Fifty-eight research papers by IIT faculty members have been retracted from 2006 to 2023 for plagiarism of article, plagiarism of text and duplication of article, an analysis by the India Research Watchdog revealed. Among thousands of cutting-edge research papers submitted across the IITs, 58 were retracted between 2006 and 2023 for 3 reasons: plagiarism of article, plagiarism of text, duplication of article. It does not include other scientific misconduct like data manipulation, forged authorship, randomly generated content, etc, as analysed by the India Research Watchdog, a private initiative, based on data provided by The Retraction Watch Database. In the same 17 years, Stanford University (US) had 3 retractions, Princeton (US) 2, Oxford and Cambridge (both UK) 5 each, and Tsinghua University (China) had 10, said IRW.
Research heads of some IITs said in some cases, retractions were seen in cases of biology when diagrams were used from the internet without credit. There is no clarity on the action taken against the teachers.Overall, the number of paper retractions from India has gone up substantially: from 595 between 2017 and 2019, to 1,350 between 2020 and 2022. A total of 109 reasons have been enlisted for retraction of original papers.“We have our processes to handle such cases. Each time we get a complaint, we take a deep look at the issue at hand, speak to the faculty and take necessary action. In some cases, the author himself or herself brings this to our notice, and sometimes we get complaints,” said one IIT director.The opacity on any action taken is bothering many. “A scientist from a reputed institution like an IIT will lose credibility after the retraction. The retraction is mainly because of three reasons: plagiarism, misrepresentation of data, faulty data, and there are specific guidelines for such cases,” said Sumit Narula, academic integrity expert.The number of research paper retractions in India has increased substantially in recent years, with 1,350 retractions between 2020 and 2022. The lack of transparency regarding action taken against the teachers is a cause for concern.