Osmania University PhD thesis

The layout rules, and what they leave out

For layout, clause 27.13(i) is the only rule you get. Use Times New Roman font in 12 point size, and keep the line spacing at 1.5. Print on both sides of A4 paper. Use one standard reference style, and the rule gives APA 7, IEEE, Harvard and Oxford as examples. If your thesis has drawings and maps, those pages are exempt from this rule. For binding, the rule only says it should be as per the norms of the University Library.

Margins are not mentioned anywhere. About front pages also there is nothing, neither the order nor the wording of title page. Ask your department which format they are using, or fix one with your guide. Since binding eats some space on left side, we keep that margin bigger, about an inch and a half. For the front pages, look at a few recent theses in your department library and follow their order. Show one printed sample to your guide before printing all copies.

You choose the reference style yourself. See what the journals in your field are using. Management theses mostly go with APA 7. Engineering theses mostly use IEEE. Then keep that style in every chapter.

Three seminars, and the deadline that can cancel registration

Clause 23 asks for three seminars. All three certificates go with the thesis.

The Research Design Seminar is the first one. In this you present a full literature review on your topic and your plan of work. It has to be held within three months of the coursework exam result. If it is not held in that time, your registration is cancelled, and no notice is given (23.2). After coursework the three months go fast, and part-time scholars miss it most. Start the review during coursework itself.

The Research Progress Seminar should happen within three years of joining (23.3). You report your progress here. This seminar is also the only chance to change your title, and that too only if the Departmental Research Committee recommends it.

The Pre-Submission Seminar is the last one, held within six months before you submit (23.4, 23.5). You present the whole work. The draft thesis has to be available during the seminar. The comments given by audience must be included in the final thesis.

Two papers, jointly with your supervisor

Clause 25 says you need two papers from your PhD work before the thesis goes for evaluation, and your supervisor has to be co-author in both. The journals must be peer-reviewed and indexed in Scopus or Web of Science. As proof, you give the reprint in original. Both papers are also put inside the thesis as an appendix (27.8).

Because the rule says “jointly”, your guide has to be an author in both papers. The other change is in the journal list. In the 2024-25 rules, UGC-CARE journals were also accepted. The 2026-27 rules removed UGC-CARE and kept only Scopus and Web of Science. Some scholars already have a paper in a CARE journal and were counting on it. In that case go to the Dean’s office before your next submission itself and find out which rules apply to your batch, old or new.

10% for plagiarism, 20% for AI

Osmania has two limits, and the rules mention them in two places. First, at submission you sign an undertaking that the similarity index is not more than 10% and the AI-generated content similarity is not more than 20% (27.4). After that the university checks the thesis on its approved software against the same 10% and 20% (28.1).

The 10% limit matches UGC Level 0. The 20% AI limit is new. The UGC regulations of 2018 say nothing about AI, so this is Osmania’s own rule. Many scholars are asking us how to stay under it. Write the drafts yourself and keep them safely. We tell them to keep every chapter version with the date in file name, and keep the notes and analysis files also. Suppose the detector flags some passage which you wrote yourself. Then you can show the old versions one by one and prove how the chapter came up. If you used a tool only for grammar correction, write that portion again in your own words and ask your guide how to declare it.

Before the official check, run your own check on whichever tool your department allows. Look at both scores. A chapter can be fine on copied text and still show a high AI score, or the other way also.

The submission set

An incomplete submission will be rejected (28.3). Collect every paper before going to the Controller of Examinations. Clause 27 lists these items.

• Four soft-bound copies of the thesis, each carrying your supervisor’s certificate and your declaration, and a CD with the thesis (27.5)
• The undertaking about the 10% and 20% limits, plus the originality certificate from your supervisor (27.4)
• SDG mapping certificate signed by five people, that is you, your supervisor, the Head, the CBoS and the Dean (27.4, 28.2)
• Certificate of originality from the RAC
• Certificates for all three seminars
• Reprints of both papers, kept inside the thesis (27.8)
• Coursework marks memo, degree certificates, admission letter, and orders for any extension or title change (27.7–27.10)
• No-dues certificates from five offices, namely the Chief Warden, the Principal of your campus college, the Head, the department seminar library and the university library (27.12)
• Receipt for the fee paid online (27.6)

Since five people have to sign it, the SDG certificate take the longest time to get. Write one honest paragraph on how your work connects to a goal, and get it signed early.

The synopsis goes even before all this. Your supervisor certifies six copies of it. These are sent to the Chairperson of the Board of Studies (CBoS) with a panel of twelve examiners, in a cover marked confidential. They must reach at least three months before the thesis (27.13(ii)). Supervisors recognised by Osmania itself cannot be in the panel. Remember the panel is valid for six months only, after that it lapses.

Three examiners and a 55% bar

The Vice-Chancellor appoints three examiners to evaluate the thesis (28.4). Each examiner first looks at your synopsis and agrees to evaluate. Only after that the thesis is sent to them. So write the synopsis with care.

The examiner’s report comes in three parts. Part 1 is a detailed evaluation. Then there is a report on strengths and weaknesses, and at the end a final recommendation (28.6). To be eligible for the viva you need at least 55% of the points in Part 1 (28.7). The recommendation can be acceptance, acceptance with corrections, revision and re-evaluation, or rejection.

When one examiner rejects the thesis, it goes to one more examiner from the panel. If that examiner also rejects, the thesis stands rejected and your registration gets cancelled. The same happens if two of the three reject it (28.8). Minor corrections are done before the viva, and an errata sheet is enclosed (28.10).

The viva

Only when all three examiners recommend the award is the viva held (29.1). It happens in your department, in front of a board of five members (29.2). The CBoS and the Head are on the board, along with two recognised supervisors of the department picked by the Vice-Chancellor. Your supervisor acts as the convener.

Students, faculty and scientists from related subjects can attend. The date and time is put on the notice board one week before (29.5). Rule 29.2 also asks the Head to prepare a notice three working days before, so you may see two notices.

If the board is not satisfied, there is a second viva with the same board, and the Dean also sits in. It is held not before three months and not after six months (29.6). Once you pass, you submit the corrected thesis again, two hard-bound printed copies and two files. The result is declared only after these copies reach the university (30.2, 30.3).

There is one confusion about timing which many scholars miss. Clause 4.1 says the minimum programme length is four years, or five years if you are part-time. Clause 27.1 allows full-time scholars to submit after three years of research and part-time scholars after four. The two clauses don’t match fully, so we suggest you get a written reply from the Dean’s office on your submission date, and then only plan the year.

Our thesis formatting help can set the thesis to these rules with you. For chapter work, see PhD thesis help in Hyderabad. Our Hyderabad page compares Osmania with JNTUH, the University of Hyderabad and MANUU. The JNTUH guide covers the quite different JNTUH rules. Keep your printed copy near you and tick the formatting checklist against each page, then only send for final printing.