Mumbai: In a first, Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), the apex body steering research and development in the country, has asked researchers applying for grants to declare whether any of their publications have been retracted in the past five years. Applicants, principal investigators (PIs) or co-PIs have been asked to submit the reasons for such retractions.Asserting its zero tolerance for plagiarism, ANRF also mandated signing an undertaking that the research proposal (or its significant portions) is not AI-generated. It said it “may use a combination of tools to detect use of AI, and/or publication retractions in the past five years and alert the technical programme committee for decisions”.The conditions against plagiarism and other unethical practices in academia have been incorporated in the latest call for applications for the foundation’s flagship scheme—advanced research grants programme—announced two days ago. Applications for the programme, supporting high-impact frontier research in science and technology, will be accepted from May 15. Researchers must hold a regular position in a recognised academic institution or National Research Laboratory or any other recognised research organisation in India.The move is part of an ongoing exercise to bring in policy reforms in research and development, as per a govt official. It comes at a time when there is growing emphasis on strengthening ethical practices and accountability in academic research globally.As of now, no other funding body seeks retraction details from researchers, said a senior academician. Publications are generally retracted when there is evidence of data manipulation or plagiarism or ethical violations. A senior IIT professor said retractions are an aberration and rare, and are available in the public domain.ANRF emphasised that research proposals must be original in ideation and content. “All submissions may undergo a third-party plagiarism check and any proposal found to contain plagiarised content will be rejected. Any form of text included verbatim from another source must be identified using quotation marks, with an appropriate citation (including use of AI tools). Applicants are strongly encouraged to precheck their proposals for plagiarism prior to submission in order to avoid rejections,” said its policy. India Research Watch, a private non-profit initiative working towards improving research quality in India, called ANRF’s move a “landmark change” and sought similar reforms from other funding agencies. Founder Achal Agrawal said when researchers are asked for a list of publications, they should be asked for a list of retractions, too.
