Intellectual Property Rights: The Indian Experience Academic Publication in the Era of Internet Piracy

In recent times, the modus operandi of academic publishing has changed. The traditional process of ‘submit-process-review-publication’ has shifted to the online medium. While this has been a major leap for academics as information has become easily available; the problem now lies in its accessibility and reliability. Paid journals are charging ransom-worthy subscription fees for accessing research information published through them and high processing fees are demanded from the authors of the research material. As a result, predatory journals have shown up to feed on the researchers who cannot afford such a facility and have to scavenge the internet for free information. There is a rise in copyright infringement, pirated information, and violation of academic integrity. Attempts to mitigate the damage caused by such uprising have taken the form of the Open Access Movement; ethical guidelines such as COPE; mechanisms for detection and elimination of fraudulent academic publications, like UGC CARE; creation of databases for reliable open access journals like DOAJ, and many more. This paper explores how academic publication and research have been affected by the aforementioned factors, the attempts for mitigation, and possible suggestions that can help in protecting academic integrity in the age of piracy.