Bangalore :Originality and innovation born out of genuine research and data collection is almost dead. With the abundance of information available on the Internet, plagiarism has replaced it. The distance between the prefixes, Mr. and Dr. has narrowed, and it has helped scholars earn their doctorates faster and easier.
The Vice Chancellor of the VTU, Karnataka’s prestigious technical university says that they have been getting a lot of copied or borrowed thesis work from students and lecturers. So they have installed, last month, an anti plagiarism software that can detect the cut copy paste syndrome in a few minutes. The software has also been sent for installation at colleges affiliated to the University.
According to the Plagiarism Today (plagiarismtoday.com), “plagiarism is now incredibly easy and a tremendous time/effort saver”. Plagiarism has been a subject of debate at VTU for a long time but it is only now that the VTU has decided to act.
VTU has fixed the acceptable level of plagiarism or similarity of content, as they call it, at 25 per cent. However, with this relaxation, even a 0.5 per cent variation from the ‘permissible level’, will lead to rejection of the thesis. According to the VC, the world wide acceptable norm is 30%, but they prefer to be more stringent.
The Plagiarism checks will take place at three levels: At the first level, the student must satisfy himself that he has met the university’s norms regarding the originality of the content. If he is satisfied, he can send it to the guide at the college. At the second level, the guide using the anti plagiarism software installed in the college, will also check for similarity of content with published material. 
Once convinced, he may send it to the university, where at the third and final level, it will be rechecked for a 25% max unoriginal material. If it falls within that norm, it will be accepted. Anything more, the student will have to go back to the drawing board. The penalty for re-submission has been fixed at Rs 5,000. Should the thesis come up short again, a third and final submission is allowed with a fine of Rs 7,500.
This system will require the students to send electronic copies of the thesis material in a CD, sans the bibliography, index and references. Once found in the clear, an anti-plagiarism report will be sent back to the student, with copies to the guide, co-guide and the registrar (evaluation). It can now be printed and officially submitted. The anti-plagiarism report will also be made a part of the thesis.
The new plagiarism software ostensibly aims to inculcate in students respect for academic integrity and discipline, even as it identifies acts of dishonesty.
VTU is also now making things easier for IT professionals to earn to earn doctorates. It is preparing to appoint information technology (IT) professionals with doctorates as ‘approved guides’ so that they can take 3-4 of their junior colleagues and peers working on their PhD thesis under their wings. Another3300 took the entrance test last month. The total PhD pool? Around 5000 of which 30% are techies in Bangalore.
