Open access publishing and the right environment created by the Indian government for research would make India a research superpower, said Springer Nature, a global publisher. which has been advancing discovery globally for the last 180 years by catering to the requirement of the global research community.
“With Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), right environment has been created. There is going to be a good public- private partnership. And Springer Nature wants to work with the government institutions and researchers to make India a research superpower,” Harsh Jegadeesan, Chief Publishing Officer, Springer Nature, said in an interview.
Stating that it cannot be done without open access publishing, he said open access would make India become a leader in research like how open source had helped the country become a leader in technology. He said India could play a significant role in research in the fields of food security and energy security.
“We work with the United Nations in terms of having a clear sustainable development roadmap. And I think India can play a significant role there,” he added.
Springer Nature, with brands like Nature, Springer, and Macmillan, has 9,000 people working for it globally, including 25% of its workforce based in India. The company has plans to hire more people in India to support its global operations.
“I am really excited to see the growth that India and the strides that India is making. It’s burgeoning research, India is number three in terms of research output behind China and the U.S., even though India’s research spending compared to its GDP, is not as much,” he said.
Compared with the spending globally, India spends 0.7 or 0.6% of its GDP on research, compared with 2-4% of the GDP by China, U.S. or even South Korea. “Just to give that in context, India’s research spending overall per year is $40 billion while it is $400 billion by China,” he said.
Emphasising on the need for open access publishing, he said it would create a level-playing field and “make the world flatter”, and will increase participation rate of researchers. “And within 5 to 10 years, if India has to be a $10 trillion economy, research is going to be fundamental and open access will help it get there,” he said.
Springer Nature is currently undertaking India Research Tour by visiting educational institutions in a bus to have a mass outreach to researchers as well as academics to educate them on open access and on the benefits of open access as well to dispel certain myths. The tour was flagged off on September 19 from ICSSR, Delhi and after visiting institutions of repute across the country will culminate on October 16 at SRM University, Chennai.
“The tour gives us direct access to researchers, young researchers who need mentorship and we are able to work with them, having direct access to faculty members and academic leaders,” he said. Based on the success of the tour, the company is now trying to replicate such tours in Europe and in China as well.
Talking about the company’s focus on research integrity he said efforts were on to weed out fake science. “We are also heavily focused on combating research integrity issues. And we do this in multiple ways. We deploy technology, actually we use AI to fight AI, in that sense,” Mr. Jegadeesan said, adding that emphasis had been given to increase the number of women researchers in India.
Published - September 30, 2024 10:25 pm IST
