A New Era in Academic Publishing: Understanding the UGC’s Latest Guidelines on Peer-Reviewed Journals (2025)
The University Grants Commission (UGC), India’s apex body for maintaining higher education standards, has recently announced a major reform in how academic publications are recognized and evaluated. Through its Public Notice dated 16 July 2025, the UGC officially discontinued the active UGC-CARE Journal List and introduced a new framework of suggestive parameters to help institutions and scholars identify credible, peer-reviewed journals. This pivotal move emphasizes autonomy, transparency, and quality assurance in academic publishing, and aims to strengthen the overall research ecosystem in India.
Let’s delve deep into what this change means for the academic community and how it reshapes the publishing landscape.
Background: Why UGC Changed the CARE Journal System
Over the years, the UGC-CARE journal list had become the benchmark for determining where faculty members and researchers should publish their work. However, this list was not without flaws. It faced criticism for:
Inclusion of predatory or low-quality journals.
Lack of timely updates and transparency in inclusion/exclusion.
Misuse by some journals that gained credibility merely by being listed.
Recognizing these issues, and after consulting stakeholders, UGC decided to discontinue the live CARE journal list and provide a static reference list (as of 10 February 2025) along with suggestive parameters that HEIs and researchers can use to evaluate journals themselves. This change marks a paradigm shift from reliance to responsibility in scholarly publishing.
Static Reference List: Use with Caution
UGC has uploaded a final list of 1474 journals that were part of UGC-CARE as of February 2025. This list:
Is only for reference, and not an endorsement.
Will not be updated in the future.
Should not be used as the sole criteria for journal selection.
Implication: Researchers must now go beyond the list and apply UGC’s new suggestive parameters to assess the credibility and quality of journals. This change promotes critical evaluation skills and research maturity.
Suggestive Parameters: A New Framework for Quality Evaluation
UGC has provided 8 core dimensions and over 30 quality indicators for choosing journals. These are not mandatory but act as quality checklists to help avoid unethical or fake journals.
1. Journal Preliminary Criteria – The First Line of Credibility
Before considering a journal for publication, researchers must verify these basic yet essential details:
Title and ISSN Number: Every reputable journal must have a unique title and International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), which helps in authentication and indexing.
Periodicity and Continuity: Journals must follow a consistent publication schedule (monthly, quarterly, etc.). Inconsistent or irregular issues often indicate poor management.
Contact and Publisher Details: A transparent journal should publicly list its editorial office address, publisher details, email, and phone. If this information is missing or ambiguous, it’s a red flag.
Peer Review Policy: A trustworthy journal clearly outlines how it conducts peer review (single-blind, double-blind, open review).
Secure Website: The journal should operate a professionally managed website, ideally on a secure domain (https), free of broken links or misleading content.
Access Model: Clear mention of whether it is Open Access or Subscription-based, along with any processing fees, is essential.
Repository Integration: Good journals are indexed in platforms like DOAJ, OAI-PMH, or Indian citation indexes.
Archival Policy: Journals should archive all past issues digitally, with access through their website or repositories.
2. Editorial Board Criteria – Who’s Behind the Journal?
The editorial board reflects the academic strength and seriousness of the journal:
Transparency: Names, affiliations, and academic positions of editors and reviewers must be public.
Diversity and Expertise: An editorial team should comprise domain experts, senior faculty, and researchers with real academic credentials.
Editorial Efficiency: The journal should outline its process from submission to publication, expected timeframes, and how reviewers’ feedback is handled.
A weak or anonymous editorial board often signals that the journal may be predatory or fake.
3. Editorial Policy Standards – Clear Direction and Accountability
Journals must disclose the following policies openly:
Aims & Scope: What is the purpose of the journal? Which academic fields does it cover? This helps researchers find subject-relevant journals.
Article Processing Charges (APC): Transparency about publication fees is critical. Hidden charges after acceptance are unethical.
Publishing Timeline: Journals must state how long the publication process takes. Unrealistically short times (e.g., 2 days) could indicate lack of real peer review.
Acceptance Rate: Though not mandatory, it helps to know how selective the journal is. Very high acceptance rates often reflect low quality control.
4. Journal Quality – Content Relevance and Academic Value
The core purpose of a journal is to publish original, high-quality research:
Academic Contribution: Articles should offer new knowledge, insights, or policy relevance. Mere compilation or duplication is not enough.
