Indian universities get free access to Urkund software
Swedish software was chosen through a global tender process
04/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI
All universities in India, public and private, have been given trial access to anti-plagiarism software Urkund August 2.
Final subscription to access the Swedish software will begin from September 1, 2019, according to a notice from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
“We have a two-pronged approach. As part of the exercise to prevent plagiarism in the coming years, we are providing free of cost anti-plagiarism software to all 900 universities, including private players. It will be available to teachers, students, researchers, everyone,” said Human Resource Development Secretary K. Subrahmanyam. The Urkund software was chosen through a global tender process. While Turnitin is more commonly used by global academics, it was found to be 10 times more expensive without a proportionate increase in features or reliability.
The second step was put in place last July, when the Centre notified the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018. It called for departmental and institutional-level panels be set up to deal with plagiarism complaints, and set up four severity levels of offences with appropriate penalties for students — only from Masters level and above — as well as faculty. All theses, dissertations and academic papers meant for publication must be checked using plagiarism software.
Similarities and offence
There are no penalties for minor similarities, up to 10% of the document. If a thesis or dissertation has similarities up to 40%, it is considered a level 1 offence and students will be asked to submit a revised version within six months.
In a level 2 offence, the similarities are between 40% and 60%, and the student will be debarred from submitting a revised script for one year. Similarities above 60% are considered a level 3 offence and will lead to expulsion, with student registration for that programme being cancelled.
In case of plagiarism in academic and research publications, a level 1 offence will result in being asked to withdraw the manuscript. In case of level 2, the offender will also be denied the right to one annual increment, and will not be allowed to supervise any Masters, M.Phil or Ph.D student for a two year period. A level 3 offence will result in denial of two annual increments and debarment from research supervision for three years.
Repeated offences will result in higher level penalties, including suspension and termination. If plagiarism is detected after a degree or credit has been awarded, that will be suspended for a set period.
A UGC panel on improving research culture, headed by former Indian Institute of Science director P. Balaram, warned that such central regulations could not replace the need for institutional vigilance.
“Institutions must take the responsibility for ensuring academic standards and for emphasising, to both students and faculty, the importance of maintaining the highest standards of integrity in academic research,” said the report submitted by the panel last month.
Swedish software was chosen through a global tender process
04/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI
All universities in India, public and private, have been given trial access to anti-plagiarism software Urkund August 2.
Final subscription to access the Swedish software will begin from September 1, 2019, according to a notice from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
“We have a two-pronged approach. As part of the exercise to prevent plagiarism in the coming years, we are providing free of cost anti-plagiarism software to all 900 universities, including private players. It will be available to teachers, students, researchers, everyone,” said Human Resource Development Secretary K. Subrahmanyam. The Urkund software was chosen through a global tender process. While Turnitin is more commonly used by global academics, it was found to be 10 times more expensive without a proportionate increase in features or reliability.
The second step was put in place last July, when the Centre notified the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018. It called for departmental and institutional-level panels be set up to deal with plagiarism complaints, and set up four severity levels of offences with appropriate penalties for students — only from Masters level and above — as well as faculty. All theses, dissertations and academic papers meant for publication must be checked using plagiarism software.
Similarities and offence
There are no penalties for minor similarities, up to 10% of the document. If a thesis or dissertation has similarities up to 40%, it is considered a level 1 offence and students will be asked to submit a revised version within six months.
In a level 2 offence, the similarities are between 40% and 60%, and the student will be debarred from submitting a revised script for one year. Similarities above 60% are considered a level 3 offence and will lead to expulsion, with student registration for that programme being cancelled.
In case of plagiarism in academic and research publications, a level 1 offence will result in being asked to withdraw the manuscript. In case of level 2, the offender will also be denied the right to one annual increment, and will not be allowed to supervise any Masters, M.Phil or Ph.D student for a two year period. A level 3 offence will result in denial of two annual increments and debarment from research supervision for three years.
Repeated offences will result in higher level penalties, including suspension and termination. If plagiarism is detected after a degree or credit has been awarded, that will be suspended for a set period.
A UGC panel on improving research culture, headed by former Indian Institute of Science director P. Balaram, warned that such central regulations could not replace the need for institutional vigilance.
“Institutions must take the responsibility for ensuring academic standards and for emphasising, to both students and faculty, the importance of maintaining the highest standards of integrity in academic research,” said the report submitted by the panel last month.
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