You spent 3 years writing your thesis. You wrote every word yourself. You finally run it through the university’s plagiarism checker (usually Turnitin or Urkund).
The result pops up: 25% Similarity.
Your heart sinks. Did I cheat? Will my registration be cancelled?
Relax. You are not a criminal, and your PhD is likely safe—if you act fast. At PhD India, we see this panic every day. The problem is usually not “Copying”; it is a misunderstanding of how the software works.
Here is the truth about UGC rules and how to fix your score legally.
1. The “Similarity” vs. “Plagiarism” Confusion
Turnitin does not detect plagiarism. It detects Similarity.
- If you write: “The sun rises in the east,” Turnitin will flag it because thousands of other papers contain that sentence.
- If you quote a definition from a textbook, it will flag it.
- If you list your references, it will flag them. The Good News: Your guide can “exclude” quotes and bibliography filters. But if your score is still high after exclusions, you need to worry about the UGC Levels.
2. The UGC “Danger Zones” (Know Your Level)
According to the latest UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity) Regulations, penalties are strict:
- Level 0 (Up to 10%): SAFE. This is the “Green Zone.” You can submit your thesis.
- Level 1 (10% – 40%): WARNING. You are asked to revise and resubmit within 6 months. No penalty, but a delay.
- Level 2 (40% – 60%): DANGER. You are debarred from submitting for 1 year.
- Level 3 (Above 60%): FATAL. Your PhD registration is cancelled.
3. The “Free Checker” Trap (STOP Doing This!)
This is the biggest mistake scholars make. You search Google for “Free Plagiarism Checker” and upload your chapter to a random website. WARNING: Many free sites steal your data. They store your text in their database. When you finally submit your thesis to the University (Turnitin), it will show 100% Plagiarism because it matches the copy you uploaded to the free site 3 months ago. Never use unauthorized tools. Only use paid, trusted services or your University library.
4. How We Fix It: Manual Paraphrasing vs. “AI Spinners”
Some students try to cheat by using “Article Spinners” or AI tools (like Quillbot) to rewrite text. Don’t do it. Indian universities now use AI Detection tools. If your thesis reads like a robot wrote it, you will be rejected for “AI Plagiarism.”
The PhD India Way: We use Subject Matter Experts to manually rewrite your sentences.
- Original: “The study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the drug.”
- Paraphrased: “This research aimed to assess how effective the medication was in treating the condition.” We keep the meaning but change the structure. This is ethical, legal, and lowers your Turnitin score to Level 0 (Under 10%).
Conclusion
A high similarity score isn’t the end of the world—it’s just an editing task. Don’t risk a 1-year ban (Level 2) because you were too lazy to rephrase.
