As of 12 August 2026, 418 journals published in India were listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals, out of 23,306 journals worldwide. On the same date, the UGC-CARE portal stated that its journal list has not been updated since October 2024 and will not be updated further. Both figures were taken directly from the source, and both matter for how you write and where you publish.
This article does something most statistics roundups avoid: it separates what we could verify at source from what we could not. The second list is the more useful one, because an unsourced figure in your introduction is a question you will have to answer in your viva.
What could be verified at source
| Figure | Value | Source | Date accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian journals listed in DOAJ | 418 | Directory of Open Access Journals | 12 August 2026 |
| Journals listed in DOAJ worldwide | 23,306 | Directory of Open Access Journals | 12 August 2026 |
| UGC-CARE list status | Not updated since October 2024; will not be updated further | UGC-CARE portal, citing UGC Public Notice dated 11 February 2025 | 12 August 2026 |
Indian journals therefore account for roughly 1.8% of the journals listed in DOAJ. That proportion deserves careful interpretation. It does not measure the volume of Indian research output, because DOAJ covers open-access journals only and excludes the many subscription journals in which Indian scholars publish. What it does indicate is that the number of India-published open-access journals meeting DOAJ’s editorial screening remains modest relative to the number of journals soliciting Indian submissions.
For you as a scholar, that has a direct practical use: DOAJ listing is a quick, free, positive signal when you are assessing an unfamiliar open-access journal.
Why the UGC-CARE status is the most consequential figure here
Of everything in this article, the CARE list status will affect the largest number of scholars, because for years the standard advice was to publish in a CARE-listed journal and treat that as sufficient.
The portal’s own notice states the list has not been updated since October 2024 and will not be updated further, referencing the UGC Public Notice dated 11 February 2025, and that the site remains available for information purposes only. A great deal of guidance circulating online has not caught up with this, including material advertising updated CARE lists for 2026.
What replaces it in practice is verification you carry out yourself against current indexing, plus whatever your own university’s research board now specifies. The full procedure is set out in how to verify a journal in India in 2026.
Where the official numbers live
These portals were reachable on 12 August 2026 and are the appropriate first stop for figures on Indian higher education and research:
- University Grants Commission (ugc.gov.in). Regulations, public notices and policy documents. This is where you should read the regulations that govern your submission rather than relying on summaries.
- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (mospi.gov.in). National statistical releases and survey reports.
- Open Government Data Platform India (data.gov.in). Datasets published by ministries and departments, searchable by catalogue.
- Shodhganga (shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in). The national repository of Indian theses, hosted by INFLIBNET.
- NPTEL (nptel.ac.in). Course material across engineering, sciences and management, useful for methodological grounding rather than as a data source.
Figures we could not verify, and why that matters
Several numbers that scholars routinely want for a Chapter 1 could not be retrieved directly from an official source while preparing this article. We are naming them rather than quoting a plausible figure:
- National PhD enrolment and award counts for the current year. The authoritative national source is the government’s all-India higher education survey. Open the official release yourself, note the reference year of the data, and cite that rather than a figure copied from a secondary article.
- PhD completion rates and average time to completion. No regularly published national dataset was retrievable. Figures circulating online typically derive from single-institution studies and cannot be generalised to a national rate.
- Number of plagiarism cases in Indian universities. The UGC Regulations, 2018 require institutions to handle cases through their own academic integrity panels. That structure means outcomes are recorded institutionally, and no aggregate national count was retrievable.
- Proportion of Indian students using AI tools for academic work. No official national survey was retrievable. Figures in circulation come from private surveys with differing methods, sample frames and definitions, which is why they vary so widely.
- Thesis rejection rates. Not published as a national statistic. Examination outcomes sit with individual universities.
Stating that a figure is unavailable is a stronger academic position than quoting one you cannot trace. If an examiner asks where a number came from and the honest answer is a blog post that cited another blog post, that single number can undermine confidence in your entire introduction.
