Citing procedures, universities don't use anti-plagiarism software

TOI

CHENNAI: In a state where there has been an exponential jump in the number of PhD applicants, most universities have not made it compulsory to run theses through an anti-plagiarism software.

This, many academicians in the state say, is one of the main reasons for the poor quality of research churned out. "The focus is more on quantity than quality. PhD has become just a pre-requisite for being eligible for the post of assistant professor," a senior IAS official said. Anna University, enquiries have revealed, is the only one to insist on a certificate saying plagiarism in the research thesis is less than 20%.

A University of Madras official said the varsity library had advanced anti-plagiarism software, but it was not compulsory as a policy decision had not been taken."The use of the software has to be approved by the Board of Research Studies (BoRS) and resolved in the syndicate. That has not yet been done," he said.

A Madurai Kamaraj University said the use of the software procured a year ago was yet to be approved by the research committee and the syndicate.

This is true of all universities, including Bharatiar, Periyar and Manonmaniam Sundaranar (MSU), said As sociation of University Teachers general secretary N Pasupathy. "There is also debate on the tolerance levels. Some feel 20% is too less, especially for data-based research in science and technology," he said.

MSU professor of sociology S Samuel Asirraj said many professors had copy-pasted material on their research thesis. "Why would they fight for the software to be implemented?" he said.

With increased access to higher education, people without the urge to do serious research were pursuing PhDs and many of them resorted to plagiarism, Samuel added."When I was at Jawaharlal Nehru University, there used to be heated debates over the topics. Research would be a journey which is why the quality was also higher then," he said.

It is a vicious circle of incompetence and corruption as vice-chancellors, who also head committees to select professors, don't insist on original research as money power tilts the scales, Samuel said.

The senior IAS official said more number of students resorting to plagiarised work could also be because even those who worked hard were not able to express themselves in the written word."This is also a fallout of the learn-by-rote teaching philosophy in schools," he said.

Academicians concerned about the quality of research shouldn't wait for policy decisions and implement the software at the department level, he said.

Pasupathy said that most non-teaching staff were not equipped to handle the software and must be provided training in operating it. "Government should also ensure that back-end infrastructure is built," he said.