KATMANDU, Oct 13: Bali Medical Journal (BMJ) in Indonesia has blacklisted five Kathmandu University doctors and one Indian doctor after learning that a research article published by them in the journal had been lifted from the Nepal Medical College Journal. The plagiarized research paper, which was published in 2013 in the BMJ Volume II, has also been retracted.  

A day after Republica published a story headlined "Five KU docs found plagiarizing research findings',  officials of BMJ said the plagiarized research paper has been retracted, the authors blacklisted internationally  and indexing agencies informed about the plagiarism. "We have retracted the article, and we will send a following email to the authors. And we will have them blacklisted from all our other journals," Amertha Manuaba, MD, Executive Editor of BMJ, informed Republica in an email . 

The editorial board has apologized for publishing the plagiarized research paper and vowed internal reforms to avoid plagiarism in  coming days. "Once again, we are terribly and deeply sorry for the old galley. I will personally check all other old galleys for plagiarism issues," Executive Editor Manuaba said, adding, "I hope  you will help us, and guide us to a better path." 

Republica's Thursday edition  carried a story about how a research paper titled 'Association of Thyroid Dysfunction Among Infertile Women Visiting Infertility Center of Om Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal', which was authored by Dr Bhola Rijal, Dr R Shrestha and Dr Bharat Jha, has copied and presented under the title 'Association of Thyroid Dysfunction Among Infertile Women Visiting Nepalgunj Medical College Hospital, Kohalpur, Nepal' as jointly authored by Dr Mukesh Kumar Shrewastawa, Dr C Thanpari, Dr RK Goit, Dr NK Yadav, Dr RK Mittal and Dr V Rohil.

Of these six, Dr Shrewastawa, Dr Thanpari, Dr Goit, and Dr Mittal are associated with Kathmandu University and Nepalgunj Medical College while Dr Yadav is associated with Kathmandu University and Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara. Dr Rohil was associated in his capacity  as assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, India.

The paper on the research work coordinated by corresponding author Dr Rijal was published in the Nepal Medical College Journal in 2011, while the plagiarized version was published in the Bali Medical Journal in Indonesia in 2013. The second paper has copied A to Z the research abstract and all the contents of the first, using the same figures, language and bibliography. A comparison between the documents received by  Republica shows that every line and figure and even the language structure are the same.

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