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Michael Cross
Policing plagiarism
BMJ 2007; 335: 963-964 [Full text]
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[Read Rapid Response] Neglected aspect of plagiarism
Weekitt Kittisupamongkol   (11 November 2007)

Neglected aspect of plagiarism 11 November 2007
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Weekitt Kittisupamongkol,
General Practitioner
Surin Hospital, Surin 32000, Thailand

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Re: Neglected aspect of plagiarism

Pirated version of medical journals and textbooks are much prevalence and sold freely in my country without someone in authority to suppress them. They are cheaper and easier to buy than the original ones. Because of low prices, Drug reps usually give them to physicians as a free lunch and many librarians in far rural hospitals usually order these pirated products from illegal bookstores. In medical school, most students own quite a few copies of illegal textbooks and tutorial DVDs. This problem happened a long time ago (1) but no one could solve it despite many strategies in which publishers have attempted such as lowering the prices. Is this the end of copyright age for medicine?

Reference

1. Hegele RA. Pacific rim publishing piracy. CMAJ 1989; 141: 512-3.

Competing interests: I own illegal version of medical journals, textbooks and tutorial DVDs.