LAHORE: The Federation of All Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association (FAPUASA) and the Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) have termed the Higher Education Commission (HEC) research journal and publication policy needless and disheartening for the academics and researchers.

The representatives of both the associations held an online conference to discuss the new policy. FAPUASA Punjab President Prof Dr Mumtaz Anwar Chaudhry, PUASA Secretary Javed Sami and other office-bearers participated in the meeting.

Mr Chaudhry and other representatives condemned HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri and his team for launching the new research journal and publication policy to discourage research culture in the universities.

The HEC recently revised research journals and publication policy to raise the quality of the national research journals. In the policy, to be implemented from June 2020, the major policy shift was brought about for a more transparent, rigorous and focused system for accreditation, monitoring, capacity building and funding.

The academics said the HEC research journals policy would seriously undermine the education and research endeavours. They alleged that Mr Banuri and his team were deliberately trying to shut down the local research journals under a specific agenda and they were planning to further damage the already dilapidated research work in the country.

They feared that as a result of this new anti-research policy, the Pakistani teachers and research scholars would be forced to publish only in international research journals and they might not have huge amounts of money in foreign currency to pay for that while they might have to wait for several years for a publication.

They said that from June 2020 onwards, only the research articles published in international journals, indexed in Scopus and JCR, would be recognised for promotion and other purposes.

The university teachers demanded that this anti-education notification be withdrawn and the HEC should immediately notify minutes of meetings of sub-committees of the local journals held in January-February 2020. Otherwise, the FAPUASA along with the editors association of local journals, researchers and civil society would strongly protest against the chairman, director general (R&D) and other responsible officers of the HEC for their anti-education policies. Talking to Dawn about the matter, HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri said there seemed to be some miscommunication. “Currently, 107 Pakistani journals are listed with Scopus, Web or Science database (some in both of them). Also, a call has been issued for proposals to include national journals in Y category.”

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020