UGC lists 24 clone journals, teachers taken for a ride

Nagpur: Many university level teachers, including several from Nagpur University and nearby districts, have been left baffled after they found that the journal they preferred to publish their papers are clones of the reputed ones recommended by the apex body UGC-CARE (University Grants Commission — Consortium of Academic Research and Ethics).
In its quarterly update, the UGC released a list of 24 clone journals which are allegedly operating online on the pretext of original and believed to have misguided the entire research community for a long period across the country.
The reason to trust the publications for submission of their works was the almost similar titles and International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), which is an 8-digit serial number used to distinguish between different journals having same titles.
When TOI checked one of the websites of the clone journals, it found that proper address of the publication was missing. Only an email id was published for correspondence on the website. While the editor-in-chief seemed to be Indian, the editorial board had names of only foreigners. Probably to skip legal action, the clones have prefixed a different name or suffixed ‘journal’ after the title and added a couple of different languages for accepting papers.
However, the researchers failed to factor in that the original UGC-CARE list journals have print version only while the clones are mostly online versions.
Set up in 2018, the UGC-CARE list is updated quarterly in January, April, July, and October every year. The consortium objectives are “to prevent publications in predatory, dubious, sub-standard journals, which reflect adversely and tarnish the image of Indian academia”.
Since its inception, “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE List) has helped several researchers from falling prey to frauds.
The development has come as a big loss to teachers who have published papers in such journals. They say it has turned out to be a wastage of their work as such papers won’t be considered at the time of career advancement scheme (CAS).
A humanities teacher from NU affiliated college said, “I too had published one research paper in March thinking it as UGC-CARE listed Journal. But it was a clone journal. My paper was in English. Original journal has only print version and published in Marathi,” the teacher said.
A colleague of this teacher too submitted his work in one such dubious journal now red-flagged by the UGC-CARE. “This is a fraud with researchers. The apex body must initiate or advise legal action against the tricksters,” the colleague said.
UGC-CARE empowered committee members didn’t answer to TOI’s calls and message.