Of Shady Journals & Bored Students

India’s elite institutions must take the lead in addressing the menace of fake journals and uninterested students, writes Dr. Pushkar.

AsianScientist (Apr. 16, 2013) – Since taking up a faculty position at the BITS Pilani – K. K. Birla Campus last month, I have been trying to get a better idea about what motivated BITS students to take up engineering. Was it because they wanted to be engineers? Or was it because their parents insisted that they pursue a degree in engineering so that they could get a well-paid job?

As I pondered these questions, I read in the Times of India that 88 percent of students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai claimed that their professors failed at generating interest in learning.

As the majority of India’s colleges and universities are run by state governments that have little interest in higher education other than for patronage appointments or rent-seeking, it is not surprising that the quality of teaching at these institutions is poor. Even at the federal government-run central universities, IITs, and IIMs, the quality of teaching tends to be no better than average or worse.

Next, the academic profession is not valued in the country and does not attract the brightest and the best. For many of those who are in the profession, it is often a third or a fourth career choice. For example, it is quite uncommon for someone with a BTech from IIT or MBA from IIM to pursue a PhD and join these institutions as a faculty member.

There is also very little training for future teachers. PhD programs, even when they involve some course work, do not prepare doctoral students to be effective teachers.

Finally, at the very best institutions, teaching is considered a burden and incompatible with research. This is not surprising. Many faculty members are asked to teach courses which have little to do with their expertise or interest because of a shortage of faculty. In many cases, faculty members are required to grade hundreds of exams. The concept of teaching assistants or graders does not exist at most institutions. One faculty member joked to me that his idea about grading is not based on number of minutes per exam paper but number of exams per minute!

Indian academics and ‘shady’ journals

I also became interested in a New York Times report discussing the hundreds of ‘shady’ journals that are doing good business by conning even reasonably high-profile faculty members at Western institutions.

In recent years, the emergence of a diluted version of the ‘publish or perish’ culture has meant that Indian academics now feel compelled to publish. Promotions are now increasingly based on publications. There are more journals than ever before where they can submit their work. However, the emergence of a new publishing culture is not all good news.

Over the past many years, several shady journals have come up. They target two kinds of academics. The first consists of unsuspecting folks who are clueless about such journals. This group needs to be better informed about the bad guys posing as genuine academic publishers. Innocence cannot remain the reason for sending one’s work for publication to profiteers.

Second, there are those who suspect the credibility of these journals but nevertheless send their work to them. This allows them to pad up their CVs and secure promotions and better salaries.

As India’s higher education undergoes a gradual shift toward a publish or perish culture, its elite institutions need to take the lead in finding ways to address the menace of fake journals. They need to closely scrutinize the publications of their faculty members and ensure that those publishing in shady journals are, at the least, not rewarded or even reprimanded. Most of us who publish in ‘regular’ journals have received invitations to publish in some new shady journal we have not heard about or even join a ‘reputed’ editorial board of one. Most of us have not fallen for it. Neither should others.

Both issues represent big challenges for India’s higher education. While the quality of teaching at Indian institutions is an old problem and some efforts are being made to address it, the proliferation of shady journals is a new challenge and needs to be tackled by regulatory bodies like the University Grants Commission (UGC).

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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Michael Scott | scottphotographics.com/Flickr/CC.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Pushkar is a faculty member at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani-Goa.

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