Abstract
Research and innovation are the lifeblood of any nation striving for sustainable development. In India, however, genuine researchers often face systemic neglect, lack of societal respect, financial insecurity, and limited institutional support. Meanwhile, a rising trend of fake doctorates and outsourced research projects has deeply compromised the integrity of the academic ecosystem. This article explores the background of these challenges, analyzes their societal and national impact, and proposes a detailed multi-layered policy framework aimed at restoring the dignity, recognition, and structural support for true researchers. It calls for urgent reforms at the cultural, institutional, educational, and legal levels, emphasizing that a nation's strength lies not in its temporary spectacles but in its sustained intellectual capital.
References
National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, Global Affairs, & Committee on Responsible Science. (2017). Fostering integrity in research. National Academies Press.
Lal, K. K., & Sharma, B. (2023). Research integrity & ethics: Scientific misconduct. In National seminar on academic integrity and research ethics. National Seminar on Academic Integrity and Research Ethics.
Kumavat, P. P. (2024). A study on Ethics, Integrity, and Trust in Research: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. Research Review Journal of Indian Knowledge Systems, 1(1), 23-33.
Varghese, N. V. (2024). Quality Assurance and Academic Integrity in Higher Education in India. In Second Handbook of Academic Integrity (pp. 935-951). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Dehankar, P., & Das, S. (2024). Upholding Integrity: The Role of Ethics in Research Methodology. Ethical Frameworks in Special Education: A Guide for Researchers, 136.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Shodh Sagar Journal of Language, Arts, Culture and Film