Pathology in the former Soviet Union: scientific misconduct and related phenomena

There is a persisting interest in the topic of scientific misconduct. The following main forms of scientific misconduct are known: plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of data, manipulations with statistics, misquoting, false or gift authorship, as well as revenge on the whistleblowers revealing and exposing such cases. Of particular concern is plagiarism, which is spreading today. Former functionaries, promoted to high positions in academies and universities in the former Soviet Union, are often unable to maintain a duly high academic standards in publications. Some textbooks, manuals and journal articles are imprecise, contain plagiarism or misleading information that lead to overdiagnosis of malignancy, and examples are provided in this article. In spite of remaining shortages and drawbacks, there are grounds for optimism. The upturn of the economy in Russia is making possible the purchase of foreign literature and modern equipment, introducing new methods into research and practice. Therefore, we hope that this article will be only of historical interest in the near future.


Introduction
In the year 2009, Paltsev abandoned both of his offices, but before doing so he provided employment for several functionaries (or their relatives) that did not have much experience in research or practice at the Department of Pathology. In fact, the Department of Pathology was regarded as a place where anyone (with permission from the nomenklatura could become a professor, a researcher, forge scientific papers, publish plagiarized textbooks, etc. Some experienced specialists were dismissed to clear places for them, which was harmful to the quality of biopsy reporting. With time, the former functionaries accumulated some knowledge of pathology, and the system worked somehow. This phenomenon has been widespread since the late 1980s: many former functionaries were allowed into educational and scientific institutions, lowering the quality of academics there. Among those employed by Prof. Paltsev at the Department of Pathology of Moscow I.M. Sechenov Medical Academyare the former Komsomol activist Andrei B. Ponomarev (a relative of Paltsev, according to some witnesses) and Yuri A. Kirillov, who has been manager at the Ministry of Health responsible for pharmacological research. In the past, Kirillov used incisional renal biopsies (6-10 mm in size), taken during kidney-that the final diagnosis was, is, and will be morphological" Former functionaries, promoted to high positions in science and education, do not always maintain a duly high level of educational publications. Some quotations from the Tests in Pathological Anatomy (Figure 1), an edition that was used at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, are presented below [8]. Outdated and erroneous information from this  The multiple-choice questions for computer testing (enclosed) contain outdated information, numerous errors and inexactitudes. At least a half of the questions should be replaced or corrected. In the process of preparation of this edition, some questions that I have compiled were changed without informing me, which additionally enhanced the number of inexactitudes. A great part of outdated or wrong information originates from the last edition of the textbook by A.I. Strukov and V.V. Serov "Pathological anatomy".
The students notice the errors and make remarks to me and other lecturers. At the same time, the Head of the Department insists on obligatory testing of students using these multiple-choice questions. During a lecture, he recommended to "learn the questions with the errors." This issue I repeatedly discussed with the Head of the Department and the Head of Studies.
Herewith I ask for your permission to abolish obligatory computer testing of the students in pathological anatomy until the multiple choice questions will be prepared in accordance with modern know ledge.  Autoimmune thyroiditis plus carcinoma (n=9) 9 from 9 < 1 0 from 9 0 9 from 9 4 9 from 9 4 Thyroid tissue surrounding carcinoma (n=16) 16  Thyroid tissue surrounding adenoma (n=5) 0 from 5 0 0 from 5 0 5 from 5 2 5 from 5 2  mutation is regarded to be a late event in thyroid carcinogenesis, associated with undifferentiated or anaplastic carcinomas, usually not occurring in differentiated tumors [12,13]. Therefore, the statement (verbatim translation): "High degree of expression of p53 in carcinomas and its absence in adenomas allows concluding that p53 can serve as a marker of thyroid carcinoma" [9] can lead one to overdiagnosis of malignancy, especially today, when the improved economy in Russia enables the purchase of modern immunohistochemical kits and other new laboratory methods. The journal Arkhiv Patologii, where these materials were published, is the only Russian journal intended for practical pathologists. Our critical letter on this topic was rejected by Arkhiv Patologii.
Access to foreign professional literature remains limited in Russia [14], which is harmful for practice and research.
The widely used manual of tumor pathology [15] is outdated, imprecise, and in many fields (bone marrow, lymph nodes, thyroid, soft tissue tumors, and others is hardly suitable for diagnostics. Some passages from the section on thyroid tumors [16] deserve to be quoted in verbatim translation: In the section "Follicular Carcinoma" on p. 356, it reads:   in particular, thyroid cancer incidence [21,22]. In summary, there are many positive changes in Russian pathology. There is a spirit of cooperation among Russian pathologists. There are talented medical technologists producing thin slides using old sledge microtomes. The improved economy allows the purchase of modern equipment and the introduction of new methods into practice and research.
Hopefully, this article will be only of historical interest in the near future.
rism or misleading information that lead to overdiagnosis of malignancy, and examples are provided in this article.
In spite of remaining shortages and drawbacks, there are grounds for optimism. The upturn of the economy in Russia is making possible the purchase of foreign literature and modern equipment, introducing new methods into research and practice. Therefore, we hope that this article will be only of historical interest in the near future.