The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : It’s end of the road for copycats

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Wednesday, Jul 08, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

It’s end of the road for copycats

R&D cell of the JNTU Hyderabad introduces anti-plagiarism system

Software available on www.turnitin.com will trace the source from which the material is copied
Ph.D work is being put under scanner followed by project reports of M.Tech and B.Tech students

HYDERABAD: Research scholars of the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH) will now have to be careful with research references and copying other’s work what with the university adopting ‘plagiarism prevention service’ to ensure original research.

To put an end to plagiarism the R&D cell of JNTUH has initiated a new academic feature where in all research output emanating from the University will be scanned by a plagiarism prevention service ‘Turn-it-in’ to ensure academic honesty, and proper citation of all references.

First in country

T. Kishen Kumar Reddy, Director R&D said the software can not only trace the source from which the material is copied but also assess degree of similarity in the original and copied versions.

“The report emanating from the Turn-it-in software indicates the total percentage of copied content in the submitted document with individual copied text portions shown in colour code,” he said.

According to him, JNTUH is the first technological university in the country that has put in place the anti-plagiarism system to control the widely prevalent malaise of “cut and paste” culture.

He said students will be counselled to write reports and papers sincerely in their own words as research output at the UG, PG and Ph.D level would be scanned. This is to ensure originality of content apart from minimising embarrassment to the researchers as well supervisors.

Paid service

The software, which is a paid service provided on www.turnitin.com, has already been field tested by the university and found to be highly effectively.

Given its efficacy university has got the license for its usage.

As of now the Ph.D work is being put under scanner followed by the project reports of M.Tech and B.Tech students.

Prof. Reddy said for the time being this software will be used to check the works of students from the JNTU College of Engineering, Kukatpally only.

However, the university will extend its support if any private college requests for scanning the M.Tech reports of their students. He said the license will be extended to all the Heads of the Departments in the University College for monitoring all kinds of reports.

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