title: Plagiarism in residency application essays.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anecdotal reports suggest that some residency application essays contain plagiarized content.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of plagiarism in a large cohort of residency application essays.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  4975 application essays submitted to residency programs at a single large academic medical center between 1 September 2005 and 22 March 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  Specialized software was used to compare residency application essays with a database of Internet pages, published works, and previously submitted essays and the percentage of the submission matching another source was calculated. A match of more than 10% to an existing work was defined as evidence of plagiarism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Evidence of plagiarism was found in 5.2% (95% CI, 4.6% to 5.9%) of essays. The essays of non-U.S. citizens were more likely to demonstrate evidence of plagiarism. Other characteristics associated with the prevalence of plagiarism included medical school location outside the United States and Canada; previous residency or fellowship; lack of research experience, volunteer experience, or publications; a low United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 score; and non-membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The software database is probably incomplete, the 10%-match threshold for defining plagiarism has not been statistically validated, and the study was confined to applicants to 1 institution. Evidence of matching content in an essay cannot be used to infer the applicant's intent and is not sensitive to variations in the cultural context of copying in some societies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evidence of plagiarism in residency application essays is more common in international applicants but was found in those by applicants to all specialty programs, from all medical school types, and even among applicants with significant academic honors.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  No external funding.
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. bsegal@partners.org
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Gelfand
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hurwitz
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: Stanley W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Nadel
authors.forename: Joel T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Katz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D015714:Plagiarism; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies