Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday ordered the government to develop an information system to check theses and dissertations for plagiarism by March 31, according to a statement posted on the government's official website.
"The Education and Science Ministry, Economic Development Ministry, and Minister Mikhail Abyzov, in collaboration with the Expert Council of the Russian Government, shall prepare a plan for the introduction of an information system that checks universities' master's theses and PhD dissertations for plagiarism, as well as procedures for publishing theses and dissertations online," the statement said.
Medvedev issued the instructions following a meeting with experts on the issue of freedom of information on Feb. 6, where he said he supported a crackdown on plagiarism in Ph.D. dissertations.
Earlier in February, the Education and Science Ministry discovered that numerous dissertations at the Moscow State Pedagogical University had been plagiarized.
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