The missing link in Social Science research in India

I ndia’s doctoral research ecosystem in Social Sciences is in urgent need of a structural overhaul. While doctoral scholars in other countries are evaluated on working prototypes and real-world applications, the Indian system remains wedded to voluminous dissertations and the pressure to publish in so-called peer-reviewed or indexed journals.

The mandatory publication requirement has lowered the quality of research and spawned an entire ecosystem of predatory and cloned journals that exploit desperate doctoral candidates who pay hefty sums to get their papers published. The publishing landscape has undergone a damaging inversion: where journals once paid scholars for their contributions, today scholars pay for the privilege of being published. Even more troubling is the exploitation by supervisors, ranging from demands to ghostwrite papers under the supervisor’s name to performing domestic errands and, in extreme cases, being asked to pay to complete research within stipulated deadlines.