No more 'Pay and Publish Anything': UGC to put full stop on dubious journals
UGC with the aim to stop ‘Pay and Publish’ culture issued a detailed Public Notice where it directed not to recognise any dubious publication, presentation and conferences for academic purposes which are not recognised by UGC-CARE
Dubious journals have become a problem in the academic landscape worldwide and the number of dubious publications is far higher in number in India than the other countries in the world as pointed by the University Grants Council or UGC.
After setting up a committee in 14th November 2018, in 14th June 2019, the UGC has made it clear that no publications in dubious journals, presentations and conferences will not be held eligible for academic promotion, selection, confirmation, performance or appraisal. It will also not be held eligible for the scholarship, awarded academic degrees and academic credits in any form.
On June 14, 2019, Ranjish Jain who is the secretary of UGC has issued a public notice on the academic integrity for Indian academic community that said, that only the publication in UGC-CARE indexed list will be held eligible for academic purposes. Except that, any attempt of compromising the academic integrity outside of UGC-CARE approved list will be challenged, derecognised and questioned. The notice had made it clear that the changes must be brought to effect immediately.
In order to maintain and identify ‘UGC -CARE reference List of Quality Journals,’ the University Grants Council has set up a consortium for academics and research ethics which has been named ‘CARE’ in short.
The website of UGC-CARE has all the useful academic resources such as legitimate academic publications, Web link, Audio-Visual material, Video clips et. Except that, it also provides links to relevant and verified journals and publications. The website is equipped with FAQ, Grievance Redressal and Feedback facilities.
The notice has advanced teachers and researchers for refraining themselves to be indulged in predatory or dubious journals and participation in predatory conferences. The notice also directs them for not getting associated in any kind of work with dubious publications, conferences and journals which are indulged in suspicious, deceptive and dubious practices.
The notice issued by UGC asks the researchers, vice chancellors, professors and other people indulged in academics strictly not to go for the numbers of research and publications but to pay serious attention to the quality and assessment of research works.
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Mr. Jain expressed his concerns that currently, the quality of journals are deteriorating and increased case of neglecting research publication ethics which has emerged as a big problem in the academic panorama of the country. The increase of dubious journals and publications worldwide is the direct result of compromised, unethical and deceptive practices of publishing substandard work.
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The UGC public notice has also stated that it is essential to maintain the quality of academic writings by preventing misconducts like plagiarism by students as well as teachers. The academic research-based writings should be scientific and have to contribute to the socio-economic levels by indulging in the quest for truth. Thus, it is crucial to safeguard the academic ethics and integrity in research projects. It is the job of the Indian Academic community to keep an eye on the publications so that they follow the ethical publication policies.
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