India Research Watch

IRW
India Research Watch
AbbreviationIRW
Formation2022
FounderAchal Agrawal
Founded atIndia
TypeNon-profit organization
Advisor
Sunil Mukhi
Advisor
Subhash Chandra Lakhotia
Advisor
Ganesh Natarajan
Advisor
Shashi Kant Shankar
Websiteirw.co.in

India Research Watch (IRW) is a volunteer-run non-profit organization established in 2022 to combat scientific misconduct and research fraud in India. The group monitors cases of suspected research fraud, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, and related malpractice reported anonymously.

History

IRW was founded in 2022 by Achal Agrawal, a data scientist who earned a PhD in applied mathematics from Paris-Saclay University in 2016. Agrawal started IRW after observing extensive plagiarism among students and researchers. IRW describes its mission as identifying and addressing malpractices in Indian academia. In its early work, IRW analysed academic papers and launched anonymous tip lines to gather information on suspected misconduct.

As of July 2025, IRW members, comprising scientists, students, and data analysts from various institutions, investigate tips about suspect papers and flag issues publicly (mostly on PubPeer or social media) to pressure journals and universities to take disciplinary action. IRW and its founder, Achal Agrawal, were recognised by Nature's 10 in 2025.

Activities

IRW published an article in The Hindu, on 17 November 2023, presenting data on a rising trend of scientific misconduct based on the Retraction Watch database.

For example, in 2023 IRW compiled data showing that 58 papers by Indian Institutes of Technology faculty had been retracted, for plagiarism or duplication, between 2006 and 2023. IRW has attributed India's rising research misconduct in part to pressure on institutions to climb university rankings such as NIRF, QS, and Times Higher Education, where output is measured largely by paper and citation counts.. In 2025, IRW's founder Achal Agrawal received a Digital Science Catalyst Grant to develop PostPub.. IRW has also highlighted how some Indian universities appear to manipulate institutional rankings by inflating publication and citation counts.

In 2024, Agrawal drew on the IRW database to criticize India's NIRF ranking methodology and its susceptibility to manipulation. Agrawal has also criticised alleged irregularities in NAAC's accreditation assessments. A 2025 Nature analysis identifying the institutions with the most retracted papers drew on IRW retraction-data work.

IRW's current work focuses on identifying AI-generated fabricated results and image manipulation in research by Indian academics.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Chakrabarty, Roshni (27 June 2026). "India now dominates global research paper retractions with 6 universities in top 10". India Today. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Basu, Mohana (22 January 2024). "This Indian watchdog is cleaning up 'mess' in academia—falsification, fabrication & fraud". ThePrint. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "Penalise 'retraction hotspot' universities, says integrity expert". Times Higher Education (THE). 15 January 2026. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Agrawal, Achal (16 November 2023). "Alarming rise of scientific misconduct recorded in India | Data". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  5. ↑ Times, The Reproductive (2 January 2026). "Nature Magazine's 10 People Who Shaped Science in 2025, and the 3 We Chose Among Them to Feature Here". www.reproductivetimes.com. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Grove, Jack (9 December 2025). "Penalise 'retraction hotspot' universities, says integrity expert". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Basu, Mohana (22 January 2024). "This Indian watchdog is cleaning up 'mess' in academia—falsification, fabrication & fraud". ThePrint. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "India Research Watchdog: On the Frontlines of Academic Fraud - Neo Science Hub". neosciencehub.com. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  9. ↑ Gandhi, Divya (12 December 2025). "'Publication retractions from India have skyrocketed since 2022'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Home". irw.co.in. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  11. 1 2 Basu, Mohana (22 January 2024). "This Indian watchdog is cleaning up 'mess' in academia—falsification, fabrication & fraud". ThePrint. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 Pillai, Soumya (11 September 2024). "India's research crime is getting worse. Scientists are gaming peer review system". ThePrint. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Naddaf, Miryam (8 December 2025). "This science sleuth revealed a retraction crisis at Indian universities". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03839-2. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Chakrabarty, Roshni (23 December 2025). "Meet Achal Agrawal, India's academic watchdog taking on research plagiarism". India Today. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Agrawal, Achal (16 November 2023). "Alarming rise of scientific misconduct recorded in India | Data". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  16. ↑ Global, IndraStra. "Growing Cases of Scientific Misconduct in India Spark Worry Within the Academic Community". IndraStra Global. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  17. ↑ "Concerns Arise As IIT Faculty Retract 58 Research Papers Over 17 Years". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  18. ↑ "Retraction of papers soar, but no clarity on action on IIT faculty". The Times of India. 7 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  19. 1 2 "Shoddy commentaries—a quick and dirty route to higher impact numbers—are on the rise". Science. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Digital Science announces Catalyst Grant winners, rewarding innovations to safeguard research integrity". Digital Science. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2026.
  21. ↑ Pandey, Mohit (1 July 2024). "NIRF Rankings are Totally Flawed | AIM". Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  22. ↑ Agrawal, Achal; Koley, Moumita; Khichi, Kirtan (8 August 2024), Fundamental Flaws of NIRF: Evidence from 2023 NIRF Overall Ranking Data, doi:10.31219/osf.io/f8apm, retrieved 2 August 2026
  23. ↑ Solanki, Saumya (26 February 2025). "NAAC under fire: Can India's university ranking system be trusted?". EdexLive. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  24. ↑ Van Noorden, Richard (19 February 2025). "Exclusive: These universities have the most retracted scientific articles". Nature. 638 (8051): 596–599. doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00455-y. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 39972233.
  25. ↑ Gandhi, Divya (12 December 2025). "'Publication retractions from India have skyrocketed since 2022'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 April 2026.