PhD rules in India: what changed, and when

What has changed in PhD rules in India, and when?

Newest first. The date is the date of the notification or notice, not of the news coverage.

A national rule reaches you through your university. Universities bring each UGC regulation into their own ordinances, and that takes time. The 2022 text also has a transition rule: under clause 16, a scholar registered before it may have the degree governed by the new or the 2016 rules. So when an entry here matters to you, check which version your university applies to your batch.

What changed with the UGC PhD Regulations, 2022?

Gazetted on 7 November 2022, the 2022 regulations took effect on that date, superseding the 2016 regulations and their amendments. The changes a scholar notices most:

• Eligibility: graduates of four-year degree programmes can now apply directly with 75%, next to the usual route of a master’s with 55% (clause 3).
• No more M.Phil.: clause 14 ends the M.Phil. as a programme institutions may run.
• Admission: NET/JRF holders by interview, and/or a university entrance test with a syllabus half research methodology and half subject; 50% in the test to reach interview; 70% test and 30% interview in the final merit (clause 5).
• Duration: three to six years, up to two more by re-registration, and a further two years’ relaxation for women and for persons with more than 40% disability, to an overall ceiling of ten; up to 240 days’ maternity or child-care leave (clause 4).
• Coursework and reviews: a 12-credit minimum that must include research methodology and RPE, plus a review by the Research Advisory Committee each semester (clauses 9 and 10).
• Evaluation: the supervisor plus at least two external examiners; the viva may be held online; evaluation and the viva result completed inside six months from submission (clause 11).
• Part-time allowed, online not: part-time study needs an employer’s NOC, and clause 13 rules out distance and online PhDs entirely.
• Transition: for scholars already registered, clause 16 allows the degree to follow the 2022 text or the 2016 text.

Our PhD admission in India guide explains the eligibility and admission clauses in detail, and the part-time PhD guide covers clause 13.

Is publishing a paper still compulsory for a PhD in India?

Not as a national rule since 7 November 2022. Before that, clause 9.4 of the 2016 regulations made every scholar publish in a refereed journal and present twice at conferences or seminars ahead of submission. The 2022 draft kept publication as “desirable”; the final 2022 regulations don’t mention it at all.

That did not end the requirement in practice. Universities are free to set their own, and many do, often at the synopsis stage. Our guide to the publication requirement for a PhD sets out what several universities require now and how to find your own rule.

What happened to the UGC-CARE journal list?

Three dates matter. UGC set up UGC-CARE by a public notice of 28 November 2018. On 3 October 2024 the Commission decided, on an expert committee’s advice, to stop listing journals, and the public notice of February 2025 announced that decision and invited feedback on draft “suggestive parameters” until 25 February 2025. Then, by a notice dated 16 July 2025, UGC approved the final parameters and put the final list online (1,474 titles, frozen at 10 February 2025) as a reference resource only, adding that a journal’s presence or absence on it is not an endorsement by UGC.

The parameters cover, among other things, the journal’s basic details, editorial board, editorial policy, content quality, publishing standards and research ethics. Higher education institutions are expected to apply them for their own disciplines. In practice that means your university’s list or rule decides which journals count, which is why ordinances that still say “UGC-CARE” need clarifying with your research section. Our UGC-CARE list guide covers how to check a journal now.

What changed for assistant professor eligibility in 2023?

Under the 2018 teacher-qualification regulations, university assistant professor posts were to require a PhD from July 2021. The June 2023 amendment, effective from the first of July that year, swapped that clause for a NET, SET or SLET minimum covering every higher education institution. A PhD awarded under the 2009 or 2016 PhD regulations still exempts you from NET.

The January 2025 draft would rewrite the recruitment rules again. It had not been finalised on UGC’s regulations page as of our 27 September 2026 check. We have logged the draft as a draft and will add the final regulation, with its date, if and when it is notified. For the detail, including where a PhD still earns points, read our assistant professor guide.

Which other national changes affect PhD scholars?

Plagiarism levels for theses (July 2018)

The UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 set four levels of similarity for theses: up to 10% (Level 0, no penalty), above 10% to 40% (Level 1, a revised thesis within six months), above 40% to 60% (Level 2, debarred from resubmitting for a year) and above 60% (Level 3, registration cancelled). Universities apply these with their own software and exclusions. Our plagiarism limits guide compares how universities apply them.

Research and Publication Ethics (2019)

The RPE course notified by UGC in 2019 is now a required part of the 12-credit coursework under clause 9(1) of the 2022 regulations. See our coursework and RPE guide.

NET for PhD admission (March 2024)

From the June 2024 NET, results are declared in three categories: eligible for PhD admission with JRF and for assistant professor posts; eligible for PhD admission without JRF and for assistant professor posts; and eligible for PhD admission only. For the second and third categories, admission uses 70% NET marks and 30% interview, and the NET marks stay valid for PhD admission for one year. Universities may still run their own entrance tests.

One Nation One Subscription (from 2025)

Approved by the Cabinet on 25 November 2024, the scheme gives government higher education institutions and central government R&D institutions access to about 13,000 e-journals from 30 publishers for the calendar years 2025 to 2027, through INFLIBNET. Scholars at private universities are not covered by the scheme. Our research databases guide covers how to get access.