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LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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Year : 2015 | Volume
: 8
| Issue : 5 | Page : 694-695 |
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Ethics in medical research: Difficult not impossible
Rashmi Patnayak1, Amitabh Jena2
1 Department of Pathology, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India 2 Department of Surgical Oncology, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
Date of Web Publication | 10-Sep-2015 |
Correspondence Address: Amitabh Jena Department of Surgical Oncology, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati - 517 507, Andhra Pradesh India
Source of Support: Nil., Conflict of Interest: There are no conflicts of interest. | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0975-2870.164953
How to cite this article: Patnayak R, Jena A. Ethics in medical research: Difficult not impossible. Med J DY Patil Univ 2015;8:694-5 |
Sir,
The editorial, "Ethics in medical research: The difficulty of being good" is very interesting in addressing contemporary issues facing medical fraternity.[1] As correctly pointed out by the author the selection of the dissertation topic is more of the choice of the guide rather than that of the postgraduate student. The lack of experience on the part of the student in addition to various other factors results in a thesis which most of the time fails to fulfill the expectations of everybody. The introduction of joint projects undertaken by a team of postgraduate students instead of individual theses seems to be more practical and may help to retain research integrity. In addition, the fresh postgraduates should undergo orientation in their selected subjects and basic training in computers and medical statistics. This will generate interest and will prevent outsourcing. The postgraduate time is usually not sufficient to gather enough data and have a meaningful study in most of the cases. In such situations, if the topic is of interest and can benefit society the associated faculty or another group of students should be encouraged to continue the study.
Another aspect is regarding the publication of paper during the postgraduate period. Most of the reputed journals refuse to accept case reports. The postgraduates have to wait till the completion of their thesis to make an attempt to publish their research work. This is one of the reasons of mushrooming and flourishing of predatory journals. One more thorny aspect is the time taken for review. Sometimes it takes more than 1-year. By this time, most of the authors lose heart, give up and move on. One thing that can be done is multiple reviewers may be invited to review any article within a reasonable time frame. This along with constructive comments about how to improve the manuscript, from the reviewers will encourage potential authors.[2]
After all in Gita, according to Krishna, "Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana" meaning "Do your duty and be detached from its outcome, do not be driven by the end product, enjoy the process of getting there."
All said and done, finally it is the authors, who should take initiative, maintain research integrity, and should see that their hard work gets published. It may sound difficult but definitely not impossible.
References | | |
1. | Banerjee A. Ethics in medical research: The difficulty of being good. Med J DY Patil Univ 2015;8:421-4. |
2. | Patnayak R, Jena A. Rejection of a manuscript: The other side of the story. Indian J Med Microbiol 2014;32:350-1. [ PUBMED] |
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