Workshop Report: Strengthening Scholarly Publishing – Quality, Ethics and Visibility (Hybrid Mode)

The PhD Vertical of Pillar II: Exemplary Research and Innovation, Manipal College of Nursing (MCON), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, organized a workshop on “Strengthening Scholarly Publishing: Quality, Ethics and Visibility” on 21st April 2026, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

The workshop was designed to strengthen researchers’ competencies in producing high-quality, ethical, and impactful scholarly work.

The program commenced with the inaugural address by Dr. Judith A. Noronha, Dean, MCON, who emphasized the importance of maintaining integrity, quality, and ethical standards in research and scholarly publishing, highlighting the growing need for responsible dissemination of scientific knowledge.

Dr. Tessy Treesa Jose, Associate Dean and Head of Pillar II – Exemplary Research & Innovation, MCON, delivered the welcome address. Dr. E. Binu Margaret, Assistant Professor, Department of Child Health Nursing, provided an overview of the workshop.

The workshop began with an expert session on “Quality and Rigor in Scholarly Writing” by Dr. Chythra R. Rao, Deputy Director Research (Health Sciences), MAHE, and Additional Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, MAHE, Manipal. The session focused on academic rigor, research integrity, research misconduct and its consequences, structuring scientific manuscripts, and strategies to strengthen methodological rigor.

The second session on “Journal Selection and Publishing Strategies” was delivered by Dr. Baby S. Nayak, Professor and Head, Department of Child Health Nursing, PhD Coordinator, and Chairperson of the PhD Vertical, MCON, MAHE, Manipal. The session provided valuable insights into selecting appropriate journals, evaluating journal quality, understanding indexing databases and journal metrics, identifying predatory journals, and navigating the publication process.

This was followed by a session on “Enhancing Research Visibility and Impact” by Dr. Yogendra Nayak, Additional Professor, Department of Pharmacology, MCOPS, MAHE, Manipal. The session highlighted research dissemination platforms, building researcher profiles, science communication for wider audiences, altmetrics, and strategies to enhance citation and societal impact.

The final session on “Ethics in Research and Publication” was delivered by Dr. Muralidhar M. Kulkarni, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, MAHE, Manipal. The session emphasized ethical conduct in research, current regulations, data integrity, reporting bias, and responsible authorship practices.

The workshop concluded with closing remarks by Dr. Tessy Treesa Jose, Associate Dean, MCON, MAHE, Manipal, who reiterated the importance of integrating quality, ethics, and visibility in scholarly work.

This workshop provided participants with comprehensive knowledge and practical insights to enhance the quality, integrity, and visibility of their research. It also contributed to Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.

A total of 196 participants (165 online and 31 offline), including 61 PhD scholars/students and 135 faculty members, from various disciplines and across different states in the country, benefited from the workshop and found it informative and useful.

The workshop was convened by Dr. E. Binu Margaret, Assistant Professor (Selection Grade), Department of Child Health Nursing, MCON, Manipal, under the guidance of Dr. Baby S. Nayak, Chairperson, PhD Vertical, and Dr. Tessy Treesa Jose, Head, Pillar II: Exemplary Research and Innovation, MCON, MAHE.

Ms. Veena Kumari and Ms. Nisha, PhD scholars of MCON, Manipal, served as the Masters of Ceremony for the program.