While the journal literature is often deficient in documentation, it is small compared to the bibliographic neglect displayed by inventors and patent examiners. To encourage honesty in these matters the US Patent office expedites patent applications that are supported with prior art searches conducted by professional patent searchers. But there is no strict legal requirement for this. However, years of neglect have led to the issuance of thousands of absurd patents, many of which have been challenged in the courts.
There will never be a perfect solution to the problem of acknowledging intellectual debts. But a beginning can be made if journal editors will demand a signed pledge from authors that they have searched Medline, Science Citation Index, or other appropriate print and electronic databases. Perhaps researchers need to sign the equivalent of a Hippocratic Oath that includes a profile of the terms used in searching. Editors and readers can ...
