Written by D. Pranshutha (Sem. I)
Did your computer ever accuse you of plagiarism for using words as common as ‘hypothesis’ or ‘correlation’?
Well, welcome to the puzzling world of academia, where numerous research scholars have discovered that even the most basic research terms can land you in trouble with the plagiarism police.
But beyond the chuckles, such instances shed light on the broader challenges being faced by recent batches of PhD scholars in Osmania University.
Embarking on a PhD journey is regarded as a significant achievement, but the path is riddled with various obstacles. Access to research journals is crucial yet the university faces limitations in journal accessibility .
“Osmania University doesn’t have access to many journals. We have a small database compared to other universities,” said Shaik Fayaz, a research scholar in the Department of Journalism preparing to submit his thesis.
Such gaps in resources compared to other institutions could potentially put Osmania scholars at a disadvantage which affects the diverse perspective of their research.
Plagiarism detection software poses a big hurdle too, and the irony lies in its detection of common research terminology as copied content. “The software is detecting the basic research terms like hypothesis, alternate, correlation etc., as copied,” Fayaz added.
Deepak Pawar, another research scholar from the same Department who has submitted his thesis recently, draws attention to the absence of structured timelines in completing the PhD.
The absence of deadlines for scholars for some years has led to a laid-back approach, extending the academic journey unnecessarily, he said. “A candidate has to complete the course within a time period. The administration should make sure they’re supporting scholars in this endeavour”, Pawar told Osmania Courier.
V. Sai Srinivas who submitted his thesis recently highlights bureaucratic hurdles encountered while attempting local data collection through surveys.
Despite adhering to protocol in the form of authorisation letters, neighbouring institutions like EFLU restrained scholars from gathering data, creating gaps in academic collaboration amongst universities, he said.
“I wanted to collect diverse data, and since EFLU had students from all over India, I wanted to include it in the data collection process,” he said, adding that he was not allowed to conduct a survey there.
The selection of a research topic is very important. Changing titles repeatedly adds to the pressure of completing the PhD. This is a common problem for research scholars.
Sunil Kumar Pothana, who submitted thesis for external evaluation, says scholars should avoid altering titles repeatedly, by first actively confirming the PhD title with the supervisor and at the Dean’s office before commencing work.
These first-hand accounts underscore the multifaceted challenges faced by recent PhD scholars. Tracking these challenges not only aids its current scholars, but also paves a smoother path for PhD aspirants.
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