Synopsis, 6 min read
How to write a synopsis your research committee will approve
The synopsis is your first formal test as a researcher. Here is what committees look for, and the most common reasons drafts are sent back.
Read articleThe regulations in brief
The UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 define graded levels of similarity for theses and dissertations. Institutions may adopt stricter norms, so always confirm your own university’s policy.
The similarity levels
Level 0: up to 10% — minor similarities, no penalty. Level 1: above 10% and up to 40%. Level 2: above 40% and up to 60%. Level 3: above 60%. The consequences for students and researchers become progressively more serious at each level.
What is usually excluded
The regulations allow certain material to be excluded from similarity checks, including properly quoted work with permission and acknowledgement, references and bibliography, table of contents, preface and acknowledgements, generic terms, laws, and standard symbols and equations.
Reducing similarity the right way
Cite every source you use, place direct quotations in quotation marks, and rewrite paraphrased passages genuinely in your own words and structure. Tools that simply swap synonyms produce awkward text and do not address the underlying problem.
Check early, not at the end
Run a similarity check on each chapter as you complete it rather than on the full thesis a week before submission. Early checks make corrections manageable and help you build good citation habits.