Proficiency, Perspective and Practice Regarding Plagiarism among Dental Professionals of Three Dental Colleges of Western Chhattisgarh:A Cross Sectional Study

Aim & Objectives: To determine and compare knowledge, attitude and practice regarding plagiarism among faculties and postgraduates of dental colleges of Western Chhattisgarh. Material and Method: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among 198 dental professionals of 3 dental colleges in Western Chhattisgarh. The study was conducted for a duration of 1 month using self- structured close ended questionnaire consisting 43 items, assessing knowledge, attitude and practice to collect data regarding plagiarism. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Kruskawallis test were applied to analyse data. Results: In the present study out of 198 study participants 87 were males and 111 were females. The Mean knowledge of postgraduates, BDS and MDS faculties were 9.38 ± 3.9, 9.64 ± 3.9 and 12.8 ± 3.6 respectively. The mean attitude of postgraduates, BDS and MDS faculties were 0.95 ± 2.0, 1.78 ± 3.2 and 1.91 ± 3.0 while mean practice of postgraduates, BDS and MDS faculties were 3.9 ± 1.6, 4.9 ± 0.9 and 4.91 ± 1.3 respectively. Intergroup comparison of knowledge among faculties in different specialities was found to be significant (p≤0.05). Conclusion: This study concluded that knowledge, attitude and practices regarding plagiarism among the postgraduates was found to be less as compared to faculties.