Addressing Research and Publishing Misconduct in Indian Academia
India's academic institutions are grappling with a rising number of research misconduct cases, including data manipulation, plagiarism, and fake peer reviews. Addressing these issues is crucial for achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
Research MisconductAcademic IntegrityIndian AcademiaPublication EthicsViksit Bharat 2047Real EstateMay 18, 2025
In September 2024, the journal Drug Safety retracted a study conducted by researchers from Banaras Hindu University on the long-term safety of Covaxin, India’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine. The withdrawal was due to concerns that the reported adverse events could lead to ambiguous or incorrect interpretations regarding the vaccine’s safety.
Over the years, faculty members from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have retracted a staggering 58 papers, primarily due to plagiarism and duplication. As India strives towards Viksit Bharat 2047 – the goal of becoming a developed nation – strengthening research integrity, research funding, and innovation ecosystems will be crucial.
However, rising cases of research misconduct, including plagiarism, data fraud, and fake peer review, pose a serious threat to this vision. Research misconduct refers to unethical practices in conducting, reporting, or reviewing research. Such misconduct often leads to retractions. According to Retraction Watch, a global database, common reasons for retraction include fraud and misconduct, ethical violations, errors and mistakes, publication issues, and legal and policy violations. These unethical practices not only damage the credibility of Indian institutions but also erode trust in research, affecting international collaborations and funding opportunities.
India’s research output has increased rapidly over the past decade, with hundreds of thousands of papers published annually in reputed journals. The National Science Foundation's 2022 report ranks India as the third-largest producer of science and engineering articles, after China and the United States. According to the scientific abstract and citation database Scopus, India has produced 3.67 million papers since 1867, with 3,446 (0.09%) retracted.
While the growth of research is promising, the rising number of retractions is concerning. A study by this author shows that primary causes of retractions are plagiarism, data fraud, and fake peer review. Retractions due to these increased by 6.3% from 1991-2000 to 2001-2010. The upward trend has continued, with retractions rising by 32% from 2001-2010 to 2011-2020.
When a scientist’s survival is determined by impact factors, ethics becomes the privilege of a few who can afford to be ethical, said a scientist at the University of Pune, quoted in an article on research misconduct in India. Impact factor refers to the average number of citations to recent articles published in a journal, indicating the journal’s influence in an academic field. Publishing in high impact factor journals translates into appointments, promotions, institution rankings, and research grants.
The root of the problem lies in evaluating scientific success by over-relying on impact factors, publication counts, and rankings among organizations. This creates immense pressure, pushing researchers toward unethical practices. There are comprehensive guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics and mandatory research ethics courses for students before they start PhD programmes. However, whether these practices are genuinely embraced or treated as formalities remains a subject of debate.
One of the primary reasons for the rising pressure on academics is the “publish or perish” culture, where academic promotions and funding are heavily tied to publication volume rather than research quality. This intense pressure pushes some researchers toward unethical shortcuts, including plagiarism, fake peer review, and data fabrication. This author’s study revealed that fake peer review is the leading cause of retractions in India, accounting for 33% of total cases, followed by data fraud (17.2%) and plagiarism (14.8%).
Without urgent and necessary changes in research evaluation and academic incentives, addressing research misconduct will remain a significant challenge. The presence of legally enforceable misconduct policies and a strong academic culture where research undergoes rigorous scrutiny from peers, mentors, and society, can serve as deterrents for such misconduct.
Countries that offer cash rewards for publications may appear to encourage researchers, but ironically face a higher risk of misconduct. This suggests that such incentives might encourage negligence or unethical practices within the research community. Addressing research misconduct requires a multifaceted approach that respects the autonomy of researchers while establishing clear boundaries against unethical practices.
In India, given the diverse research ecosystems and financial structures across institutions, implementing a uniform national solution is challenging. The University Grants Commission recently discontinued the UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics) system of listing quality journals. The idea is to move towards a decentralised approach – empowering individual institutions to set their own criteria for journal selection, fostering academic freedom and encouraging more rigorous and context-specific evaluations.
The reasons cited for the discontinuation include a number of poor quality journals and pay-and-publish or predatory journals which had found their way into the list, while several Indian language journals were left out. The new system allows for a broader range of journals – based on certain parameters – for faculty to publish in.
Indian institutions need to develop and enforce comprehensive research integrity policies, including mandatory training in research ethics. Establishing dedicated committees to oversee research conduct can also ensure adherence to ethical standards. Promoting open peer review processes and encouraging researchers to share data and methodologies can enhance transparency and accountability in research. Such practices deter misconduct by subjecting research to broader scrutiny.
Kiran Sharma is Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering and Technology, BML Munjal University. She also leads the Center for Advanced Data and Computational Science. Her research integrates data science, the science of science, computational social science, machine learning, and network science.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is research misconduct?
Research misconduct refers to unethical practices in conducting, reporting, or reviewing research, including plagiarism, data fraud, and fake peer review.
What are the primary causes of retractions in Indian research?
Primary causes of retractions in Indian research include plagiarism, data fraud, and fake peer review. Fake peer review is the leading cause, accounting for 33% of total cases.
What is the 'publish or perish' culture in academia?
The 'publish or perish' culture in academia refers to the pressure on researchers to publish a large volume of papers to secure promotions, funding, and institutional rankings, often at the expense of research quality.
How can research integrity be enforced in Indian institutions?
Research integrity can be enforced by developing comprehensive research integrity policies, providing mandatory training in research ethics, establishing dedicated committees to oversee research conduct, promoting open peer review processes, and encouraging data sharing.
What is the UGC-CARE system and why was it discontinued?
The UGC-CARE system was a list of quality journals maintained by the University Grants Commission. It was discontinued due to the inclusion of poor quality and predatory journals and the exclusion of several Indian language journals. The new approach is to empower individual institutions to set their own criteria for journal selection.
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