Rao, H Surya Prakash  <br/><br/>
Research and its metrics: Impact factor of journals 

 - University News 
 - 59(47), Nov, 29 Dec, 5, 2021: p.27-31 
<br/><br/> In 2020, the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, India, has released a landmark policy document entitled Good Academic Research Practices. When implemented fully, the document will immensely benefit faculty, research scholars, and post-graduate and undergraduate project students enrolled in Universities, colleges, and other higher educational institutions1 . Definitely, there will be quality enhancement in research if all the guidelines are meticulously followed. Indeed, the policy is a part of the new initiatives to overhaul the educational system2 . Generally, society perceives that the research conducted in universities and colleges in India is of little or no relevance. The public thinks that the government funding to promote research by faculty in universities and colleges is a non-merit subsidy. Evaluating the papers published in leading journals across disciplines shows that this scenario is largely true. Linking research output with schemes for promotion lead to indulgence in malpractices wherever possible or allowed. Over the years, faculty’s research has become highly repetitive, cosmetic, and sadly plagiarized. In recent years, unchecked blatant plagiarism of research work done elsewhere without proper crediting lead to deterioration of standards of research output and quality of Ph.D. Strangely, till recently, research scholars were not even taught the practices to be adopted for conducting good research. The course correction is thus required at the very beginning of research career. To stem the rut set over decades, particularly in post-independence times, the UGC, in 2019, has approved a compulsory preregistration two-credit course known as “Research and Publication Ethics (RPE)3 ”. The course is compulsory for all research scholars and is of two-credits. Successful completion of this course is mandatory for the Ph.D. registration. Indeed, this course is a part of the total number of at least 14 credits that a student needs to earn before Ph.D. registration. Apart from the RPE course, the student needs to take and clear another compulsory four-credit course entitled “Research Methodology. – Reproduced