Research Policies

1. Introduction

St. John’s College, Anchal is devoted to fostering a research culture among faculties, research scholars and students. Research happens to be one of the pioneer aspects of academic activities, which helps the institution to achieve excellence in the field of education. The economic and social development of the nation is fueled by research, revolution, and development. The level of social development depends on the implementation of research systems and its outcome, such as products, patents, research papers and copy right etc. Research is the most significant and dependable approach for understanding and resolving the complexity of the various issues that humankind faces. Moreover, research plays a crucial role in discovering novel treatments and ensuring that current ones are applied as effectively as possible; through this way we can ensure the development of society and ultimately it will reflect in the progress of the country. The research policy of the college strives to build and nurture scientific temper and research aptitude of all students. Through collaborative research initiatives between other departments and institutions, the college is dedicated to the pursuit of research excellence and seeks to gain recognition on a national and international level. Furthermore, the college adheres to the research policies, rules and regulations of the University of Kerala, as well as the University Grants Commission (UGC).The rules and regulations have been updated in accordance with the recommendations and amendments made by the UGC and the University of Kerala. Taking these factors into account, St. John’s College, Anchal developed and implemented its Research Policy.

2. Application and Commencement

The policy may applicable to:

1. All faculty members, whether temporary or permanent, who seek to do research may be subject to the policy.
2. All Staff member hired for Research Projects and Research related works.
3. All Students who conduct research as part of their curriculum.
4. All guides, advisers, mentors, consultants, outside experts, and sponsors connected to any of the research activities of the college.

3. Purpose

The purpose of research policy is to establish an atmosphere for research where faculties and students may grow, nourish and sustain their careers. By providing inclusive work environment, ambience and infrastructure researchers can effectively utilize their creativity, thoughts and ideas to produce excellence in research and innovation. More over our policies and programs will aid to create partnerships and collaborations between researchers, government, and industry so that the researchers can become entrepreneurs. The policy will provide an overall framework for conducting research activities. Additionally, it seeks to establish research focus areas that are socially relevant and hence support the vision and mission of college.

4. Scope of Research Policy

This policy shall be applicable to all research and associated activities of the college and applicable to

i. All the staffs, whether permanent or temporary are engaged in active teaching, research or administration.

ii. All the students studying in the college

The goal of our research activities will be

Development of scientific knowledge and communication ability such as writing of journal articles and book chapters.

The development of fresh, original ideas through creative efforts that can be used for the progress of the country.

Academic research projects of Under Graduate and Post Graduate students can be integrated through collaborations, more over this work can be used for their future endeavors.

Expertise students to operate equipment and familiarize them with various techniques and their interpretation.

5. Objectives

The Principal objectives of the Research Policy are as follows:

1. To develop awareness about all research related activities and culture of research among faculties and students of St. John’s College, Anchal.

2. Through St. John's Research and Development Cell (SRDC), proper coordination of the research efforts of the institution and bring into line them with missions and visions of the college.

3. To establish a system to handle all research activities that should be scientific, transparent, and efficient.

4. To create an excellent environment and infrastructure for effective research and to provide the necessary support for research activities of the College.

5. To guarantee the excellence, morality, and integrity in research through proper education and training to support ethical research, thesis and dissertation writing, as well as to encourage academic honesty and prevention from plagiarism.

6. To identify and update scholars about the right research opportunities offered by various academic, industrial, corporate or government groups.

7. To encourage researchers to publish their work in international peer-reviewed journals and make it easier for them to present it at conferences, seminars, and other events. Moreover initiate them to transfer technologies to relevant industries and facilitate them to file patents.

8. To monitor Continuous quality assurance of research outputs by appropriate committees.

9. To encourage faculty members to avail major or minor research projects from National Funding agencies like SERB, DBT, DST, ICSSR, UGC and other such institutions.

10. To encourage the researchers to file Intellectual Property Rights to foster their creation or invention.

11. To encourage the scholars and faculty members to develop appropriate research skills that can be obtained through organizing various workshops, symposia, seminars and conferences in their respective fields as well as in areas of contemporary importance.

12. To encourage linkages with industries that will create job opportunities to students and collaborations with international and national academic institutions will improve the quality of research.

13. To improve and expand the Instrumentation facility so that it can compete with other world-class laboratories.

14. To foster an environment where socially beneficial research can be done with the possibility of commercialization.

15. To undertake all other activities, which inculcate research culture in the college.

16. To confirm that all researchers, teachers, students, and staff are treated fairly.

6. Composition of Research and Development Cell

The Research Cell will have the following composition

 

The St.John’s College Research Cell is composed of professionally experienced and talented individuals who have started cutting-edge careers in research and development across a variety of disciplines. The main goals of the Research and Development Cell are to discover new sources of knowledge and supported to develop and maintain the research culture of college. For acquiring knowledge, education and research should be complementary. The cell urges academicians to start, continue, and publish their research works. The goal of the Cell is to routinely plan research-focused workshops, seminars, conferences, management development programs, and faculty development programs in the College.

