India Emerges as Epicenter of Global Research Integrity Crisis

Research has long been an integral part of the Indian curriculum, with professors and colleges giving utmost importance to publications. It is even one of the key eligibility criteria while applying for academic jobs. But a recent 2025 ranking by the Research Integrity Risk Index (R12) has raised serious concerns about the credibility of Indian academia.

Based on these rankings, India has emerged as the epicenter of a global research integrity crisis, with 9 of the top 10 high-risk academic institutions located in India. The only exception was Daffodil International University from Bangladesh, which broke India’s complete dominance of the top 10 list.

This assessment could place some of India’s leading universities in the red-flag category, potentially undermining the credibility of Indian research on the global stage.

Institutions with the Highest R12 Scores

Here’s a list of institutions flagged for high R12 scores, indicating serious issues with either research retractions or poor publishing practices:

1. Graphic Era University, Dehradun– 0.916

2. Vel Tech University– 0.868

3. Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation– 0.834

4. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU)– 0.817

5. JNTU Anantapur– 0.791

6. Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences– 0.772

7. Anna University– 0.770

8. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University– 0.713

9. University of Pune– 0.680

Technical and Medical Institutions in Focus

These names are not unfamiliar. Both technical and medical institutions appear on the list, with engineering colleges dominating the rankings—a fact that raises serious questions about India’s technology education ecosystem.

JNTU, a major hub that produces thousands of engineering graduates annually, has multiple campuses flagged in the top 10. Even Tamil Nadu’s flagship institution, Anna University, made it to the list.

The problem is not limited to engineering. The inclusion of Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, a major center for medical research, is especially worrying given that compromised medical research can directly affect patient care and clinical standards.

This alarming trend across institutions highlights the urgent need to understand how these scores are calculated and what they reveal about research integrity.

How Is the R12 Score Calculated

The R12 index, developed by Professor Lokman Meho at the American University of Beirut, evaluates research misconduct at institutions using two critical metrics. It assigns each university a score between 0 and 1—the higher the score, the higher the risk.

The R12 index is based on two main indicators :

1. Retraction Rate (R Rate):

This metric counts how many papers from a university were fully retracted, meaning they were so flawed—due to fake data, flawed experiments, or plagiarism—that they had to be pulled from the scientific record. It is like a cookbook being recalled because nearly every recipe was dangerously wrong, posing risks to users who tried to follow it.

In academia, a high R rate shows serious breaches in research integrity. The R rate is expressed as retractions per 1,000 publications.

2. Delisting Rate (D Rate):

This measures how often a university publishes in poor-quality or predatory journals—those recently removed from major databases like Scopus or Web of Science for failing quality standards. It is like a student turning in assignments to fake teachers instead of qualified professors.

Where Indian Institutions Went Wrong

Indian institutions on the list showed problems across both metrics.

• Graphic Era University had a staggering retraction rate of 37.29 per 1,000 publications.

• Anna University had 374 retractions, giving it a rate of 23.54 per 1,000.

• Saveetha Institute, focused on medical research, had 170 retractions out of 10,429 articles, despite expectations for higher medical research standards.

• Pune University, one of India’s oldest institutions, published 15.35% of its research in delisted journals.

• Koneru Lakshmaiah followed closely with a 15.02% delisting rate.

The integrity crisis is also regionally concentrated, with many high-risk institutions located in South India.

A Global Concern

India might top the list, but the problem is not limited to one country. The index also highlighted:

• 18 high-risk institutions in Saudi Arabia

• 15 in China

• 12 in Pakistan

This suggests that the research integrity crisis is rapidly expanding across Asia’s higher education ecosystem.

Conclusion

The R12 findings point to deeper systemic issues: insufficient research ethics training, a culture of publication pressure, and a lack of proper oversight. If left unaddressed, these patterns could seriously undermine the credibility of academic research in India and across the region, with real-world consequences in healthcare, technology, and education.

(Rh/Pooja Bansal/MSM/SE)