Today, scientists working, particularly in basic research, are facing significant struggles as scientific publishing has decisively shifted from a community-driven academic exercise to a highly lucrative, multi-billion-dollar corporate business model. In a traditional academic ecosystem, universities, research institutes, and in some cases, patrons cover the subscription cost of the majority of scientific journals required by researchers to pursue basic science.
But this is changing fast and becoming unsustainable due to an astronomical increase in subscription costs. Many universities and research institutions are terminating contracts because publishers are unwilling to transition to sustainable Open Access (OA) models or subsidise the subscription cost. The academic’s argument is, that publicly funded research should not be available to everyone for free, rather than locked behind corporate paywalls.
The scientists do service to the reputed scientific journals in the form of submitting research papers, reviewing peer work, serving on editorial boards, all completely free of charge. And then, these commercial publishers package this research and sell access back to the same universities and institute libraries through highly expensive subscription packages; while nobody objects to recovering reasonable expenditure that is incurred during the process of production, the profit margins of 35-40% are not acceptable.
An alternate model has emerged these days where scientific articles are freely available online in some journals through the Open Access (OA) framework. However, the drawback is the “author-pays” model, where researchers or their funding agencies are charged Article Processing Charges (APCs), which is quite expensive. Some traditional journals offer an OA option for an added fee, allowing authors to make their specific article free to read while leaving others behind a paywall.
We need to understand that whatever model we adopt, the situation is not going to change, as scientists need journals to publish their research papers, and hence, the demand for publication will always be from the researcher’s side, and publishing being a commercial activity will demand its share.
Since India is losing a lot of money in foreign exchange in the subscription of foreign journals, which is becoming unsustainable in terms of ROI (Return on Investment), the scientists are at a crossroads. They are facing a critical dilemma of balancing the mounting pressure from the institutions to either publish or perish. Their career progression, recognitions, and flow of institutional grants are heavily dependent on publication metrics. This utilitarian approach is forcing researchers to “salami-slice” their findings into multiple papers to artificially inflate their publication count.
Also, with genuine peer-review processes taking months, the pressure to meet tight deadlines forces many scholars to rely on predatory journals that guarantee acceptance for a fee. The policy of “Quantity Over Quality” is lowering the standards of basic research in India and needs to be stopped. On one hand, institutions mandate scientists to publish in Scopus or Web of Science indexed journals, and on the other hand, publications in such journals are becoming extremely difficult because of cost factor.
In this scenario, we have no choice other than improving the standards of Indian journals to international levels for the benefit the Indian researchers as well as others from the developing countries. But it is easier said than done, but not impossible when we see our achievements in other branches of science and technology. In my opinion, this is achievable by infusing new energy by bringing in bright and dedicated younger minds into our publication system and utilising elders’ wisdom and experience under a unified umbrella.
Numerous articles have been written on this topic, and suggestions have been made, but never implemented. This article is to reiterate those thoughts once again for the government and all other stakeholders to take notice and contribute towards the excellence of science in our country. A few strategies are listed: i) A critical weakness that is often pointed out in Indian journals is the lack of rigorous, unbiased review processes, which is the single-most important factor to uplift our journals. To do this, absolute transparency is required, and double-blind peer reviews are maintained for high academic standards and to combat the proliferation of predatory publishing. ii) A rethinking of academic incentives is required to wean off Indian researchers from the vanity-driven “Impact Factor” syndrome for career promotions by rewarding and incentivising publications in respected domestic journals to elevate their status.
iii) There is a need for a fundamental shift in academic culture, institutional rewards, and strict editorial operations that requires a multi-pronged approach to tackle both the quality of published work and the journal’s infrastructure, iv) To become a world-class journal, digital infrastructure aligning with modern online platforms, prompt publication schedules, Cross-ref DOI integration, and active use of AI tools for plagiarism detection are a must, v) To be a global player, Indian journals must aggressively pursue indexing in established databases like Scopus and Web of Science and vi) Invite global experts to join editorial boards soliciting high-quality submissions from abroad to boost Indian journal’s worldwide footprint.
To conclude, I would say that the basic research of today is the technology of tomorrow, and there is a need for government support in terms of substantial funding and human resource development. Because if it is not done today, then it would be like economising on the foundations of the Indian Science Skyscraper built over thousands of years of scientific temper. This is not good; we already lost one at Nalanda.
