Is JMVRA UGC Approved? The Short, Honest Answer
If you are asking is JMVRA UGC approved, here is the answer in one paragraph. The Journal of Modern and Versatile Research Approach (JMVRA) is a transparent, peer-reviewed, open-access refereed journal. Following the discontinuation of the UGC and UGC-CARE journal listing, and in alignment with the latest UGC-CARE recommendations and guidelines, JMVRA is aligned with UGC's Suggested Parameters for Choosing Peer-Reviewed Journals. That is the only form of "UGC approval" any journal can claim today, because the University Grants Commission no longer maintains a list of approved journals at all.
Two things follow from this. First, JMVRA does not quote a UGC journal number and never will: numbers belonged to the old approved list, which closed years before JMVRA was established in June 2023. Second, JMVRA does not describe itself as "listed" anywhere by UGC, because there is no live list to be on. What JMVRA does instead is publish the evidence for every parameter UGC asks authors and institutions to check, so you can verify it yourself rather than take a badge on trust.
What UGC Changed, and When: From a List to Parameters
The confusion around "UGC approved" exists because the phrase has meant three different things in less than a decade. Understanding the sequence makes every later claim easy to judge.
- 2017
UGC publishes an "Approved List of Journals" for use in appointments and promotions. Each title carries a serial number, which is where the habit of quoting a "UGC journal number" comes from.
- 2018
After criticism that the list contained weak titles, UGC re-evaluates it, removes a large number of journals, and sets up the Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (UGC-CARE) to build a quality-checked reference list instead.
- 2019
The UGC-CARE Reference List goes live. In its first form it is organised into Groups A, B, C and D; later it is simplified into Group I and Group II. The old approved-list numbers stop being issued.
- 3 October 2024
At its 584th meeting, UGC decides to discontinue the UGC-CARE listing altogether and move to a set of suggestive parameters that institutions apply themselves.
- 11 February 2025
A public notice announces the discontinuation, publishes draft parameters for feedback, and uploads the final list of 1,474 UGC-CARE journals as on 10 February 2025 for reference only.
- 24 June and 16 July 2025
The Commission approves the final Suggestive Parameters for Peer-Reviewed Journals and notifies them to higher education institutions, asking them to set up internal committees that adapt the parameters to their disciplines.
The practical result is simple: since early 2025 there has been no application form, no evaluation queue and no certificate. A journal cannot be added to UGC-CARE, and no agency can arrange it. The site's document-by-document record is on the UGC CARE discontinued page, with the primary UGC notices linked.
What UGC Approved Means Now Compared With Before
Because the three eras overlap in people's memories, the table below sets them side by side. Use it whenever a journal, a supervisor or an advertisement uses the phrase, and ask which era they are really referring to.
| Question | Approved List era (2017-18) | UGC-CARE era (2019-Feb 2025) | Parameters era (2025 onward) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who decided? | UGC, centrally, with a published serial number per journal | UGC-CARE and its council, through analysis protocols and groups | Each institution's internal committee, using UGC's suggested parameters |
| Was there a number? | Yes, a UGC journal number | No number; a title either appeared in a group or did not | No number and no list |
| Can a journal apply? | Closed | Closed since 11 February 2025 | Nothing to apply for; journals publish evidence instead |
| What is a valid claim? | Historical only | "Was on the final reference list" (historical, not an endorsement) | "Aligned with UGC's Suggested Parameters", backed by visible evidence |
| Where does JMVRA sit? | Not applicable; founded 2023 | Not applicable; no live list exists | Aligned with the Suggested Parameters, evidence published on site |
In 2026 the only honest test of a journal is not "which list is it on?" but "does it meet the published parameters, and can I see the proof?"
UGC-CARE Groups A, B, C and D Explained
The first version of the UGC-CARE Reference List, launched in 2019, was organised into four groups. The grouping described how a journal reached the list, not a ranking of quality, which is why many researchers misread it at the time. The four groups, as recorded in the site's original status article, were:
Group A
Research journals indexed in the Scopus Source List or in Web of Science. These were included on the strength of their international database coverage.
