Most Indian college research appears in "predatory" journals

Over 50 per cent of the research by private and government colleges in India is published in poor quality "predatory" journals, according to a new study that highlights the need for regulating the quality of science and education in the country.
Nature Index analysis 2014 rates India at the 13th place for its high-quality scientific publications.
Despite this achievement, several studies have shown that India is among the major contributors of articles published in poor-quality predatory open access journals, researchers said.
The new study by researchers including J U Santhosh Kumar from Kuvempu University and A S Hareetha from University of Agricultural Sciences in Karnataka suggests that research conducted at many educational institutes is not critically monitored either by the university or by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Predatory publishers are those which collect article processing charges from the researchers and provide rapid publishing without a proper peer-review process.
While autonomous colleges as well as those affiliated to universities were found to contribute to about 51 per cent of predatory publications, well-ranked private universities, state and central universities contribute eight per cent, 15 per cent and three per cent respectively.

National institutes were also found to contribute up to 11 per cent in such journals.
Some of the authors of these national institutes have acknowledged research grants from government bodies, researchers said.
The highest contribution to predatory journals came from the disciplines of Life Sciences (37 per cent) and medicines (25 per cent).

"We documented 112 research grants in the predatory publications and this raises questions on the credibility of how funding agencies are monitoring the quality of the research projects they are funding," said researchers including G S Seethapathy from University of Oslo in Norway.
One of the reasons for Indian academicians and researchers to publish in predatory journals is the publication pressure faced by young researchers who are in search of a permanent academic position, they said.
In most academic appointments or promotions, there is emphasis on the number of publications, rather than their quality.
As a consequence, publication has become the mantra and motto for academics, resulting in the rise of predatory publishing.

The research was published in the journal Current Science.