Research theses submitted to Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) and Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit have passed the plagiarism check.
The universities disclosed data on plagiarism check, done from the academic year 2013-14, in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by The Hindu .
While Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit said that plagiarism check had been on at the varsity since 2015, the Cusat authorities did not give a specific reply as to when they began the process.
The replies showed that theses approved by the varsities, especially before 2015, were not checked for plagiarism.
For the record, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has made it mandatory for State and Central universities to use anti-plagiarism software to check duplication of PhD theses.
While Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit uses URKUND software to check plagiarism, Cusat employs both URKUND and ‘Dyuthi’ to catch copycats.
On action against any researcher for plagiarism since 2013, the Sanskrit university authorities came out with a vague reply, saying that research scholars had been directed to re-submit theses if they were found to have been plagiarised. Cusat replied that no plagiarised thesis was found.
Sanskrit varsity had approved 19 PhD theses in 2013-14; 37 in 2014-15; 21 in 2015-16 and 29 in 2016 up to April 19. Cusat approved 2013 PhD theses in 2013; 132 in 2014; 117 in 2015; 146 in 2016 and 24 (up to March 30, 2017). The varsity had approved 69 M. Phil theses in 2013-14; 62 in 2014-15; 79 in 2015-16; and 21 in 2016-17.
The anti-plagiarism software marks sentences and paragraphs if more than 30 words from other sources are found to have been used without proper acknowledgement.
According to rules, theses with more than 30% of the content of another individual’s material should be treated as plagiarism. The software helps in detecting possible plagiarism in a document and generates a report showing similarities with other documents.