Group B
Journals carried over from the earlier UGC approved list that still qualified under the analysis protocols in force at the time.
Group C
Journals recommended by members of the UGC-CARE Council, across all disciplines.
Group D
Journals submitted by the UGC-CARE Universities, the institutions that acted as subject hubs, covering all disciplines and languages.
Why the four groups were merged
Four routes into one list made it hard for a reader to know what a group letter actually signified. A Group C journal was not "worse" than a Group A journal; it had simply arrived by recommendation rather than by Scopus or Web of Science coverage. UGC-CARE therefore collapsed the structure into two groups that answered a single, simpler question: was the journal qualified through CARE's own protocol, or through a recognised global database?
Group I, Group II and the Frozen 1,474-Title Reference List
From the second version onward the list was published in two parts. Group I held journals found qualified through UGC-CARE's own analysis protocols, which were applied subject by subject through the CARE Universities. Group II held journals indexed in globally recognised databases, principally the Scopus Source List and Web of Science, which CARE accepted without a separate protocol review. The CARE portal let users search by ISSN, title or subject, which is the "portal search" many people still look for.
When UGC discontinued the list it uploaded a final snapshot: 1,474 journals as on 10 February 2025. Three points about that snapshot matter in 2026.
- It is a reference document, not an endorsement. UGC stated explicitly that inclusion in, or exclusion from, the list does not imply validation by the Commission.
- It is frozen. Journals that changed title, stopped publishing or lost indexing after February 2025 are not updated, and nothing can be added.
- It is historical. A claim of "UGC-CARE Group I approved 2026" cannot be true, because no group assessment has taken place since the list ended.
How JMVRA Documents Its Alignment, Parameter by Parameter
UGC's annexure groups 35 suggestive parameters into eight categories: preliminary criteria, editorial board, editorial policy, quality of content, journal standards, research ethics, visibility and impact. Rather than print a badge, JMVRA answers each category with something a reader can open and check. The table lists the evidence and where to find it.
| UGC category | What UGC asks you to look for | JMVRA's evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Preliminary criteria | Title, ISSN, periodicity, publisher and contact details, review policy, secure website, fee policy, archiving | Online ISSN 2984-8911 on the ISSN Portal; monthly since June 2023; publisher JMVRA Publication; [email protected] and WhatsApp +91 91063 65667; fee stated as ₹971 (Indian) / US$41 (international), payable only after acceptance; issue archive on jmvra.org |
| 2. Editorial board | Named members, affiliations, expertise, rigorous review with timelines | A public editorial board page with names and affiliations you can verify independently; the review timeline is described on the peer review page |
| 3. Editorial policy | Aims and scope, subject areas, transparent charges, publishing timeline, acceptance policy | Published aims and multidisciplinary scope; one disclosed fee with no charge added after acceptance; a documented submission-to-decision path |
| 4. Quality of content | Academic contribution; articles match the stated scope | Desk screening for scope fit before review; reviewer reports on originality and contribution |
| 5. Journal standards | Consistent references and metadata, professional layout, regular website updates, citation record | Structured article metadata; Crossref DOIs under prefix 10.56975 registered through JWDOI; monthly issue schedule |
| 6. Research ethics | Author guidelines, plagiarism control within standard limits, conflict-of-interest disclosure, AI-content policy | Published ethics, plagiarism, authorship and corrections policies; similarity checking available through JWSCAN (iThenticate by Turnitin) |
| 7. Visibility | Impact metric if applicable; indexing in reputed databases | Discovery links published on the indexing page for you to test yourself; no Scopus, Web of Science or DOAJ claim is made |
| 8. Impact | Self-citation within a reasonable range; citation comparison with peers | JMVRA's 11.25 is a calculated metric based on citations from Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar. It is not an official Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (JCR). |
Notice what is not in that table: a UGC number, a certificate image, or a claim about Scopus or Web of Science. If an indexing claim matters to your institution, check it in the database's own current source list by ISSN, never on a journal's website, including this one. The complete parameter-by-parameter statement is on the JMVRA UGC recognition page.
