The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India and Springer Nature have announced a collaboration aimed at strengthening awareness of research integrity, open access, and evolving scholarly publishing practices across India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 academic institutions.
The partnership is anchored in the RISE-UTTHAN initiative, an academic engagement programme designed to provide researchers, faculty, and scholars with structured guidance and internationally benchmarked resources to support ethical and accessible research practices.
The programme focuses on three areas central to the academic research lifecycle. The first is research integrity in science and education, which emphasizes the importance of ethical and transparent conduct in both the production and communication of scholarly work. The second addresses open access awareness and the future of science, complementing national initiatives such as One Nation, One Subscription by helping researchers navigate the global shift toward open science. The third area is book publishing in a changing world, which seeks to equip researchers with the knowledge to engage with evolving publishing models, from traditional formats to digital and open frameworks.
Through workshops, lectures, and hands-on training, RISE-UTTHAN is set to engage between 25 and 30 research-active institutions during the India Research Tour 2025, reaching an estimated 5,000 researchers. The initiative is expected to expand in subsequent years based on institutional participation and feedback.
The collaboration highlights the role of ethical standards, accessibility, and practical impact as central elements of India’s research agenda. It positions Tier 2 and Tier 3 institutions as critical to advancing research quality and capacity across the country, ensuring participation in global knowledge-sharing networks while also contributing solutions to areas such as healthcare, education, clean energy, and sustainable livelihoods.
This initiative reflects alignment with India’s broader national science and technology priorities, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and underscores a shared commitment to promoting responsible, high-quality, and accessible research across diverse academic contexts.
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