UGC move to thwart ‘pay and publish trash’ culture

LUCKNOW: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made it clear that any publications in predatory and dubious journals or presentations in dubious conferences will not be considered for academic selection, confirmation, promotion, performance and appraisal, besides award of scholarship or academic degrees or credits in any form.

UGC secretary Rajnish Jain has issued a public notice on academic integrity for Indian academic community dated June 14, 2019. It reads: With immediate effect, research publications only from journals indexed in UCGCARE List should be used for all academic purposes. Any attempt of compromised academic integrity should be challenged, questioned and de-recognised all levels, it reads.

The UGC has setup a consortium for academics and research ethics (CARE) to identify, monitor and maintain ‘UCG-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals’ available at the UCG-CARE website, with useful resources as relevant publications, audio visual materials, videos, web link etc. UCG-CARE website also provides FAQ’s, feedback and grievance redressal mechanism.

It has been reported that in India the percentage of research articles published in predatory journals is high. Unethical practices are leading to ‘pay and publish trash’ culture that needs to be thwarted immediately.

Through this public notice, teachers and researchers have been advised to avoid publication in predatory/dubious journals or participation in predatory conferences. They were further told that they must not get associated with journals/ publishers/conferences involved in fraudulent, dubious and deceptive practices, the notice reads. VCs, selection committees, research supervisors, guide and such other experts are hereby advised that they must insure that their decisions are primarily based on quality of research work.