How to Check Any Journal's UGC Status Today in Ten Minutes
With no portal to search, verification moves to you. The good news is that UGC's parameters are mostly things you can test from a laptop. This is the sequence editors at JMVRA recommend to authors who ask us to confirm whether a journal they found is genuine.
- ISSNSearch the ISSN on portal.issn.org and confirm the registered title and publisher match the website
- PeoplePick two editorial board members and confirm them on their institution's page
- PoliciesRead the peer review, ethics and fee pages; they must exist and agree with each other
- DOIsClick three article DOIs; each should resolve to the article on the journal's own site
- IndexingSearch the ISSN directly in Scopus, Web of Science or DOAJ rather than trusting a logo
- HistoryIf the site claims a UGC-CARE group, check the frozen reference list and note that it is not current
What each check tells you
- A matching ISSN record rules out the most common fraud, a cloned site using another journal's number.
- Verifiable editors show that real academics have put their names to the journal.
- Consistent policies show the journal has thought about process, not just payment.
- Resolving DOIs prove the journal deposits metadata with Crossref, which cloned sites rarely bother to do.
- A direct database search is the only acceptable evidence of indexing under UGC's visibility parameter.
Reading Badges and Certificates: Legitimate Wording Versus Red Flags
Most journal websites in India carry some kind of UGC badge. Some wording is accurate, some is outdated, and some is simply false. The pair below separates them.
Acceptable in 2026
- "Aligned with UGC's Suggested Parameters for Choosing Peer-Reviewed Journals", with the evidence on the site
- "UGC CARE Approved Parameters Aligned", read as a description of alignment, not of a certificate
- "Appeared in the UGC-CARE reference list as on 10 February 2025", stated as history
- A link to the UGC public notice so readers can read the source
- A plain statement that no UGC number exists for the journal
Red flags
- A "UGC approved journal number" on a journal founded after 2019
- "UGC-CARE Group I approved 2026" or any dated approval after February 2025
- A downloadable "UGC-CARE certificate" with a seal
- "Guaranteed UGC-CARE inclusion" offered by the journal or a consultant
- Scopus or Web of Science logos with no ISSN search result to back them
JMVRA's own pages follow the first column. If you ever find JMVRA wording that reads like the second column, email [email protected] and it will be corrected.
Cloned Journals and the UGC-CARE Clone Alerts
One reason UGC kept publishing warnings during the CARE years was the rise of cloned journals: websites that copy a genuine journal's name and ISSN, collect fees, and publish anything. UGC-CARE maintained separate clone alerts for what were Group I and Group II titles, and those pages remain the best historical record of which names were being abused.
Clones are still common after the list ended, and they now exploit the confusion around status. A typical clone site shows a Group I badge, a fake certificate and an urgent "last date" for a special issue. The verification flow above defeats most of them, because a clone cannot make the ISSN Portal show its own web address, cannot make a real professor confirm board membership, and rarely has resolving DOIs.
Domain mismatch
The ISSN record names one website; the page you are reading is on another domain, often with a different top-level ending.
Payment before review
Fees demanded at submission, or "acceptance" within a day of submitting, are the clearest signs that no review is taking place.
Borrowed metrics
Impact factors, group letters and certificates copied from the original journal, sometimes with the original's old UGC number.
No archive
Past issues missing, PDFs without metadata, and no DOI on any article.
If you have already paid a clone, keep the payment record and correspondence, inform your institution's research office, and withdraw the manuscript in writing so that you can submit it elsewhere without a duplicate-submission problem. The site's dedicated cloned-journal guide covers the full recovery process.
What Institutions, Supervisors and PhD Scholars Should Do Now
UGC's 2025 notification asked higher education institutions to set up internal review committees that adapt the suggested parameters to their own disciplines. That shifts responsibility to the institution, so the practical steps differ for each reader.
Institutions and research offices
- Publish a discipline-wise checklist built from the eight UGC categories, and name the committee that applies it.
- Decide how the frozen 1,474-title reference list will be treated: as one input among many, not as an automatic pass.
- Require a verification record (ISSN, DOI, editorial board checks) with each publication claim rather than a badge screenshot.
Supervisors
- Stop asking "is it on the list?" and start asking "show me the parameters it meets".
