Research paper and publication support in Trivandrum

KTU clause 19, line by line

In the KTU regulations of 2023, the publication rule is in clause 19. Clause 19.2 wants two papers from you before the synopsis, and both can be either published or accepted.

• One journal paper. The journal should be indexed in SCI, SCIE, SSCI (this one is for management) or Scopus. Review papers and survey papers are not counted for this.
• One paper at a national or international conference. The regulation says the organiser must be a registered society “of impeccable reputation”, so check who is conducting it.

After that there are some conditions. If a Scopus journal takes money from you for publishing, KTU accepts it only when the same journal is listed in SCI, SCIE or SSCI also. Your affiliation in the paper must show KTU, along with your research centre or your employer (19.3). For each paper you claim, you should be first or corresponding author (19.4). A paper that a co-author already used for their PhD cannot be used again for yours (19.5). Micro-articles are not counted at all (19.6).

Clause 9 has one more deadline which is easy to miss. By the second seminar, that is the DC 6 meeting, at least one journal paper should be published or accepted. So the journal paper is due one full stage before the synopsis.

Checking a journal before a KTU submission

KTU scholars lose many months on this fee condition. A Scopus journal with a very professional website can still fail clause 19.2, if it charges an article processing fee and is not in SCI, SCIE or SSCI. Scholars come to know this only in the synopsis meeting, when the committee check the papers.

For this reason, before we prepare a manuscript for any journal, we go through a few points with you. Does the journal charge the authors anything, for open access or for processing? If yes, is the journal also there in the Web of Science indexes? And is it still active in Scopus now? As per its content policy, Scopus reviews titles that get flagged, and it shows the discontinued ones in its source list. Whatever we find, we write down with that day’s date, so you can show it if the committee raise a doubt later.

Patents also need some care. Under clause 19.1, a granted patent can be counted in place of publications. But for any patent application you need the University’s consent, and the Registrar has to be the assignee. The provisional filing has to be done before you publish anything. Some scholars have work that could become a patent. In that case talk to your supervisor about filing first, and send the paper to any journal after that only.

IISER’s one-third rule and IIST’s two papers

The IISER Thiruvananthapuram guidebook says you need one or more papers in published or accepted state before the synopsis. In that paper you have to be lead author, or at least one who contributed a major part. The paper has to report one third or more of what the thesis contains. Also the journal must be from the list kept by your School. We have seen scholars try with a two-page note, and it does not meet the one-third condition. Better to build the paper from one full chapter of your thesis.

For the School of Chemistry there are routes based on impact factor. The easiest route is one first-author paper in a journal with impact factor above 7.0. The second route is one first-author paper plus two co-authored papers, with the three impact factors adding up to more than about 9.0. In the third route, a patent with you as primary inventor is taken in place of the first-author paper. Here also two co-authored papers are needed, at a lower combined figure. Review articles are not counted here.

IIST’s guidelines of October 2025 ask for minimum two papers, published or accepted, and you must be first author in both. When two papers come from one thesis, the chapters should divide into two separate pieces of work. We help you decide where to split.

University of Kerala and KUHS

Under the 2022 regulations of the University of Kerala, there is no paper requirement for submitting the thesis. Papers are counted only when the university decides who can become a supervisor. Professors and associate professors need five papers, and assistant professors need three. Your department may still want a paper, and it helps with examiners, but the university does not make it a rule. So there is no need to pay a doubtful journal for meeting this.

KUHS has a different rule. Clause 12.2 of its regulations asks for one paper, published or accepted. Indexed and peer-reviewed journal is needed, and that journal has to be in the list approved by the Board of Studies. The reprint of the paper is bound inside the thesis. You also present at a conference once, or give a second paper in place of it. Collect the Board’s current approved list from your college before you select any journal.

A few words about UGC-CARE also. The UGC has stopped listing journals under CARE. In July 2025 it released final suggestive parameters in place of the list, as its public notice explains. Some department circulars are still mentioning “UGC-CARE”. If yours does, ask the office which journals they will accept now in place of it.

How it works from Trivandrum

Send us your university, your registration year and list of papers you already have, with the journal or conference where each one came. From that we tell you what is still pending under your rule and roughly by when.

After that, send the chapter or the results you want to publish. We shape it with you into a paper of the length and structure expected by the journal we pick together, and we check that journal against your rule first. Even before starting, we give you the scope of work and the fee in writing. When the reviewer comments come, we help you plan the reply for each point.

The paper is submitted by you, from your own account, as the author. Whether it is accepted is decided by the journal, and nobody honest can promise acceptance. We try to avoid a rejection for reasons that could be fixed earlier.