Misrepresentation of Research Publications Among Emergency Medicine Residency ApplicantsGurudevan & Mower,☆☆,

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(96)70268-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Study objective: To assess the prevalence of misrepresented citations among emergency medicine residency applicants and to determine whether misrepresentation increases as the number of citations increases. Methods: We examined 350 consecutive emergency medicine residency applications and then reviewed all cited publications to determine whether they were genuine or misrepresented. Applicants with citations were divided into three groups: those who listed one citation, those with two to four citations, and those with five or more citations. The numbers of individuals and misrepresentations were then tabulated and compared among the groups. Results: Publications were cited on 113 applications (32.3%). Twenty-three applicants (20.4% of those who cited publications and 6.6% of all applicants) misrepresented citations. Misrepresentations were found in 8 of 56 applications listing single citations (14.3%), 8 of 46 applications (17.4%) claiming two to four citations, and 7 of 11 (63.6%) applications claiming five or more citations (P=.00081, Pearson χ2 test). Conclusion: Emergency medicine residency applications may contain misrepresented citations. The number of misrepresentations in this study increased as the number of citations increased. [Gurudevan SV, Mower WR: Misrepresentation of research publications among emergency medicine residency applicants. Ann Emerg Med March 1996;27:327-330.]

See related editorial, Misrepresentation of Resident Credentials

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INTRODUCTION

Misrepresentation of professional credentials can be a problem in the medical community. At the University of Pittsburgh, Sekas and Hutson1 examined applications to the gastroenterology fellowship program and found that misrepresentation of publications among applicants was disturbingly common. Authorship is often seen by both residency program administrators and applicants as a positive attribute. However, misrepresentation by applicants can constitute serious scientific misconduct and may be

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We reviewed all applications to the UCLA Emergency Medicine program for the entering classes of 1995 and 1996. We recorded demographic data for each applicant and examined the curriculum vitae, noting whether the applicant claimed authorship of any scientific publication, including books, abstracts, and journal articles. We then determined whether each publication cited was genuine or misrepresented.

Periodical publications were verified on the basis of (1) a copy of the publication enclosed

RESULTS

Of the 350 applications to the UCLA Emergency Medicine Residency Program, 276 publications were cited on 113 (32.3%). Of the 113 applicants, 23 had misrepresented citations, constituting 20.4% of the individuals who cited publications and 6.6% of the overall applicant pool.

Of the 276 citations, 44 (15.9%) were misrepresentations and 67 (24.3%) were listed as submitted. Only four (6.0%) of the citations listed as submitted were actually published or cited in a database in the next 12 months. We

DISCUSSION

Our careful review of the applications to the UCLA emergency medicine program showed that misrepresentation extends to emergency medicine residency programs.

Misrepresentation was more common among applicants with more than five total citations, confirming our original hypothesis that the rate of misrepresentation among applicants would increase as the number of citations increased.

Although cases of individuals with large curricula vitae and misrepresented publications have been described3, 4,

References (6)

  • G Sekas et al.

    Misrepresentation of academic accomplishments by applicants for gastroenterology fellowships

    Ann Intern Med

    (1995)
  • Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory

    (1994)
  • RL Engler et al.

    Misrepresentation and responsibility in medical research

    N Engl J Med

    (1987)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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    Citation Excerpt :

    However, this process might, in some cases, be compromised by applicants who misreport their scholarly achievements. Misrepresentation is a well-documented problem among medical residency applicants in both highly competitive specialties as well as in less contestable fields.1–7 Residency programs must typically screen a large number of applications for a limited number of positions, and many of the applications list scientific publications and other academic achievements.

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From the University of California-Los Angeles Emergency Medicine Center* and School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California; and the New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York.§

☆☆

Address for reprints: William R Mower, MD, UCLA Emergency Medicine Center, 924 Westwood Boulevard, Suite 300, Los Angeles, California 90024, 310-825-7209, Fax 310-794-9747

Reprint no.47/1/70991

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