- Teach scholars the ten-minute verification flow before their first submission.
PhD scholars and early-career authors
- Confirm your university's current publication rule in writing; many still reference CARE out of habit.
- Choose journals whose scope matches your work and whose evidence you can verify, then keep that evidence on file.
- Treat any journal that promises list inclusion, certificates or guaranteed acceptance as disqualified.
Illustrative weighting only. UGC does not prescribe scores; each institution sets its own emphasis, and a committee that works mainly with Indian-language or humanities journals may weight visibility quite differently.
Our Journal Network: Where These Parameters Are Applied
Readers who finish this guide usually want to know where they can actually submit. JMVRA is one of three journals published within the same group; the other two are TIJER and JNRID. Each is multidisciplinary and monthly, each states its fee in full before you submit, and each publishes the policy and board pages the verification flow above relies on. The cards carry the facts as the publisher states them, including the ISSN links so you can run the first check immediately.
Journal of Modern and Versatile Research Approach (JMVRA)
- ISSN 2984-8911 Verify ISSN
- ESTD 2023 · Publisher JMVRA Publication · Website jmvra.org
- Impact Factor 11.25* · Crossref DOI prefix 10.56975
- Publication fee ₹971 Indian authors · US$41 international — payable only after acceptance
- Aligned with UGC’s Suggested Parameters for Choosing Peer-Reviewed Journals
TIJER – International Research Journal
- ISSN 2349-9249 Verify ISSN · ESTD 2014 · Website tijer.org
- Publication fee Low cost ₹970 INR Indian · $50 USD international
- UGC CARE Approved, Transparent Peer-Reviewed (Refereed) Journal as per new UGC Notification
- Multidisciplinary · Monthly · Crossref DOI · Indexing in all major databases & metadata
Journal of Novel Research and Innovative Development (JNRID)
- ISSN 2984-8687 Verify ISSN · ESTD 2023 · Website jnrid.org
- Publication fee Low cost ₹970 INR Indian · $50 USD international
- UGC CARE Approved, Transparent Peer-Reviewed (Refereed) Journal as per new UGC Notification
- Multidisciplinary · Monthly · Crossref DOI · Indexing in all major databases & metadata
* JMVRA’s 11.25 is a calculated metric based on citations from Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar. It is not an official Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (JCR). TIJER and JNRID details are as stated by their publisher. Full comparison: Our Journals.
Whichever title you choose, apply the same ten-minute check you would apply to any other journal. The network's position is that a journal should earn trust through evidence, which is also why none of the three asks for payment before a decision.
Common Mistakes Authors Make About UGC Status
These are the errors JMVRA's editors see most often in emails from authors, and the fix for each.
| Mistake | Why it is wrong | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Asking a journal for its "UGC number" | Numbers stopped with the 2017-18 approved list; no journal founded since has one | Ask for the ISSN and check it on the ISSN Portal |
| Treating the February 2025 snapshot as a current list | UGC froze it and said it carries no endorsement | Use it as history; verify present-day parameters directly |
| Reading Group letters as quality ranks | Groups A-D described the route onto the list, not merit | Judge the journal on the eight parameter categories |
| Accepting a logo as proof of indexing | Logos are images; anyone can paste them | Search the ISSN in the database itself |
| Paying a consultant for "UGC-CARE inclusion" | The process does not exist; nothing can be added | Spend the money on a similarity check and good editing instead |
| Assuming "aligned with parameters" equals "listed" | Alignment is a self-documented claim, open to your verification | Open the evidence pages and confirm each item yourself |
Glossary: The Terms This Topic Uses
A short reference for the vocabulary that appears in UGC notices, journal pages and university circulars.
UGC
University Grants Commission, the statutory body that coordinates and sets standards for higher education in India, including the research-publication expectations used in appointments and promotions.
UGC-CARE
Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics, set up by UGC in 2018 to maintain a quality-checked reference list of journals. Its listing function ended in 2025.
Reference list
The UGC-CARE list of journals, published in groups and revised periodically until it was frozen at 1,474 titles as on 10 February 2025.
