Beware of Fake Journals – UGC CARE

UGC-CARE is a quality mandate for Indian academia, to match global standards of high-quality research, in all academic disciplines under its purview, the University Grants Commission (UGC) aspires to stimulate and empower the Indian academia through its “Quality Mandate”. A public notice was issued by the UGC, on the 28^th of November, 2018, to announce the establishment of a dedicated Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (CARE) to carry out this mandate. In addition, numerous websites deceive academics by listing fake metrics and supporting fake journals using the name “UGC-CARE”.

If any misleading and/or false metrics are displayed anywhere on the journal’s website or its pages the journal will not be eligible for inclusion in the UGC-CARE List.

UGC-CARE

Beware of Fake Journals – UGC CARE

UGC issued the following cautions to all researchers:

• Recommending any journal, through the proper proforma and process is free and the UGC does not collect any fees for the same. However, it has come to our attention that universities are charging for such recommendations by their IQAC and other bodies. Researchers, editors, and publishers are requested to note that no such charges have been imposed by the UGC.
• UGC-CARE-related services and CARE protocols being circulated on any platform are not endorsed by the UGC or any of its officers. The UGC is not responsible for any list put up by any person, company, or institution.
• UGC has not authorized anybody to compile a UGC-CARE List, nor authorized any company, person, or institution to help authors publish in UGC-CARE listed Journals.
• The UGC only adheres to the official list on the UGC-CARE website. Any claims to the contrary are false, and the UGC is NOT responsible for such services being offered by anybody.
• Paying persons/agencies to ensure assured UGC-CARE List publications, dissertations or thesis is unethical academic practice, and Students, Researchers, and Faculty members are cautioned against using such dubious agencies.

Objectives of the UGC-CARE

• To promote quality research, academic integrity, and publication ethics in Indian universities.
• To promote high-quality publications in reputed journals that would help in achieving higher global ranks.
• To develop an approach and methodology for the identification of good quality journals.
• To prevent publications in predatory/dubious/sub-standard journals, which reflect adversely and tarnish the image of Indian academia.
• To create and maintain a “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List) for all academic purposes.

Need for UGC-CARE List

1. 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 entire nation.
2. The number of research articles published in reputed journals is one of the globally-accepted indicators considered for various academic purposes such as institutional ranking, appointments, promotions of faculty members, membership of academic committees, award of research degrees, etc.
3. The problem of predatory/dubious/sub-standard journals has become a cause of serious concern all over the world.
4. The percentage of research articles published in poor-quality journals is reported to be high in India, which has adversely affected its image.
5. Publications in dubious/sub-standard journals reflect adversely leading to long-term academic damage and a tarnished image of an individual, institution, and nation.

The Scope of the UGC-CARE List

• UGC-CARE has taken the responsibility of preparing the “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List).
• A list of Indian journals, especially from disciplines of Arts, Humanities, Languages, Culture, and Indian Knowledge Systems is being prepared and updated quarterly (UGC-CARE Group I).
• The UGC-CARE List includes journals from all disciplines indexed in globally accepted databases, such as 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). These journals are to be considered for all academic purposes. Journals indexed in Scopus and/or Web of Science are part of UGC-CARE List Group II.

Source: UGC CARE