Relevance to Scope: Submissions should align with the journal’s aims. If a physics journal is publishing articles on English literature, it’s a problem.
This ensures the disciplinary purity and integrity of the journal.
5. Standards of Presentation and Website Design
Appearance and professionalism are important indicators of credibility:
Proper Referencing: The journal must use standard citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).
Design & Layout: High-quality typesetting, formatting, and user-friendly layouts matter.
Infographics and Exhibits: High-resolution tables, graphs, charts enhance understanding.
Website Quality: A journal’s website should be functional, up-to-date, mobile-friendly, and multilingual (especially in Indian context).
A low-quality website is often a clear sign of a predatory journal.
6. Research Ethics and Integrity
Ethical publishing is non-negotiable:
Plagiarism Control: Journals must ensure that similarity scores are within accepted limits, using software like Turnitin, iThenticate, etc.
Ethical Guidelines: Clear policies on duplicate submission, authorship disputes, etc.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Any financial or personal relationship affecting editorial decisions must be declared.
AI Content Policy: In today’s AI era, journals must clarify whether AI-generated text, figures, or data are allowed or restricted.
This protects both authors and the integrity of academic work.
7. Visibility and Indexation
Journals with broader visibility and discoverability are more valuable:
Impact Factor / CiteScore: These are quantifiable measures of influence. Though not the only indicators, they help judge reach and quality.
Indexing in Trusted Databases: Like Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ, ERIC, Indian Citation Index. If a journal is not indexed anywhere, it’s suspect.
8. Impact Metrics and Citation Trends
Beyond visibility, impact is measured through citation analysis:
Self-Citation Control: Some journals artificially inflate metrics by excessive self-citation. A healthy balance is necessary.
Citation Volume: How often are its articles cited in other reputed sources?
Cite Score Trends: A journal with increasing or consistent scores is likely maintaining good quality.
Suggestive Parameters: A New Framework for Quality Evaluation
UGC advises institutions to play an active role in monitoring publication quality by:
Creating Internal Review Committees to regularly evaluate journals using the above parameters.
Offering training to faculty and students on identifying fake or predatory journals.
Maintaining an internal white-list or reference guide of trusted journals, aligned with their academic goals.
This local-level oversight ensures autonomy without compromising quality.
From Compliance to Conscious Choice
The new UGC policy is not just a procedural change—it’s a cultural shift in Indian academia. Instead of handing over responsibility to a central body, UGC now entrusts academic institutions and individuals to make informed, ethical publishing decisions. This fosters:
Greater transparency
Research integrity
Reduced dependency on flawed indexing systems
It’s time for researchers and institutions to rise to the challenge, build their capacity to evaluate journals, and collectively uplift the quality of Indian research on the global stage.
A relevant and previously published article on Shodhmitra titled “Understanding Journal Impact Factor: What It Means and Why It Matters in Research” serves as a critical complement to this discussion on UGC’s 2025 guidelines. That blog explored how the Impact Factor (IF) functions as a measurable indicator of a journal’s academic influence, helping researchers identify publications that are widely read, cited, and respected in their field. It clarified that while IF is often used to assess journal prestige, it must be interpreted cautiously—considering factors like citation manipulation, self-citation, and disciplinary variations. Connecting this with the current UGC framework, it becomes evident that Impact Factor is only one part of a much broader evaluation system. The new suggestive parameters emphasize not only citation metrics but also editorial transparency, ethical standards, peer-review rigor, web presence, and archival policies, which together provide a holistic view of journal quality. Thus, when both perspectives are taken together, they offer a balanced model of journal assessment—where quantitative data like IF is evaluated alongside qualitative parameters. This synthesis empowers researchers and institutions to make informed publishing choices, ensuring academic integrity while also maximizing research visibility and scholarly impact.
At Shodhmitra, we regularly publish well-researched and insightful posts focused on research methodology, academic publishing, higher education policies, and emerging trends in the academic world. Our aim is to provide authentic, timely, and practical information that benefits students, research scholars, faculty members, and academic institutions alike. Whether it’s understanding complex concepts like journal metrics or staying updated with regulatory changes from bodies like UGC, our content is designed to simplify and support your academic journey. We believe in empowering the academic community with knowledge that’s not just theoretical—but also applicable and forward-looking.