BALANCING CONTROL AND AUTONOMY: A THREE-TIERED POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR STRENGTHENING ACADEMIC PUBLISHING IN INDIA

The University Grants Commission (UGC) in India has taken commendable steps to maintain academic publishing standards by implementing the UGC-CARE (Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics) List. This initiative expected to compact predatory publishing and enhance the global recognition of Indian research output. While the UGC-CARE List has succeeded to a large extent in filtering out substandard journals and guiding researchers toward reputable publications, several operational shortcomings persist. These include lack of transparency in the selection and removal processes