Shodhganga and Deterring Plagiarismin Research Outputs in Indian Universities

Abstract

Theses and dissertations are known to be the rich and unique source of information, often the only source of research work that does not find its way into various publication channels. The INFLIBNET Centre is entrusted with the responsibility of hosting, maintaining and making the digital repository called "Shodhganga" accessible to all institutions and universities. It is envisaged that the ShodhGanga would overcome serious problem of duplication of research and poor quality resulting from the "poor visibility" and the "unseen" factor in research output. In order to increase quality of research, plagiarism is to be checked before accepting the content in theses and dissertations.

Under Shodhganga project, Two plagiarism detection software tools, namely “iThenticate” and “Turnitin”, are being made accessible to 110 universities with funds made available by the University Grants Commission. This paper discusses the model introduced in India for creation of a central repository of theses and dissertations, its current status, guidelines for submission of these, deterring plagiarism under the Shodhganga initiative, criteria adopted by the INFLIBNET Centre for selection of plagiarism detection platform, analysis of usage, recommendation of formulating policies and guidelines to check plagiarism in universities, future plans etc.