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6 Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics CARE

UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION

Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics
CARE

PREAMBLE

The “Quality Mandate” of the University Grants Commission (UGC) emphasizes importance
of promoting high quality research and creation of new knowledge by faculty members. For
this purpose, efforts to distinguish between standard and predatory/ dubious/deceptive journals
and ensure that Indian academic work appears only in globally recognized and acceptable journals,
the UGC has set up a Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (CARE), as announced vide
the UGC’s notification of 14 January 2019 to continuously monitor and identify quality journals
across disciplines. The main task of the CARE is to improve the quality of research in Indian
universities and to promote academic and research integrity as well as publication ethics

The University Grants Commission believes and advises that all faculty members and research
scholars should exercise utmost care in selecting journals to publish in and ensure that the journal
they opt for follows the globally accepted standard policies for research publications as defined by
the Committee on Publication Ethics. They must avoid publishing in predatory/ dubious journals
and must not be associated in any capacity with them. Publications or presentations in dubious /
predatory/deceptive journals and conferences should not be considered for any academic benefits.

SCOPE

The credibility of research publications is extremely important because it represents the academic
image of not just an individual, but of the institution and the nation as well. The number of
research articles published in reputed journals, is one of the globally-accepted indicators considered
for various academic purposes including institutional ranking, appointments and promotions of
faculty members, and award of research degrees. Publications in dubious / sub-standard journals
reflect adversely leading to long-term academic damage and a tarnished image. The problem of
predatory / dubious / sub-standard journals has become a cause of serious concern all over the
world. The percentage of research articles published in poor quality journals is reported to be high
in India, which has adversely affected its image. To improve this situation, UGC-CARE has taken
up the responsibility of preparing “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (Henceforth
referred as “UGC-CARE List”).

Research journals from all disciplines, indexed in Scopus (Source list) or Web of Science (Arts
and Humanities Citation Index Source Publication, Science Citation Index Expanded Source
Publication, Social Science Citation Index Source Publication) are accepted globally as quality
journals and are considered for all academic purposes. The UGC-CARE List, therefore, includes
journals indexed in Scopus and / or Web of Science.