7. Ethics in Academic Research

Researchers at St. John’s College, Anchal are expected to exercise moral judgement in the invention, preservation, and disseminating of data through academic research.

The rights and obligations of researchers are outlined in the following code of ethics.

Report all information truthfully, including data, findings, techniques, and publication status. Don't make up, fabricate, or exaggerate research data incorrectly.

Maintain your trust by honesty in your activities and ensure consistency in all of your decisions regarding research acuities.

Since the college is affiliated with the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, it must follow rules and regulations concerned with U. G. C. and University to prevent plagiarism and other types of research misconduct.

The college encourages researchers to submit their work for publication in peer reviewed prestigious scholarly journals.

The college must be properly acknowledged in all publications.

The college principal must give prior approval for collaborative research with other institutions.

Researchers must conduct their research in accordance with the highest levels of professionalism.

Disclosure of methodology and key findings must maintain the necessary degrees of confidentiality.

The researchers alone are responsible for any legal issues pertaining to copyright, patents, and publication.

Records of all research, including original sources and research data, should be kept in a transparent, precise, secure, and comprehensive manner.

Declare and manage any real, prospective, or perceived conflicts of interest.

To perform the research involving human related subjects, researchers must confirm that they have got permission from relevant ethical advisory group.

Only perform experimentation on animals after acquiring clearance from an appropriate animal ethical review body.

Researchers should submit one copy of Ph.D. thesis to the college library and one copy to the relevant Department

St.John’s college, Anchal has adheres to anti-plagiarism policy of University of Kerala and has a strict no-tolerance policy for any other academic misconducts.

https://www.keralauniversity.ac.in/pdfs/news/Anti_Plagiarism_Policy_Doc1501237891.pdf

8. POLICY ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

St John’s College, Anchal values the academic brilliance, curiosity, and inquisitiveness. These values are reflected in the Intellectual Property Policy, which aims to promote transparency, sharing of ideas, creativity, and innovation among employees and students. People who attend St. John’s College may generate patents, innovations, and creative works that are valuable from a commercial, scholastic, and scientific standpoint. The ownership, public disclosure, and monetization of intellectual property are outlined in this policy. On May 12, 2016, the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy was revised by the Union Cabinet. The Policy aims to create an environment that encourages innovation and creativity and direct them toward a better and more promising future. The policy will regulate the IPR of institute, faculty members, research scholars, students and others involved with the work, product, ideas, and innovations generated in accordance within the context of activities of the college.

1. Objectives

The college has framed this intellectual property policy for the management of intellectual property to

1. Promote, encourage, and nurture creative endeavors in the broadest sense in the fields of management, technology, science and the arts.

2. Protect the legitimate interests of the college, faculties, researchers, students, and other college members as well as the larger society, and assist in resolving any potential conflicts of interest.

3. Develop a system and set of procedures for making innovations and discoveries created during academic research easily accessible to the public through commercial channels.

4. Set guidelines for determining the rights and responsibilities of the college, creators of intellectual properties (such as inventors, developers, and authors), and their sponsors with regard to innovations, discoveries, and works developed at the university. The college also seeks to produce intellectual property for use and benefit of society while generating money to support research and education.

2. Commencement of the Policy

The ordinance establishing the intellectual property policy must take effect on the day the institution notifies you. Additionally, this IPR policy shall replace and override any prior policy that was in effect at the time of this policy and shall, for all intents and purposes, take precedence.

3. Ownership of Intellectual Property

All intellectual property, including ideas, software, designs, specimens, developed by researchers because of institutional research or produced by significant use of college facilities, should belong to the college. Specific IPR provisions contained in contracts controlling the collaborative/supported activity shall govern the ownership of IP in cases of sponsored or collaborative research. If a project has received money from a corporation, foundation, trust, the government, or an industry, the intellectual property that results from that project typically belongs to the college.

Exceptions to the ownership

The owner of the intellectual property has the choice to keep ownership of the following things.

1) All intellectual property created without using college resources in a significant way.

2) Faculty and students at the college are free to disseminate their research findings as long as it does not contain any intellectual property that is copyrightable or patented.

4. Creation of Intellectual Property

The College may produce the IP that includes material that is patented or copyrighted in the following ways:

i) When the college undertakes an assignment to take on the development of a specific copyright - protected or patentable material, either at the request of an outside organization or on its own initiative, as and when an individual researcher or a team of researchers may generate copyrightable or patentable material during the course of their research or as a particular project.

ii) When College and team of researchers enter into a specific agreement with some external financing sources, such as the government, foundation, trust, commercial, or business initiative, to generate some specified copyrightable or patented materials.

