This letter is prompted by a recent report 1 in Current Science on a workshop on academic ethics where there were discussions on how we should punish cases of plagiarism, or ethical misconduct, by Indian scientists. Discussions on how to ensure that our researchers do not plagiarize are held frequently. Various bodies are being set up for this purpose and regulators actively probe any allegation against a researcher. In a recent address at SINP 2 , the Prime Minister (PM) said, ‘It is a sad commentary that the number of patents filed by Indians is still very low…. We must encourage original thought.’ While we are preparing to be knowledge superpowers through creation of new ideas, are we planning how to handle plagiarism? India has taken actions to ensure that technical innovations are patented; it is time to worry about staking our claim for original ideas.
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