Chulalongkorn University along with 17 other universities and institutions has agreed to adopt the new Akarawisut computer program to detect plagiarism in theses submitted by university students.
The universities signed the academic collaboration agreement to use the Akarawisut (clean text) program to maintain the quality of students theses, said Pirom Kamolratanakul, president of Chulalongkorn University.
Prof Pirom said Chulalongkorn University had been focusing on trying to solve the problem of plagiarism and had launched several measures to detect it.
These measures were developed into text analysis software such as Akarawisut and Turnitin.
The programs had been applied to more than 1,000 theses in 2013. To extend the plagiarism detection policy, Chulalongkorn University allowed other educational institutions to use the Akarawisut program free of charge under the agreement.
The universities and institutions include the National Institute for Development Administration, Mae Fah Luang University, University of Phayao, Burapha University and Thaksin University.
The collaboration led to an increase in quality standards among post-graduate theses and helped encourage Thai students to be honest in their work, he said.
Amorn Petsom, president of Chulalongkorn University graduate school, said the agreement was the first step to create connections among institutes to detect thesis plagiarism and prevent students from committing it.
“We believe human resources are the best foundation for developing the country. This is why Chulalongkorn University aims to create good-quality graduates and staff,'' he said.
"Technology makes it easy plagiarise these days, but this program will help prevent it. The collaboration with other universities is important.”