News Bites

Anti-plagiarism software to be used in academia—Software used to catch cheating students may soon be employed by journal publishers to help detect plagiarism and duplication of articles. Two of the world's biggest academic publishers, Elsevier and Blackwell, are planning to use the software that highlights passages in articles published elsewhere. The true extent of plagiarism is unknown, but rising cases of suspect submissions are forcing editors to take action (Times Higher Education Supplement 2005; May 27:1).

Medical students don't receive enough training on tobacco cessation techniques—Medical students rarely receive formal training for tobacco cessation techniques, although 90% of students think they should, a new study shows. The Global Health Professionals Survey, conducted in 10 countries, questioned third year medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy students. It found that most students surveyed (between 87% and 99%) believed they should have a role in counselling patients to quit smoking. However, only 5%-37% of these students had actually received any formal training. The World Health Organization urges health professionals to engage more in tobacco control as smoking is projected to cause nearly 450 million deaths worldwide during the next 50 years. …