How to cite an online statistic properly
Online databases change, so a citation without an access date is incomplete. Include the organisation, the title of the dataset or page, the reference year of the data, the source, and the date you accessed it.
A pattern you can adapt:
“As of 12 August 2026, 418 journals published in India were listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals, out of 23,306 journals listed worldwide (Directory of Open Access Journals, accessed 12 August 2026).”
Note that the reference year of the data and the access date are two different things and both belong in your write-up where they differ. A dataset published this year may describe collection from three years ago, and a reader cannot evaluate your claim without knowing which is which.
Three rules for using national data in Chapter 1
National data is context, not your evidence. It establishes that the problem you are studying exists at scale. Your actual findings come from your own data, and conflating the two weakens both.
Do not force numbers in. If your research question has no relationship to higher education statistics, inserting enrolment figures adds nothing. Examiners read for relevance, not for the presence of numbers.
One traceable figure beats five vague ones. A single statistic with a named source, a reference year and an access date is worth more than a paragraph of impressive-sounding numbers a reader cannot check.
Where to find data for your own study
The portals above cover national context. Discipline-specific datasets, legal materials and archival sources are a different problem, and knowing where they sit before you finalise a topic prevents the most common cause of a stalled candidature. Those sources are covered in how to choose a PhD research topic in India by discipline, which treats data access as the first feasibility test rather than an afterthought.
For the regulatory figures that will apply to your own submission, see the UGC plagiarism limit for a PhD thesis, and for what happens to your thesis after the award, what Shodhganga is.
Turning verified data into a chapter that argues
Sound numbers do not by themselves produce a strong introduction. What earns marks is the reasoning that runs from the data to the specific gap your study addresses, and that reasoning has to be constructed sentence by sentence.
Tesify helps you build an introduction that moves from context to problem statement to research question, keeping your citations consistent as the chapter develops. You remain responsible for every figure you include and for verifying it at its source.
Build your introduction in Tesify
Frequently asked questions
Why does this article contain so few numbers?
Because we only publish figures we retrieved from the source ourselves. Roundups with dozens of statistics typically recycle numbers from other articles, which is exactly the practice that leaves scholars unable to answer a question about provenance.
Where do I find national higher education enrolment figures?
Through the government’s official all-India higher education survey releases, published by the education ministry. Open the release directly, check the reference year, and cite that document rather than a news summary of it.
Is data.gov.in free to use?
Yes, it is an open government data platform accessible without payment. Individual datasets may carry their own usage terms, so check the licence note attached to any dataset you build analysis on.
Can I cite Wikipedia or a news article for a statistic?
Use them only to locate the original source, then cite that. If a news report attributes a figure to a ministry release, find the release. Examiners routinely check the primary source for any striking number.
How recent must my data be?
Use the most recent official release available and state its reference year. Official statistics are frequently published with a lag, and that is acceptable provided you are transparent about the period rather than implying currency you do not have.
What if two official sources report different numbers?
This happens because coverage, definitions and collection methods differ. Choose one as your primary source, use it consistently, and explain the discrepancy in a footnote. Mixing sources within a single time series is a serious error.
Do I need permission to reproduce a government table?
Reproducing a table generally requires attribution, and some datasets carry specific terms. Check the licence, attribute fully, and where you have adapted or recalculated anything, say so explicitly.
Should I include international comparisons?
Only where they serve your argument. A comparison that establishes why the Indian case is distinctive is useful; one included to add breadth invites questions about comparability of definitions across countries.
Will these figures still be accurate next year?
The DOAJ counts will change continuously, since journals are added and removed. Treat every figure here as a snapshot dated 12 August 2026, and retrieve current values yourself before citing them.
How do I cite a database that has no author?
Treat the organisation as the author. For DOAJ, the organisation is the Directory of Open Access Journals; for a ministry dataset, the ministry. Include the access date, and follow whichever style your department requires.