The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India is planning to provide access to world class journals to over 200 private universities in the country through it Information and Library Network (Inflibnet).
UGC is responsible for providing fund to institutes of higher education in India. It has chalked out a plan to facilitate research activities in private universities by opening access of around 23 world-class research journals through its inter-university centre – the Information and Library Network (Inflibnet). The Inflibnet is in talks with over 23 world-class research e-journal publishers to provide services to the interested universities at a subsidised rate. The services include accessing contents of around 5,000 top research journals and helping research scholars and academicians publish research papers in them. Some top ejournals include Blackwell, Oxford University Publication, Cambridge University Publication, American Chemical Society, Project Euclid, Institute of Physics Journal, UK, American Institute of Physics, among others. As of now, Inflibnet provides e-journal subscription to 149 universities, funded by UGC. Last year, Inflibnet provided journal services at a cost of Rs 28.85 crore, the individual subscription for which comes at Rs 307 crore. Further, as per data gathered by the Inflibnet, in the last three years, research scholars have downloaded 24.06 lakh articles and published a record 25,000 articles in highly reputed international journals. The centre is currently negotiating with these research journals on fixing rates of subscription to private universities.