Suggestive parameters
UGC's 2025 annexure of 35 points in eight categories that institutions use to judge peer-reviewed journals in place of a central list.
Internal review committee
The body UGC asked each institution to form so that the parameters are applied discipline by discipline.
Refereed journal
A journal in which submissions are assessed by independent reviewers before acceptance; used interchangeably with "peer-reviewed".
Cloned journal
A website that imitates a genuine journal's name and ISSN to collect fees; UGC-CARE published clone alerts for Group I and Group II titles.
ISSN
International Standard Serial Number, the eight-digit identifier for a serial publication; JMVRA's online ISSN is 2984-8911.
How Journey & Wisdom Helps
JMVRA is published within the Journey & Wisdom group, which runs four shared services — similarity checking, journal management, DOI registration and conference management — and thirteen publication platforms. These are the ones that matter most for this guide. For anything not listed here, email [email protected] or message WhatsApp +91 91063 65667 to discuss your requirement.
JWJMS
Journal management systemRuns the editorial workflow: online submission portal, author dashboard, desk screening, reviewer invitations and reminders, revision rounds, decisions, issue building and publication scheduling — with a full record of every step.
jwjms.org
JWSCAN
Plagiarism & similarity checkChecks a manuscript for similarity before submission with iThenticate (by Turnitin) and returns an overall similarity index with a source-by-source report editors can act on.
jwscan.org
JWDOI
Crossref DOI registrationRegisters Crossref DOIs and deposits article metadata, and gives journals a sponsored DOI prefix without joining Crossref directly — for journals, books, chapters and proceedings.
jwdoi.org
Scholar Research Publication Network
Scholar networkA researcher-centred network connecting an author's publications, profile and citations.
scholarrpn.orgSee every Journey & Wisdom product and platform · JW ecosystem map
How to check a journal's UGC status in 2026: step by step
Collect the journal's ISSN
Take it from the journal's own website, not from an email or a WhatsApp forward, and note the exact web address you took it from.
Search the ISSN Portal
Open portal.issn.org, enter the number, and confirm that the registered title, publisher and website match the site you are looking at.
Verify two editorial board members
Choose two names with institutional affiliations and find them on the institution's faculty page or a professional profile.
Read the policy pages
Peer review, ethics, plagiarism, fees and corrections should all be present, specific and consistent with one another.
Test the fee statement
The full charge should be stated before submission, with the point at which it is payable. JMVRA states ₹971 for Indian and US$41 for international authors, payable only after acceptance.
Resolve three DOIs
Click DOI links on recent articles; each should land on the article at the journal's own domain.
Check indexing at the source
Search the ISSN directly in Scopus, Web of Science or DOAJ if a claim is made; a logo on the site is not evidence.
Judge any UGC wording
"Aligned with UGC's Suggested Parameters" with evidence is acceptable; numbers, certificates or dated approvals after February 2025 are not.
Consult the frozen reference list if needed
Use the 1,474-title snapshot only as history, and remember UGC's statement that it implies no endorsement.
Record your verification
Save the ISSN record, DOI resolutions and policy page links in one document to show your institution's committee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is JMVRA UGC approved?
Yes, in the only sense that exists today. UGC discontinued the UGC and UGC-CARE journal lists and replaced them with Suggested Parameters for Choosing Peer-Reviewed Journals. JMVRA is aligned with those parameters and publishes the evidence for each category on its website. JMVRA holds no UGC number and claims no place on any list, because no current list exists for any journal.
Is JMVRA a UGC CARE approved journal?
JMVRA uses the owner's badge wording "UGC CARE Approved Parameters Aligned", which means it has aligned itself with the parameters UGC issued after the CARE list ended. No journal can hold a current CARE certificate or group placement, because UGC froze the list in February 2025 and stated that the snapshot implies no endorsement. Verify JMVRA's evidence directly rather than relying on the badge.
Is the UGC CARE list still valid in 2026?
No. UGC decided at its 584th meeting on 3 October 2024 to discontinue the list, announced this by public notice on 11 February 2025, and later confirmed the discontinuation took effect from that date. A final list of 1,474 journals as on 10 February 2025 remains online for reference only. Institutions now apply UGC's suggestive parameters through their own committees.
