• Shubham Jain, Vrinda Saxena, Sudheer Hongal, Manish Jain, Nilesh Torwane, and Vijayta Sharva.
• Department of Public Health Dentistry, People's Dental Academy, People's University, Bhopal, M.P., India.
• J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2015 Jul 1; 25 (7): 514-8.

ObjectiveTo evaluate awareness and attitude towards plagiarism of postgraduates of health fraternity in Bhopal, Central India.Study DesignAcross-sectional survey.Place And Duration Of StudyPeople's University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, from January to March 2014.MethodologyA total of 164 postgraduates, medical (n = 80) and dental postgraduates (n = 84) were included in the study. A standard pre-tested self-administered questionnaire assessing positive, negative and subjective norms towards plagiarism was the assessing tool. Data was captured through distribution of the instrument and collected as scheduled from the study participants. The distribution of scores based on the responses to the individual questions in each dimension between the groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U-test.ResultsAmong dental and medical postgraduates the median values for the questions under positive attitude was 34.0 and 32.0, negative attitude was 21.5 and 19, subjective norms was 29.0 and 27.5 respectively. The difference in the opinion regarding positive attitude was found to be statistically significant in between the groups (p < 0.05).ConclusionOverall plagiarism was favored more by dental students as compared to medical students. Moreover, inadequate level of knowledge and awareness was observed in both the streams. Efforts should be undertaken to motivate health professionals to instill honest behavior in order to preserve the intellectual property right.

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