Friday 28, 19:30-20:45, Room 1

Miguel Roig is a psychology professor at St. John’s University in New York. For over a decade Dr. Roig has conducted research on plagiarism, particularly with respect to factors associated with text misappropriation. In recent years, he has expanded his research efforts to include the problems of professional plagiarism and other ethically questionable writing and authorship practices. His on-line instructional resource on ethical writing, sponsored by the US Office of Research Integrity, is available here and he may be contacted at roigm@stjohns.edu.

Abstract—Plagiarism has been classified as one of the major forms of scientific misconduct. Yet, although these transgressions are easily recognized when they appear in their most egregious forms, other more subtle instances may be dismissed as mere “ethically questionable” writing practices. How is plagiarism defined by the various science disciplines and regulatory agencies? What is the incidence of this type of misconduct and what does the available research literature say about its causes and possible prevention? This presentation will address these questions and will include highlights from a recent conference on plagiarism held in New York City (www.med.nyu.edu/cmecourses/assets/plag05vers3.pdf). That conference brought together leading researchers, journal editors, and institutional officials who are concerned with this important problem.