A Secure Web-Based Research Management Framework Integrating Automated Plagiarism Detection for Higher Education

The University Research Submission System (URSS) represents a web-based platform, engineered and deployed to mitigate documented inefficiencies inherent in the management and submission of academic research within higher education institutions. Traditional submission methodologies frequently present challenges, including fragmented workflows, suboptimal version management, inadequate plagiarism screening capabilities, and deficient document preservation protocols. Constructed upon a three-tier client-server architecture, the URSS leverages PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as its foundational technologies. The system further integrates third-party APIs to facilitate robust plagiarism detection and comprehensive analysis of AI-generated content. The platform supports role-based access for students, supervisors, and administrators, while also offering structured submission workflows, incorporating automated similarity checking, and managing a centralized digital repository. Evaluations demonstrated the reliability of the plagiarism detection module across various document types. Similarity scores observed during testing ranged from 34% for submissions identified as original content to 84% for materials determined to be fully duplicated. Furthermore, the AI detection component successfully identified purely machine-generated text, yielding probability scores between 90% and 99%, while hybrid documents, containing a mix of human and AI-generated content, typically received scores in the 35–55% range. All primary modules, encompassing authentication protocols, submission processing, document retrieval functionalities, and encryption mechanisms, consistently operated in accordance with their established specifications. This system is projected to reduce manual processing time by approximately 85%, positioning it as a scalable and economically viable alternative to existing commercial submission tools. In summary, the URSS exhibits substantial improvements in the efficiency, transparency, and academic integrity associated with university research submission environments.