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Misrepresentation of Academic Accomplishments by Applicants for Gastroenterology Fellowships
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
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Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
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TO THE EDITOR:
The report by Sekas and Hutson [1] and the accompanying editorial [2] are most disturbing. My initial reaction is, “Say it ain't so, Joe.”
I suggest that before we accept as fact that an incredibly high percentage of applicants falsified their documents, we take one critical step, which Sekas and Hutson unfortunately omitted. Each of the accused applicants should have been confronted with the discrepancies and asked to explain them. This simple step might, I hope, have shown that many of the misrepresentations were examples of sloppy referencing, an extraordinarily common error, particularly among the young and inexperienced.
I believe that it is not too late to take this essential step and to report on the results in a supplementary note in Annals. Otherwise, the 30.2% figure for misrepresentation may be permanently and unjustly enshrined in the public perception.
My comments are not intended to minimize the qualitative seriousness of academic misrepresentation but rather to put it into more reasonable proportions.
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
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