According to an exclusive report by My Nation, the former JNU student union president, Kanhaiya Kumar has used a disreputable journal, which is blacklisted internationally, to get his article published for PhD thesis submission, shows the journal’s website.
The very eminent, globally trusted Beall’s List had mentioned that the International Research Journal of Humanities, Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences (IJHEPS), where Kanhaiya’s article appeared, was a ‘predatory journal’ (those that accept money for the publication of a research article bypassing peer review).
Varun, Kanhaiya’s close aide, while speaking to My Nation, on behalf of the former JNU leader confirmed that they were unaware of the predatory status of the journal and would look into the matter. “This is also news to us that the journal has been blacklisted. We submitted our article online. Maybe it is not blacklisted here in India. We are not aware of it. Before submission of PhD., an article had to be published and we did it so that the government does not catch us on any grounds,” said Varun.
Following the guidelines for submitting a PhD thesis, which is, a student needs to publish a research article in a peer-reviewed journal, according to the University Grants Commission (UGC) gazette notification No. F1-2/2009 (EC/PS) V(1) Vol. 11, Kumar, submitted his thesis in JNU, which he had completed under the guidance of Left-leaning professor SN Malakar in the Centre for African Studies, School of International Studies (SIS).
Titled ‘The Process of Decolonisation and Social Transformation in South Africa’, the article was published in June this year in IJHEPS, which was listed among predatory journals in 2014 by Beall’s List, the report of which was regularly updated by Jeffrey Beall of the University of Colorado until January 2017.
IJHEPS, after being blacklisted, in order to avoid the disfigurement, started operating under a different name. It added ‘research’ to its name and now operates as International Research Journal of Humanities, Engineering and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
My Nation unearthed the gimmick by identifying that both the organizations have the same digital footprint as well as registration numbers. The old version of the journal, as listed in both Beall’s List and Iran’s blacklist, and the new share the same International Standard Serial Number (ISSN 2249-2569).
The owner of the journal, however, denied getting paid in lieu of publishing articles and denied charges of being predatory. “We were blacklisted as different countries have different academic norms. We are listed legitimately with UGC,” said Shashank Tiwari. On being asked why he changed the name after the journal appeared on Beall’s List, Tiwari said it was a printing error.
For the JNU Students Union leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is accused of helping those who raised anti-India slogans, of urinating in public, of flashing his private parts to a lady, of disrespecting his teachers, of whitewashing Congress sponsored anti-Sikh genocide of 1984, of getting into a scuffle in the mid of a flight and lying about it, and has many more such accomplishments up his sleeves, can definitely consider this fraud as yet another feather on his hat.
