Monday, 19 November 2012

UNTRODDEN PATHOLOGY; EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN



Does oral lichen Planus truly have a malignant potential?

 A question that has been the source of innumerable  long and inconclusive discussions was one of the questions addressed at the panel discussion " Untrodden Pathology: Exploring the Unknown" organized by Dr Rajiv Desai & Dr RV Subramaniam on 27th October during the XXI National Conference. Although as expected a consensus on the answer could not be reached, a very interesting fact emerged.
  •    The majority of the members of the Indian Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathologists present did not believe that Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) has a true malignant potential.
As one of the panelists, I agreed with the majority based on: (following personal opinions on the topic)



  •  Highly variable rate of malignant transformation : reported  from 0.03% to 10%·         
  • Not seen in dermal forms: A literature search on increased occurrence of dermal carcinomas in skin affected by Lichen Planus does not show any recorded cases.·         
  • Changes seen in OLP are a reflection of the progression from inflammation to repair or healing.
  •   Dysplastic changes in the absence of contributory habits are very rare.·       
  •   Epidemiological studies have been difficult.  There is an expected and  natural interest in the malignant potential of OLP  in countries where either one or both the conditions (OLP & Oral Squamous cell carcinoma) are common. Thus, the possibility of coincidental occurrence of both conditions in the screened /examined population cannot be ruled out.
  •  Confounded by similarity with Lichenoid lesions. Chronic inflammation is being increasingly recognized as a contributory factor in malignant transformation of cells thus making lichenoid lesions a more likely candidate for malignant transformation than OLP.



Saturday, 17 November 2012

NEWS ON THE "PLAGIARISM PREVENTION BLOG"

A must read blog
on the effect Plagiarism and duplication have on article retractions.


http://www.ithenticate.com/plagiarism-checker-blog/bid/88085/25-of-All-Retractions-are-Due-to-Plagiarism-or-Duplication

Friday, 16 November 2012

FORTHCOMING ORAL PATHOLOGY EVENT

The next oral & Maxillofacial Pathology meeting will be held in Chennai,  24th - 26th  Jan 2013. 
For further details and online registration visit :
 http://www.midtermconf2013iaomp.org

Monday, 12 November 2012

PRIZE WINNERS IAOMP CONFERENCE GOA -2012

For the  list of the prize winners of the National Conference of Indian Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathologists Goa 2012 visit : 
http://www.iaomp2012goa.com

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

DO NOT PLAGIARIZE…. PARAPHRASE


Innumerable times we have heard that the rate of plagiarism is the highest among our authors and researchers. Does this mean we are more prone to copying and cheating or is it a simple demonstration of lack of awareness of the rules? Most of us would have to accept it is the second reason. 

There are  many rules to keep in mind while preparing  a scientific manuscript.   One notable yet often  forgotten  rule is  work that has a copy right should not be duplicated exactly,  it should either be paraphrased or  placed in quotation marks along with the author's name.

Any text should be considered to represent two different, independent entities. One is the information that it conveys, and the other is the manner in which it conveys the information. The information can be presented with a citation.  The manner in which it was conveyed or the exact sentence / phrase can not be used without using a quotation mark. The information conveyed by anyone even if discovered by them is essentially from a universal pool of knowledge that anyone could have found and thus a citation merely naming the person/s who found or presented them is sufficient. The exact manner in which information is presented  by anyone is their true intellectual property since no other person  could have access to  that  thought process. 

The following example may help make the concept more clear:
 
The statement “Thick & dense collagen fibers in OSF function as regular connective tissue similar to a tendon where the direction of collagen fiber alignment occurs along the direction of stress” from an article by-  Smitha BR, Donoghue M. Clinical and histopathological evaluation of collagen fiber orientation in patients with oral submucous fibrosis. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol 2011; 15: 154-60,   is representing a specific fact as described by authors in relation to behavior of thick and dense fibers in OSF. Theoretically, any interested researcher could have found this fact. However, no other researcher would have presented it in this particular manner  using these exact words.  This statement can,  therefore, be used by another author either by  duplicating the statement  and placing it in a quotation mark as used above or by paraphrasing the sentence while preserving its implications for e.g. Collagen fibers in OSF which are thick & dense function in a manner similar to a tendon with the collagen fibers aligning themselves along the direction of stress (Smitha BR and coauthor).

Remembering to paraphrase appropriately is only a small step towards a plagiarism free publishing, yet  it is certainly a  start.


professional   resources such as http://www.ithenticate.com/  are also very good tools for avoiding accidental plagiarism.
 


 

Friday, 2 November 2012

BONE HISTOLOGY SLIDES

All bone histology enthusiasts and teachers, should visit this site .... http://www.thinkboneconsulting.com/Images/HistologySlideSet.pdf

for en excellent collection of slides that are free to download and use with appropriate acknowledgement of-course.