Shodhganga : A National Repository of ETD

Shodhganga : A National Repository of ETD

Implementing Agency: INFLIBNET Centre

Website: http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in

All universities in India are expected to join the National Repository of Electronic Theses Dissertations (ETD) after UGC issues a gazette notification in this regard. Universities are signing MoU with the INFLIBNET Centre to join Shodhganga project. “Shodhganga” is the name of the national digital repository of Indian Electronic Theses and Dissertations.

Basically the universities are giving a commitment for allowingdigitisation of their old and new theses in the repository.

The universities that sign MoU with the INFLIBNET Centre are given incentives in terms of funds for digitisation of old theses as well as for setting up of ETD Labs. Besides, universities also get access to an anti-plagiarism software tool that detects plagiarism and thereby helps in improving quality of the theses. The project is so useful that it will undoubtedly motivate universities to support the digitisation of theses.

The project will grow as more and more theses get submitted and the platform is enhanced to provide better search and discovery experience.

Need for the Project

As long as theses and dissertations are not digitized, there is bound to be issues like duplication or even plagiarism. This is wastage of real talent and resources. The UGC Notification (Minimum Standards & Procedure for Award of M.Phil. / Ph.D Degree, Regulation, 2009) dated 1st June 2009 mandates submission of electronic version of theses and dissertations by the researchers in universities with the aim of facilitating open access to Indian theses and dissertation to the academic community world-wide.

Online availability of electronic theses through centrally-maintained digital repositories will not only ensure easy access and archiving of Indian doctoral theses, it will also help in raising the standard and quality of the research.

Innovation Factors Shodhganga@INFLIBNET aims to encourage and support open access to publically-funded research. It is a national project, which makes the research result available online for public access, by publishing theses in open access format, based on UGC mandate via gazette notification  First National Repository of Theses and Dissertation for all Indian Universities (About 525 universities). UGCs National Scheme for digitisation of back volumes of theses for all universities.

Achievements Well received by academic community and in a year, 43 universities have come forward in a year to sign the MoU and join the project. Universities started signing MoU with INFLIBNET for joining theproject; voluntary contributed soft copies of theses have crossed 2400 as on date and it is growing. Short-listed for Manthan Digital Inclusion Award and the final process is going on. Though there is no mandate for private universities to join theproject, such universities came forward to sign the MoU and join Shodhganga voluntarily.

Source | http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in