Saudi- Taibah academics in plagiarism scandal

(MENAFN- Arab News) A scientific magazine specializing in dental research recently withdrew research papers submitted by four doctors and academics at Madinah's Taibah University after discovering that large parts of the study were taken from an earlier research project on the same topic.

The academic responsible for the first project had come forth claiming the line of research belongs to himself and a former student and asserting that documentation for the research is available to prove it.

The editorial committee at the Journal of International Oral Health was notified in writing by a global society for dentistry about similarities between the two studies and withdrew the study.

The head of the research team at Taibah University has however defended the project saying he used to work at the hospital with the academic who had come up with the initial project.

'I used to work directly under this academic and took part in his research. I sent the study to the journal after arriving to work at Taibah University but unintentionally forgot to mention the name of my former mentor.'

The society evaluated the similarities between the two studies and reiterated that procedures should be implemented to avert plagiarism in the future and that more focus should be placed on evaluating originality and research ethics when assessing projects of a scientific nature.