Publishing Paper in PhD Not Mandatory Now: latest news
As per the latest news, a major PhD program reform has been implemented by UGC. It is not mandatory now to publish research papers before submitting Ph.D. Thesis.
A UGC study involving nearly 1,566 PhD scholars from top-ranked central universities and 1,007 from IIT found that the mandatory research publication rule has not helped till now. 75% of the paper submissions follow UGC guidelines but are not at par with the Scopus-indexed journal quality. The case is the opposite in the case of IITs whose research papers are of higher quality & standards, but IIT is not under UGC purview.
Another major change states that undergraduate students can join PhD programs after completing a four-year degree with 75% Marks. It also states that PhD programs can’t be offered now through distance or online.
The regulation will be announced next week.
As per data available in a leading national newspaper – Times of India – At IIT, around 79% of students have published papers in Scopus-indexed journals, whereas, in the university, the percentage narrows to 25.2%.
As per UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar – PhD students should publish papers in peer journals
& apply for patents, but merely making it mandatory is not the solution as it puts undue pressure on the minds of Ph.D. students. They end up publishing papers in low-quality journals.The regulations have also expanded the scope of admission tests through which students can seek admission to PhD programs. Now Higher education Institutions can take admission of students who qualify for fellowship in UGC NET / UGC CSIR NET / GATE / CEED and similar national-level exams based on interviews. Or an entrance test conducted by HEI by giving a weightage of 70% for the entrance test and 30 % weight based on performance in Interview / Viva-voce.
Keyword: Publishing Paper in PhD not mandatory 2022 : latest UGC regulation.
