Hello dear bloggers, Its time to present the first blog to you as a leader on behalf of PHARMAPHILICS. It is commonly known as PIRACY in entertainment field. If it comes to profession it is known as PLAGIARISM. What is Plagiarism? A simple meaning of plagiarism is giving your name to someone's idea or work. It is the larceny of other's intellectual rights[1]. It is common in any field. If the work comes to our desk at an easy rate with less expenditure of time, money and stress why do people leave the opportunity? Similarly when we teachers assign students a project or an abstract that should be submitted quickly, who cares to do a loyal job? Infact they blame us for giving it in extreme time. In the recent times, this has created a havoc. Measures are being taken to curb PLAGIARISM. Let me share my views on how to avoid plagiarism. 1. PROCESS DEVELOPMENT In a bulk manufacturing unit, synthesis of a compound may be either single step or multistep process (> 4 steps). For example, if it takes 7 steps to complete process, we aim to finish up with fewer steps say 2 or 3. In such situations we come across a CRITICAL STEP. This is the crucial step for the particular synthesis. So in order to avoid plagiarism the manufacturer assigns a CODE to this step so that it is not leaked by the other users. This is a good solution but not the best. It carries the following limitations: -->Everytime, the user alone is involved in the mission. Rest of the proles enjoys his presence and regrets for his absence. (Common in college lab practicals. Is it right my friends??) -->Today technology is very developed that misuse exists everywhere. So, serious care should be taken else problems are inevitable. 2. Let us deal with the second approach. It is what we call PATENT PROTECTION. Years ago, there was conflict between Pfizer and Dr.Reddy's laboratories as to AMLODIPINE in United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuits. Pfizer company filed patent grant for its product AMLODIPINE BESYLATE. Before filing, the company produced two salts of amlodipine- a besylate and maleate form. But, Pfizer chose besylate form due to its convinience. Later Dr.Reddys filed for a grant of their product AMLODIPINE MALEATE. Pfizer then filed a case against Dr Reddys seeking that the active ingredient in both the cases is same viz.AMLODIPINE and it can be administered by any salt form. So, Pfizer claims that patent should be granted only to AMLODIPINE BESYLATE. The original story can be seen here : http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/federal/judicial/fed/opinions/03opinions/03... Let me tell you the reason for giving small insight of the case. It is only due to loopholes in the patent laws. Stringent laws must be amended to avoid this problem of confusion. So patent protection also has some limitations but these can be cleared. 3. Since we live in a democratic country like India, the superior authority is the GOVERNMENT. Enforcement of strict laws, rules and regulations may avoid PLAGIARISM to a better extent. The culprit must be punished if he violates the laws. 4. While browsing, students come across many references which may not be possible everytime to report. In that case, we can opt for INTEXT REFERENCING or HARVARD CITATION. Reference: 1. http://www.wordwebonline.com/search.pl?w=plagiarism accessed on december 31st 2010