Abstract: In this engagement with the audience, I will dwell upon the growth in the volume of research publications that have emanated from India during the period 1980-2023 and the change in the magnitude of quality indicators including Citation Impact, Number of papers in the top 1%, based on Clarivate-InCites database. My specific reference to quality defining indicators is to highlight the importance of Quality/ high impact publications in the context of India’s aspiration and ambition to be “Vishwa Guru”. I will be presenting corresponding scientometric data for selected countries in both developed and developing world that are publishing research papers much higher than, and much lower than India. It is very instructive to note that both China and Malaysia having 6 times the publications of India and 1/6 the publication of India respectively, have demonstrated greater resilience in producing far higher quality publications.
Research Excellence/ Research influence of a nation is strongly linked to the combination of critical mass of researchers publishing high impact research papers and critical number of Institutions that have put in place very robust and enabling research and governance ecosystem to nurture and support those impactful researchers. My analysis based on InCites database and corroborated by multiple Fact Sheets reveal: (a) entire India having only 550 scientists (compared to 2000 of China and 2600 of Japan) within world’s top 100000 most-cited scientists across all scientific disciplines for the year 2021, (b) relatively low volume and low percentage of research publications (0.87%) in Nature Index Journals from India and (c) absence of Indian journals with decent Impact Factor.
Collectively It is deeply embarrassing to us for failing to produce critical volume of quality publications in the last 40 years, despite India being ranked No. 4 in the research volume. Absence of much cried and yearned, world class Institution in top 100 ranks is intrinsically linked to the lack of multidimensionally high impact/quality of research publications in critical volume.
In conclusion there is an urgent need for in-depth and uninhibited discussions to map all intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for India’s lower research influence. Our academic leaders should not feel shy in unravelling the uncomfortable truths which includes penchant for honorary authorship in a very novel way on mass scale, utterly poor-quality publications in dubious/fake journals and excessive self-citations to inflate H-index for awards and grants. Manifestation of diluted academic/research ethics in several forms have been plaguing our talented researchers from leveraging their creativity. This is successfully pushing them to the state of despondency and loss of trust and faith in the prevailing ecosystem. There is a deeper merit for discussions and debates, free of constrains and shyness on the pretext cum excuse under the guise of sensitivity, to sidestep ground realities and continue to avoid serious course corrections. There is an imperative need for India to move out from the current culture of “Publish and flourish or Perish” and it is a compelling necessity to move into “Excel, publish and make India as hub of Impactful Research” by creating enabling Research Ecosystem.
About the speaker: Prof. M. K. Surappa graduated from Mysore University with degree in science and later earned B.E, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science. He was on the Faculty of IISc for more than three decades. He was one of the earliest researchers to initiate and lead high impact research in the field of Cast Metal Matrix Composites. He was the Founding Director of IIT Ropar (2009-2015), Dean of Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (2016-2017) and Vice- Chancellor of Anna University (2018-2021). He served as Honorary Secretary of Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology during 2005-2009.