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publications in high IF journals. A pedestrian ‘follower’ paper from India can appear in a high IF
journal for various reasons, including but not limited to the patronage sometimes extended by
a First World referee towards an author from the Global South, a sense of unwritten obligation
as it were, or a tendency to ‘allow’ an Indian follower in the same field to publish in a high IF
journal if he/she cites a big ‘leader’ scientist from the First World. Such a ‘leader’ may well be
the referee; the Indian paper gets published but it is never cited. Such ‘follower’ papers from the
Global South will not be cited where it really matters.
Indian committees for appointments, assessments or awards at the Central Government level
often go, sadly enough, by IFs of the publication journals of candidates. These committees are
necessarily of a general composition. They cannot be expected to go into the finer but more
crucial details of the candidates’ research to discriminate between truly insightful and adequately
competent work. It is not a surprise therefore that average academics get elevated to positions of
authority in India because it is normally only the receipt of such awards that elevates one to such
positions.

2) Policy makers and administrators worldwide have been concerned for some time that research
is being paid for twice over: the first time when it is funded and the second time when journal
subscriptions are paid. Scientists should not be charged twice — once to undertake research and
then to view its outcomes. This has led to the appearance of a new type of journal, the open
access (OA) publication. In an OA journal, an author pays a one-time fee to publish a paper.
Subsequently, its access is open to anyone. So if a government funding agency earmarks a certain
amount (say 15 per cent) of a research grant towards OA fees, it would pay for research just
once. The OA model has been successful and excellent OA journals now exist. The model has
been widely adopted by European governments and there is little doubt that India should follow
this path, because it is the future.
On the other hand, however, UGC regulatory provisions for appointment and accreditation,
especially in smaller colleges and universities, led to predatory journals adopting a perverted
version of OA. These journals more or less publish any submitted paper without the usual protocols
of screening, refereeing, revising, and editing. Predatory journals are also able to fix IFs through
fake citations. These dubious practices exploit the desperation of researchers who have found
this loophole to attain eligibility for appointments, promotions, and accreditations through a
certain number of points to be accrued from publications. Consequently, bribe and be published
has become the norm. Regrettably, India heads the list of countries in terms of the number of
predatory journals published (64 per cent) and 11 per cent of authors publish in these journals.
According to the Nature Index (2014), a large percentage of research articles in India published in
predatory journals are defined as, “entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship
and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial/publication
practices, lack of transparency, and/or use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices.”
This is a disgrace to all individuals, employers, and institutions. “Retraction Watch” is full of papers
from Indian academics, indicating potential compromise of academic integrity, publication ethics
as also the quality of research and publication.

Emergence of Predatory Journals

Unethical/deceptive practices in publishing have led to an increased number of predatory journals
worldwide. Predatory journals have severely compromised the integrity of scientific scholarship
and polluted electronic databases. Predatory journals and publishers are, “entities that prioritize
self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information,

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