 We agree that further education 
would be a good preventative action to deter unethical publications. However, an interesting question is whether 
unethical publication problems are due to a lack of knowledge or arise from other factors.2

Many cases of plagiarism as well as other unethical publication practices involve senior professors or 
scientists.3 Undoubted, such individuals should already be knowledgeable regarding plagiarism by this point in 
their careers. When plagiarism is detected, the individual responsible often claims that they were unaware of the 
infraction, but whether this response is believable should be judged based on evidence.3 Nevertheless, we agree 
with Ismail that further education regarding acceptable publication practices and ethics is a necessity for medical 
and nursing students.1

*Sora Yasri1 and Viroj Wiwanitkit2
1Department of Primary Care, KMT Primary Care Center, Bangkok, Thailand; 2Department of Community Medicine, Dr. D.Y. Patil 
University, Pune, Maharashtra, India 
*Corresponding Author’s e-mail: sorayasri@outlook.co.th

References
1. Ismail KH. Perceptions of plagiarism among medical and nursing students in Erbil, Iraq. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 2018; 18:e196–201. 

doi: 10.18295/squmj.2018.18.02.012.

2. Wiwanitkit V. Letter on the article: Plagiarism in medical schools, and its prevention. Presse Med 2012; 41:887–8. doi: 10.1016/j.lpm. 
2012.07.006.

3. Wiwanitkit S, Wiwanitkit V. Responses of authors accused of plagiarism by journal editors. Sci Eng Ethics 2017; 23:309–11. doi: 10.1007/
s11948-016-9752-7.

letter to the editor

Sultan Qaboos University Med J, August 2018, Vol. 18, Iss. 3, pp. e413, Epub. 19 Dec 18
Submitted 26 Sep 18
Accepted 11 Oct 18 doi: 10.18295/squmj.2018.18.03.030

Letter to the Editor | e413

https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2018.18.02.012
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lpm.2012.07.006
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lpm.2012.07.006
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-016-9752-7
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-016-9752-7