5. Evaluation and Management of IPR

The IPR Cell of the College will control all activities related to assessing, safeguarding, marketing, licensing, and managing the IPR produced by the College. A patent will only be granted for an innovation if it has some sort of commercial application, intent, or feasibility in the future. The creators of IPR must provide all information required for the cell to administer the IPR.

6. Registration of Patents / copyrights

After receiving approval from the college, a creator may file straight for a professional patent and concurrently request that their intellectual property be evaluated in accordance with the established method if they feel that immediate protection is essential to defend their interests.

 

9. Consultancy Policy

The College will encourage consultancy research since it is a powerful tool for information transmission and has a direct and significant social impact.

*The process of consultancy involves one staff person or a group of staff members sharing their intellectual knowledge and experience for utilizing the facilities, infrastructure, and resources of the college to provide remedies to the challenges.

*The consultancy service may involve offering subject-specific advice, offering technical support, analysis of data, policy writing, conceptual framework, advising services in HR, healthcare, business, and finance, creation of prototypes etc.

*This policy is applicable to all faculty and staff of St.John’s college, Anchal and Consultation is allowed only for faculties of the college.

*The institution must be informed of any consultancy work.

*Prior to the beginning of consultancy, the collaborating institutions must approve a comprehensive work plan that includes the budget.

* The staff or faculty must make sure that the consulting job does not lead to a conflict of interest with the functions of faculty in the college.

*All consultants are required to adhere to the revenue-sharing standards established by the institution, which are chosen for the individual projects.

*Any use of the institutional infrastructure, resources, facilities, and equipment must be properly evaluated in accordance with institutional standards. Therefore, a formal consultative agreement must be created with the institution for each consulting activity in order to guarantee that resources are used appropriately.

*Publications resulting from consultancy work must mention the faculty associations and must give credit for facilities used from the college.

*The college and the partnered institutions/organizations should be made immediately aware of any issue or obstacle encountered during the course of consultancy work.

*A detailed report must be submitted to the college and the partner industries or institutions after the completion of consultancy work.

* College IPR may be utilized if it does not conflict with any commercialization plans or the rights of third parties.

*College resources and facilities may be used during the consultancy work, but they must be charged in accordance with the college policies.
*Meetings pertaining to consultancy work with the organization(s) may be held in the college.
*Tax is due on any income obtained from consultancy work.

*St. John's College's Anchal has urged faculty members to do consulting services in support of external engagements that promote the transfer of knowledge and technology and have a significant influence on the economy and society. The management has chosen to distribute the income from consulting services to the faculty or group of faculties in the following ways in order to encourage them.

Sl. No.	Particulars	Faculty	Management
1.	Use of institute space andequipment	50%	50%
2.	For providing solutions/expertise to problems of the industry	75%	25%

 

10. Collaborations

The institution significantly fosters institutional partnerships in order to supplement institutional resources, increase research productivity, and accelerate the dissemination of research findings to society. Collaborations may be with other national institutions or with other foreign institutions.

Collaborative works should satisfy the following conditions;

Research performed in collaboration with another institution may require approvals from the collaborating institution as well as the RDC.

Coworkers are urged to discuss authorship at the outset of a collaboration and to retain a written record of decisions in cases where it is conceivable for a person to be listed as an author on a paper for contributions other than drafting an original text. This document ought to contain details of the expected contributions from each collaborator.

Before beginning a collaborative work, participants should agree on a process for handling authorship disputes. It is anticipated that the collaborators will initially have an internal discussion. If this does not result in a resolution, assistance from a senior academic or research integrity adviser that is external to the work.

Participants in collaborative research with external institutes make sure there are no conflicts of interest with the college and their partners.

Collaborative Data

1. At the beginning of their collaboration, research partners must use all reasonable efforts to come to a legal agreement, preferably in writing, regarding their rights to use of data that is consistent with IPR.

2. In the absence of a written agreement, the law and the regulatory framework governing intellectual property will govern the Research Collaborators' rights to and future uses of the Data.

3. In case any conflict developed between research partners over ownership of and potential uses of the Data, the RDC will help to resolve the issue.

11. Guidelines for Research Supervisors

a) The primary duty of the Research Supervisor is to monitor and guide the academic development of the student throughout the period of study.

b) Research guide can give academic advice and provides guidance to the expectations, the sufficiency of development, and the quality of work.

c)It is crucial that supervisors and their students be in regular communication if the program is to be completed successfully on time.

