First Preference: Improving Research Output and Quality

Quality of research in Indian universities may seem to be an obscure subject and infinitesimally
insignificant in comparison to more pressing concerns of existence and survival of people. But, this neglect
has hurt the nation deeply in terms of its place as a centre for learning. There used to be a time when
scholars across the globe used to come to India to study at universities like Nalanda and Takshashila. But
today, our best universities do not even make it to top 100 in world rankings (according to Times World
Ranking 2015-2016)
There is no question that India is going downhill in terms of quality and output of research, despite being
a major outsourcer of knowledge capital to global research and corporate community. Therefore, it is
evident that quantity does not always translate into quality and to restore the quality and glory of our
nation, we need to improve the working of our existing academic institutions.
Globally, the Number of Citations is considered as an indicator of quality of research. Yet, a large
proportion of Indian research work often goes unnoticed in the international arena due to sheer paucity
of published research. The work which is currently being published is generally not seen relevant, and
hence not worthy of citations, because it is more focused on local issues or is considered of inferior quality.
This however is a mere speculation, as there are no studies that support this claim. Most Indian journals
are not included in international indexing systems due to irregularities in publication or inadequate annual
issues of Indian journals, a problem which is related more to economics rather than the quality of
research. Of the 5500 plus journals covered in the PubMed system, just 39 (0.71%) are from India. In the
biomedical database EMBASE of Elsevier, the number of Indian journals is 128 (1.71%). Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) is found in the penultimate band of 351-400. The Times HE site also provides
rankings of top universities by discipline and IIT-B did not make it to the list of top 50 institutions offering
engineering and technology.
The World University Rankings are based on thirteen different indicators of performance classified into
five categories: teaching (learning environment), research (volume, income and reputation), citation
(influence of research), industry income and international outlook pertaining to staff, students and
research. The weights for the five categories are: 30% for teaching, 30% for research, 30% for citations,
2.5% for industry income and 7.5% for international outlook. Thus, the above speculation about the
international presence of Indian authors holds merely 7.5% of the pie. The majority 90% is constituted by
teaching standards, research volume, reputation and influence through citations. One can easily
summarise that for universities, overall score directly depends on research quality and largely captured
by citations per paper. It requires a lot of hard work plus addressing queries and concerns of two or three
reputed academic referees like Scribal, Research Gate, Scopus, and Web of Science, before a paper is
accepted by top journals. But, the reward is worth it: large number of citations adds to the prestige of
researchers and their institutes. If there are a number of such academicians in each discipline in a
particular university, a virtuous circle sets in and the institution scores well on almost all fronts that count
for being in the top ranks.

To make it to top global ranks, the first step in the way to achieving quality standards in the research
activity is to encourage every Higher Education Institute to fix certain quality standards to serve as
benchmarks. They could be: mandatory compilation of work, methodological research writing
workshops, incentives based on the citation index and quality of work. Enhancing research competence
of faculty and knowledge by participation in seminars, conferences and workshops, both National and
International will stimulate research motivation in participants. Besides, accrual of benefits to students
and in their own researches, such participation is expected to bring about further collaborations with
academic institutions and R&D organisations within and outside the country.
Having come from such a competitive and research oriented background, I am well acquainted with
these unique challenges facing research standards. Thus, a course of action to guide higher education
and research system toward the steer and evaluate model as proposed by the 12th Five-Year Plan is
crucial and much needed as instituting policies that explicitly link funding to quality will also help guide
and incentivize the countrys newly autonomous institutions as they collectively pursue national
objectives and improve overall research quality. Although I believe that there is no single formula for
improving research in universities, a streamlined approach towards it can align in all the different
elements and ensure success over the long term