Thesis upload, anti-plagiarism and formatting

All graduating students enrolled in first- and second-cycle degree programmes, master's degree programmes and degree programmes established under the old university system must upload their thesis/final paper in their Personal Area for a check intended to reveal eventual improper use of sources available online.
Ca' Foscari uses special software (COMPILATIO.NET) allowing professors to check the students have used sources correctly but above all allowing students to check that they have referenced correctly; in fact, the aim is to educate and prevent, not punish.

To upload your thesis go to your Personal Area > Online student services - Esse3 > Upload thesis and check request to graduate status. The file should be in pdf format and must not exceed 10 Mbyte. (see below, tips for creating a PDF)

You may upload different versions of your thesis during the upload period – the last version uploaded will be considered definitive.

Failure to upload your thesis in the period established will disqualify you from defending your thesis.

Tips for creating a PDF

To comply with the 10Mbyte limit, reduce the size of the pictures in the document with the appropriate compression options in the writing software used. For example, if you are using Office (Word): use the compress pictures function then select “all pictures in document” and “web” resolution.

To create the pdf file, you can directly use the “save as pdf” function if provided by the writing programme used. Alternatively, you can use a conversion software available on the web. We recommend PDFCreator.

If, even after the pdf file has been compressed, the file exceeds the permitted size, you will have to upload a text-only version of the document (in the online thesis management procedure) and use the www.unive.it/megamail service to upload the full version of the thesis. To access the service, simply:

  • Select Ca' Foscari University of Venice from the drop-down menu and enter your login data for the Unive reserved area.
  • Attach the document in the data drag box, indicating  banchedati.studenti@unive.it as recipient in the text box provided.
  • Check the box to accept the terms and conditions of the service and finally the “Invia” (Submit) button.

You can also upload the file if your thesis contains attachments that cannot be converted to pdf (e.g., videos), while still uploading the textual part.

Thesis/final paper writing: how to self-assess authenticity

During the drafting process, you can check parts of your work at any time in order to identify potentially ambiguous parts of the text, find sources to cite and construct bibliographical references correctly. The check is free of charge for up to 40 pages of 250 words. It is a first analysis tool to support the correct writing of the thesis/final paper. Please note that the percentage of similarities found with the free check may differ from the official University check. This difference is due to a greater depth of analysis and a greater number of bibliographic databases checked during the official analysis.

To access the service, follow the instructions in the reserved area: if you do not follow the procedure described, you will not be able to take advantage of the free analysis credits offered by the University.

Anti-plagiarism check by University

After the upload deadline has passed, the University will check all uploaded documents using the COMPILATIO.NET software. The results of the check will be displayed in your Personal Area > Upload thesis and check request to graduate status
If a significant percentage of text resembles other sources, your supervisor will establish whether incorrect use of sources has been made and may decide to postpone your defense of your thesis to the next session.

Rules concerning format of thesis/final paper

The title page must contain

  • the name of the University and degree programme;
  • the full thesis title;
  • the name of your supervisor and advisor (if applicable);
  • the name of the author (preceded by “laureando/a”) accompanied by author’s student number;
  • the academic year (remember that theses defended in the special session belong to the previous AY; for example, the graduation session taking place in the first months of solar year 2014 is part of AY 2012/2013):

Students must use the model provided for all degree programmes.

Text: pages should contain at least 30 lines made up of 60 characters (total of 1800-2000 characters per page). You may use characters and colours of your choice.

Page format: A4.

Downloads

As the sole author of your final dissertation or thesis, you are the holder of the relevant copyright, which confers protection on both your inalienable moral rights (authorship, integrity, publication) and your rights of economic and patrimonial use.

Said rights of economic and patrimonial use (reproduction, execution, representation dissemination, distribution, processing and translation) are transferable in part or in full at the time of publication with a publisher.

After obtaining your degree, you can first of all decide whether to make your dissertation/thesis available for consultation in the Digital Dissertation Archive or to deny access to it, in full compliance with the relevant regulations.

If you change your mind in the future, your access authorisation may be revoked. In the event that you decide to have your dissertation/thesis published with a publishing house, please consider some important legal aspects:

- in contracts with publishers, the possibility of assigning only those rights necessary to the publishing initiative, retaining those rights that will allow you to deposit the work in open access repositories, grant the work a Creative Commons licence for public sharing, publish the work in collections or the like, use the work in teaching educational use (e.g., lecture notes), or revise and update the work is to be protected;

- special attention must be paid not only to contractual clauses for the publication and any hidden costs for additional services, but also to the reputation and credentials of the publisher who will do this, whether free of charge or for a fee;

- to avoid what is known as Predatory Publishers, it is important to check the reputation and prestige of publishers (e.g., in the thikchecksubmit.org portal).

For advice and support on these issues, feel free to contact your supervisor/lecturer.

 

 

Last update: 22/11/2023