New Delhi: Delhi University will now be able to update thesis and dissertations of its research scholars on the UGC's digital database -'Shodhganga repository'.
DU has recently signed a MoU with the University Grants Commission (UGC) in this regard.
'Shodhganga', a digital repository of thesis and dissertations of research being conducted by scholars in Indian universities, is a project of the UGC-Infonet Digital Library Consortium.
It is aimed at promoting the use of electronic databases and full text access to journals by the research and academic community in the country. It also facilitates keeping a check on plagiarism in research.
"We have signed an MoU with the UGC in this regard according to which all the thesis and dissertations submitted at DU after December 2, 2014 will be added to the repository," Ajay Kumar, Dean Research, DU said.
"We are setting up an Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) lab in the Central Library where all the thesis and dissertations will be digitised and their bibliographic records will be created for inclusion in UGC's Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) catalogue," he said.
According to the MoU, the students will be submitting their thesis to their respective departments with a 'certificate of originality' and 'student approval form'.
"The departments will then check the documents for originality using a plagiarism detection software. The report of the originality check will then be forwarded to the examination branch which in turn will send it to the ETD lab," Kumar said.
"Online availability of thesis through centrally-maintained digital repositories does not only ensure easy access and archiving of Indian doctoral thesis but will also help raise the standard and quality of research," he added.
The 'Shodhganga repository', launched by UGC in 2010 also offers grants to the universities for infrastructural development for the project's implementation. Funds sanctioned for the project are meant to be utilised for setting-up of ETD Laboratory, extending access to anti-plagiarism software package and for digitisation of back lists of thesis available in the varsity.
According to the latest data, a total of 184 government and private universities have signed the MoU and 26,757 thesis have been uploaded so far.
While the maximum contribution has been by Jawaharlal Nehru University with over 3,500 thesis, Anna University, Bundelkhand University, Mahatma Gandhi University and Cochin University of Science and Technology are among the top contributors.
Asked about the reason behind Delhi University joining the project so late, Kumar said, "We had to make certain modifications in our ordinances to accommodate this. Other technical and infrastructural arrangements had to be made to facilitate its smooth implementation."
"We are conducting various workshops to acquaint the teachers with the process of digitisation and plagiarism check. Once executed, we also plan to expand the project to the thesis which have been submitted before the implementation date," he said.