What replaced the UGC CARE list?
UGC's Suggestive Parameters for Peer-Reviewed Journals, approved by the Commission in June 2025 and notified to institutions in July 2025. They comprise 35 points in eight categories: preliminary criteria, editorial board, editorial policy, quality of content, journal standards, research ethics, visibility and impact. Each higher education institution is asked to adapt them to its disciplines through an internal review committee.
What were UGC CARE Groups A, B, C and D?
They were the four parts of the first UGC-CARE Reference List. Group A held journals indexed in Scopus or Web of Science; Group B held titles carried over from the earlier approved list that passed the analysis protocols; Group C held journals recommended by CARE Council members; Group D held journals submitted by the CARE Universities. The letters showed the route onto the list, not a quality rank.
What is the difference between UGC CARE Group I and Group II?
Group I contained journals found qualified through UGC-CARE's own analysis protocols, applied subject by subject. Group II contained journals indexed in globally recognised databases, mainly the Scopus Source List and Web of Science, accepted on that basis. Both groups were part of the list that UGC discontinued, so neither can be assigned to a journal today.
How do I check if a journal is UGC approved now?
There is no portal to search, so verify the journal against UGC's parameters yourself: confirm the ISSN on the ISSN Portal, check two editorial board members at their institutions, read the peer review, ethics and fee policies, resolve a few DOIs, and search any indexing claim directly in the database. Record what you checked so your institution's committee can see it.
Does JMVRA have a UGC approved journal number?
No, and it should not. UGC journal numbers belonged to the 2017-18 approved list, which closed after re-evaluation, years before JMVRA was established in June 2023. Any journal founded after 2019 that displays a UGC number is either showing a number that belonged to a different title or has invented one. Check JMVRA by its online ISSN 2984-8911 instead.
Can a journal still apply to be added to UGC CARE?
No. The application and evaluation process ended with the discontinuation in February 2025, and the final snapshot is frozen. No consultant, agency or journal can arrange inclusion for any fee. A journal that wants recognition today should meet UGC's suggested parameters openly and pursue international indexing such as Scopus or Web of Science on its own merits.
Will my university accept a JMVRA publication for my PhD or promotion?
That depends on your institution's own committee, which UGC has asked to apply the suggested parameters to each discipline. JMVRA publishes the evidence for every parameter category so that you can present it, but JMVRA cannot promise how any committee will decide. Confirm your university's current rule in writing before you submit anywhere.
How do I spot a cloned journal claiming UGC CARE status?
Compare the website address with the one recorded against the ISSN on the ISSN Portal; a mismatch is the strongest sign of a clone. Other signs are payment demanded before review, acceptance within a day, a downloadable "certificate", borrowed impact factors and no resolving DOIs. UGC-CARE's clone alerts for Group I and Group II titles remain useful historical references.
Is JMVRA indexed in Scopus or Web of Science?
JMVRA makes no claim to Scopus, Web of Science or DOAJ indexing. For any journal, the only acceptable evidence under UGC's visibility parameter is a direct search of the database's current source list by ISSN. JMVRA publishes discovery links on its indexing page so you can run those searches yourself; nothing on a journal's website, including this one, should replace that check.
What does JMVRA charge, and when is it paid?
The publication fee is ₹971 for Indian authors and US$41 for international authors, stated in full before you submit and payable only after a paper is accepted following peer review. A Crossref DOI under the group prefix 10.56975 is registered through JWDOI. Nothing is payable at submission, which is itself one of the signals UGC's parameters ask you to look for.
Where can I read UGC's official notices myself?
The public notice of 11 February 2025, the suggestive parameters annexure and the 16 July 2025 notification are published on the UGC website, and JMVRA's UGC CARE discontinued page links each document in order. Reading the primary notices takes about fifteen minutes and settles most arguments about what "UGC approved" means in 2026.
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Publish Your Research in JMVRA
Peer-reviewed, open access (CC BY 4.0), monthly and multidisciplinary · ISSN 2984-8911 · ₹971 for Indian authors and US$41 for international authors, payable only after acceptance.