US-based microbiologist and researcher Elisabeth Bik’s allegations of research fraud in at least 200 research papers of Tamil Nadu’s Annamalai University has shed light on the silent rot inside Indian academia. Her allegations ranged from instances of plagiarism to manipulation of images to suit the desired results in research papers published by the university.
Though the university is yet to acknowledge or respond to these allegations, this is not the first time such allegations around higher educational institutions have surfaced. Insiders say that this is the norm rather than the exception.
In 2014, Chandra Krishnamurthy, the then Vice Chancellor of Pondicherry University, was accused of plagiarising five out of eight chapters of her book Legal Education in India from content published by eminent legal scholars. In 2016, a syndicate of Calicut University in Kerala found large-scale plagiarism in the university’s Pro-Vice Chancellor N Veeramanikandan’s research thesis from 2009. In 2017, the University of Madras revoked the appointment of T Santhanam as the principal of DG Vaishnav College after he was found guilty of plagiarism.
Though there isn’t comprehensive research on how widespread plagiarism and malpractices in Indian research is, some journals have acknowledged the issue as well. For instance, Current Science, an eminent science journal edited by P Balaram, former head of the Indian Institute of Science, saw over 80 cases of plagiarism or misconduct in articles submitted between 2006 and 2008. Further, according to a paper by Prashant Iyengar, a survey among students from five national law universities in India found 60% of respondents reporting high incidence of plagiarism involving copying from others’ work in their campus.
These instances could just be the tip of the iceberg in Indian academia, which is under tremendous pressure to keep up with its global counterparts, insiders say.
Publish or perish
In India, the research output of any university is crucial to get good accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). ‘Research Publications and Awards’ has the highest weightage in the score awarded by NAAC to universities in the country. Annamalai University has an ‘A’ grade, the highest grade given to a university, which is an overall indicator of the institution in terms of quality of education, staffing, infrastructure and innovation potential.
This fosters a ‘publish or perish’ attitude among in academia, say insiders.
Elisabeth suspects that the possible motivation behind publishing papers with manipulated inputs is this pressure that academics feel to churn out research, making them desperate enough to fake data.
Two students in various stages of their PhD in different Indian universities agree.
“To write a paper, you need new ideas and extensive validation of a hypothesis. That’s a lot of work. But there is also the allure of getting the PhD, the Masters degree and for professors, to get name and fame if their work is published in prestigious conferences and journals,” says Raghu*, who recently completed his PhD from a private university in India.
Additionally, there is peer pressure among the academic circles. “But research, as we know, does not come with an agenda. Anything can go wrong during research. But people are in a race and that's what motivates a researcher to plagiarise or to indulge in other malpractices,” says Priya*, a current PhD candidate.
The axe falls on the author
Priya, who was a student of Pondicherry University when allegations of plagiarism were made against its then Vice Chancellor Chandra Krishnamurthy, points out that once an allegation of plagiarism comes out, punishments are subjective since there aren’t standard rules.
So, once a paper is accused of ethical issues like data tampering or plagiarism, who is deemed responsible?
Raghu says that the axe typically falls on the author. “It is always in the author, the university, and finally the journal – in that order – who are held responsible for such discrepancies. That is why many universities have stringent internal checks for plagiarism, and also ask the author to sign a list of documents before even accepting the paper for publication,” he adds.
Journals may end up blacklisting the particular author if he/she is found guilty of malpractice. If the issue is widespread, the university could also be blacklisted.
Credibility affected
Hinting at the possible impact of universities condoning research fraud in their papers, Elisabeth says, “It is hard to look at a paper from Annamalai and take it seriously now. Even genuine papers will be suspect in my eyes.”
While it is probable that global academia may view papers from the particular educational institution with suspicions in the future, Priya says that the change must happen systematically.
“Everyone goes through a research methodology course before beginning their PhD, where they learn the ethics of research. Also, the publish or perish attitude encourages malpractice on the one hand, and on the other hand, it pushes many to take extreme steps. The whole academic culture needs to respect research,” she states.
*Names changed