Design of a secure online academic document verification system: A case study of Nkumba University

Abstract

Academic Document Verification system is an online system designed to computerize the process of verifying and authenticating Nkumba University’s issued academic documents considering the problems faced by doing this manually. Document Verification is the process of establishing the authenticity, validity, and accuracy of something such as the verification of official documents. Verification of academic certificates is one of the important research areas today. In this study, the documents in reference were the issued academic documents of Nkumba University.

This study was based on an effort towards the elimination of fake university academic documents / certificates. The study contributes towards solving problems in academic fraud. The manual system was studied carefully and relevant people were interviewed to collect the required information. The designed Academic Document Verification system (prototype) allows easy retrieval of accurate and timely information basing on the supplied query for an effective and efficient academic document verification process. The system is secure, user friendly and can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere on demand. The system was designed in PHP.

The study also focused on the application of the developed prototype as proof of concept, the system was able to verify the academic documents in question online using the unique serial number on each transcript matching it with sample data in the database.

Nkumba University requires such a system due to high demand of such services in the current high rate of advances in Technology use worldwide