NIRF 2025 introduces SDG-focused evaluation and negative marking for retracted research papers. Rankings to be announced in early August
NIRF 2025 Rankings: Key Highlights, Changes & What’s
New
The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for
2025 is set to be released in the first week of August 2025, as per the National
Board of Accreditation (NBA). This year’s rankings come with significant
changes to the evaluation methodology, including a brand-new Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) category and a groundbreaking step in academic
integrity — negative marking for retracted research papers.
🔍 What's New in NIRF 2025?
|
Key Change |
Description |
|
New SDG Category |
Focus on Sustainable Development Goals introduced as a
ranking parameter. |
|
Negative Marking for Research Retractions |
Institutions will be penalized if research papers are
retracted, based on the count or percentage of retractions. |
|
Updated Research Component |
Negative scores will impact the “Research and
Professional Practice” metric. |
|
Penalty Implementation |
Mild for now, but will become stricter in future
editions, said NBA Chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe. |
🧪 Revised Research & Evaluation Metrics
The "Research and Professional Practices"
parameter, which assesses the volume, quality, and impact of institutional
research, now includes a deduction for retracted publications. This move aims
to ensure accountability and uphold academic quality.
📊 Overview: How NIRF Rankings Are Calculated
NIRF evaluates institutions across five key parameters:
·
Teaching, Learning & Resources
·
Research & Professional Practices
·
Graduation Outcomes
·
Outreach & Inclusivity
·
Perception
Each institution submits a detailed dataset via the Data
Capturing System (DCS), including information on faculty, student strength,
finances, research output, citations, patents, and infrastructure. These
datasets are made publicly accessible for transparency and are validated before
the rankings are finalized.
🔄 Recap: Changes Introduced in NIRF 2024
|
Category |
Change |
|
New Categories |
Open Universities and State Public Universities added |
|
Research Metrics |
Self-citations removed to avoid inflated citation
scores |
|
Faculty-Student Ratio (FSR) |
Revised to 1:10 for medical colleges, 1:20 for State
Public Universities |
|
Innovation Parameter |
New metric to reward institutions promoting innovation |
|
Sustainability Initiatives |
Introduced sustainability-linked metrics aligned with
G20 Mission LiFE |
⚖️ Legal Challenge to NIRF 2025
Earlier this year, a Public Interest Litigation led the Madras
High Court to temporarily restrain the release of the NIRF 2025 rankings.
The petitioner claimed the methodology lacked clarity and transparency, which
could mislead students and impact educational quality. However, this did not
halt the process entirely, and the Ministry of Education is expected to
finalize the release date soon.
📌 Summary of the news
The NIRF 2025 rankings are gearing up to offer a
more transparent, quality-focused, and sustainability-driven assessment of
India’s higher education institutions. With the SDG category and research
retraction penalties, the framework is evolving to reward accountability and real
impact over inflated numbers.
Stay tuned to Edumyra for the official release and detailed analysis of this year’s NIRF rankings!
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