12.Guidelines for Researchers

All students pursuing research, as well as those conducting research for the college, must become familiar with the research policy and ensure that its policies are adhered to. The following guidelines should be comprehended and followed by researchers.

a) Researchers must be truthful about their own research-related activities. This is true for all types of research projects, including planningof experiments, collecting and analyzing of data, applying for funding and publishing research outcomes.

b) Researchers have obligations to society, their profession, the institute where their work is being done, as well as to all of the stakeholders, particularly the sponsoring and supporting organizations.

c) Researchers must be aware of the fact that Impact Factor (IF) and other quality criteria, which will be periodically amended as necessary, can be used to evaluate the quality of research output, particularly research papers.

d) The College administration may impose disciplinary measures for major offences such as plagiarism, deceit, fabricating findings, and misrepresenting. So researchers should maintain the highest standards of honesty, integrity and ethical behavior in all research related activities.

e) Before starting any research activity for which prior approval is required, acquire all appropriate approvals, including but not limited to ethical, protocol, and standard operating procedure approvals.

f) While acquiring, documenting, and evaluating data, as well as reporting and publishing results, adopt academic and scientific integrity and honesty.

g) Researchers should sanely take into account any adverse effects that their ongoing research activities, outcomes, or products may have on people or the environment. To lower the danger, such research activities should to be eliminated.

13. Research at UG and PG level

To encourage and enhance the quality of research at the undergraduate and graduate levels, it is urgently necessary to update the policies, infrastructure, environment, and financing choices. Students need to be inspired and prodded to pursue this level of research seriously. The effectiveness of research directly relates to the quality of classroom instruction and learning, which benefits students, society, and the nation as a whole. In a large and diversified country like India, encouraging research would aid in the development of the country as a global knowledge hub.

Group and individual research projects as part of the final year curriculum for the bachelor and masters programs, respectivelywould be a great approach for driving innovation among undergraduates and graduate students.Moreover, all UG/PG students will be encouraged to do minor or major research projects in order to address issues that affect society as well as industries.All these activities will encourage students to produce research articles during the course and this will give them better opportunities for their carrier.

14. Research misconduct

The academic community and the related institution authorities must promote a culture of honesty and integrity in research activity. The examples of research misconduct have a detrimental effect on society and the prestige of the institute.

Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, plagiarism or any other activitiesthat significantly depart from the methods planned, conducted or reportedfor reporting research within the scientific community.Moreover any violation of the institutional code of practice for research or any activity that materially departs from the standards generally recognized by the academic and research communities for proposing, carrying out, or reporting research constitutes research misconduct.

*Fabrication refers to the practice of creating false information for recording or reporting.

*Falsification is the alteration or omission of data or results, or the modification of research materials, technology, or methods in a way that the research record does not correctly represent the research outcomes.

*The act of presenting someone else's ideas or work as your own, with or without that person's agreement, by integrating it into your work without full acknowledgement, is known as plagiarism.

Identification of Research misconduct

Genuine errors or differences of opinion and any violation of the regulations and guidelines for the protection of human or animal related research subjects are not considered as research misconduct.

However, Research misconduct may include following:

1) Failure to adhere to recognized procedures or to take reasonable precautions when fulfilling obligations to prevent unjustified risk or injury to humans, research animals, or the environment.

2)Disobedience of legal requirements and guidelines.

3) Intentionally destroying or taking away another person's research-related property.

Responding to Allegations of Research Misconduct

In general, there are three steps to the reaction to an allegation of research misconduct:

i) Inquiry

ii) Investigation

iii)Final Verdict

Investigation

To investigate the allegation the college should set up an investigation panel. The representations of the respondent, statements of connected parties, records of interviews, and other supporting documents, as well as the findings and conclusions of the investigation, including whether or not the allegation should be substantiated, should all be included in the investigation report created by the investigation panel. At last the college should also state if they accept the findings of the investigation.

The Investigation panel comprises:

1. Chairman- Principal

2. Director – RDC- Convenor

3. Members- Nominated by the chairman and Director

Safeguards for accusers and informants

Safeguards for Informants: there should be safeguard for informant

The response to a claim of research misconduct must be given a reasonable amount of time. When required, extensions of time may be permitted.

Possible Penalties for Research Misconduct

Research institutes may penalize researchers who were discovered to have engaged in research misconduct. The intensity of the violation affects the penalties. The severity of the misconduct may be a factor in the final verdict.

In accordance with the type of misconduct, penalties may include:

•Corrections to the research record

• Letters of reprimand.

• The cancellation or suspension of a research grant.

15. Concluding Remarks

The Research policy of St. John’s College, Anchal will foster and strengthen the research culture and it will inspire academic staff to do research on a national and international level. It is hoped that by implementing this research policy, faculty members will be more focused on solving real-world issues than on teaching purely academic and scientific subjects. Additionally, it is envisaged that this policy would offer the framework for doing research at the college.