Undergraduate students across the nation can share their honors theses and other major papers with the world by publishing online.
The Web site ugresearch.org, created by Dartmouth College alumni, is an e-library of undergraduate research projects such as theses, independent research papers and journal articles, Web site creator Peter Noteboom said.
The Web site, a nonprofit organization, allows students to post their research online, making it available to all other members, Noteboom said. Only undergraduates may post their work online, but anybody with a membership can view the papers, he said.
"In the past, undergraduates have been sidelined," Noteboom said. "Now theses are much more sophisticated. The students are working harder and putting in their time, but their ideas don't move out of college."
The Web site started in the summer of 2005 and now has several thousand users with about 1,000 papers posted, Noteboom said.
The Ball State University Honors College already has a similar Web site to post students' theses online with their permission, Honors College dean James Ruebel said. Every thesis published, since the first one in 1963, is on the library's Web site, he said.
"Students like it because it's a very cool thing [to publish online] to them," Ruebel said. "They will be able to refer potential employers to the site. They can also have a copy for themselves."
Ball State honors student Lisa Gerstner said she began a research project during Spring Semester of her sophomore year and plans to use it for her thesis. Once her research is complete, she wants to contact a publisher and turn it into a book, she said.
"Any way to get out there would be good," Gerstner said.
Noteboom said he created the idea for ugresearch.com after hearing an interesting presentation in an economics course.
"It occurred to me that a lot of students come up with interesting ideas," Noteboom said. "The site lets students' work get recognized and allows other people to build ideas off the research. It spreads knowledge generally."
The developers have been working with universities around the country to help build the Web site, Noteboom said.
"People are very excited about it," he said. "[Administrators] are also hesitant that it's a risk. It fundamentally changes research papers."
University administrators have expressed concerns about violating intellectual property rights and a potential risk of increased plagiarism, Noteboom said.
"We don't view [plagiarism] as a problem," he said. "Colleges can see which students access which papers. If a student is foolish enough to plagiarize, the professors can check."
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