The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released revised guidelines to regulate the use of artificial intelligence and check plagiarism in PhD theses, establishing clear limits and penalties for violations.
New Thresholds and Penalties
According to the updated UGC guidelines, a PhD thesis containing 10% to 40% AI-generated content or plagiarism will be returned to the scholar for revision within six months. If the similarity level falls between 40% and 60%, the scholar will be barred from submitting the thesis for one year. In cases where the overlap exceeds 60%, the PhD registration may be cancelled entirely.
Core Content Must Be Original
The UGC has clarified that the core content of a PhD thesis must be written by the researcher. AI is permitted only for limited support, such as language correction. The earlier 2018 regulations did not mention AI explicitly, as the technology was not widely used at that time. The updated norms now treat unacknowledged AI use under the same category as plagiarism, applying identical percentage thresholds.
Supervisor Accountability
The revised rules also extend accountability to supervisors. In cases of repeated or high-level plagiarism, supervisors may face action, including restrictions on guiding new scholars or withdrawal of supervision rights. The UGC has reiterated that all PhD theses must be uploaded to the Shodhganga repository. Through the UGC’s ShodhShuddhi programme, INFLIBNET provides affiliated higher education institutions with access to plagiarism detection software such as DrillBit Extreme, Turnitin, and iThenticate.
National Database Integration
Once a thesis is uploaded to the Shodhganga repository, it becomes part of a national database, enabling universities across India to compare new submissions with existing research to check duplication.
Expert and Scholar Reactions
An educationist, Prof. AK Singh, said, “The guidelines aim to standardise research practices and maintain academic integrity.” Research scholars expressed mixed views. A PhD scholar at Lucknow University, Atharv Dubey, said that there is still a lack of clarity on how AI-generated content will be assessed. Another scholar at AKTU, Mansi Mishra, said, “While the use of AI in PhD theses is increasing, penalties like a one-year ban or cancellation of PhD registration seem too harsh.”
