Credit points, promotions on basis of quality of published work, not quantity: UGC

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed vice-chancellors and heads of educational institutions to ensure their decision to award credit points, promotions and research degrees be based on the quality of the published work by an individual and not the quantity.

The UGC issued the directive in the interests of academic publishing in India and credibility of the research and the knowledge production, officials of the commission said. Vice-chancellors, selection and screening committees, research supervisors, and experts involved in academic performance evaluation and assessment have been given the advice.

“The old UGC-approved list of journals have been replaced with the new UGC-CARE reference list of quality journals (UGC-CARE list) and from June 14, 2019, research publications only from the journals indexed in the list should be considered for academic purpose,” the letter said.

The higher education regulator has been emphasizing the need for quality research than quantity research in the country’s universities and higher education institutions.

(With inputs from agencies)