India, Jan. 27 -- Indian academia is at a critical juncture, grappling with an overemphasis on numerical achievements at the expense of genuine intellectual contributions. The growing focus on metrics such as publication counts and citation indices has diverted attention from the true purpose of research: To generate knowledge, foster innovation, and address societal challenges. This obsession with rankings is not only distorting academic priorities but also undermining the credibility of Indian research and publications on the global stage.

Today, academic success in India is increasingly being measured by numbers - the quantity of papers published, the frequency of citations, or an institution's rank on Indian or global scales. While t...