UGC CARE List 2026: The Straight Answer
If you searched for the UGC CARE list 2026, here is the accurate position before anything else: there is no UGC-CARE list for 2026, and there never will be one. The University Grants Commission (UGC) decided at its 584th meeting on 3 October 2024 to discontinue the UGC-CARE journal listing, announced the decision in a public notice dated 11 February 2025, and later notified a replacement framework called the Suggestive Parameters for Peer-Reviewed Journals. In 2026, no journal can be "on" UGC-CARE, no journal can apply to it, and no agency can add a journal to it.
That does not mean the question behind your search has no answer. Researchers still need credible, peer-reviewed journals for PhD requirements, appraisals and genuine scholarship. What has changed is how credibility is judged: instead of checking a central list, institutions and authors now check journals against UGC's published parameters. This page walks through the 2026 landscape, the parameters themselves, the traps to avoid, and an honest, verifiable set of journals you can submit to this year.
How the 2026 Situation Came About
The discontinuation was not sudden. It closed an eight-year experiment in central journal lists, and understanding the sequence helps you answer colleagues and committees who are still working from old information.
- 2017–2018
UGC runs an "Approved List of Journals" for appointments and promotions. After quality complaints, a 2018 re-evaluation removes thousands of titles, and UGC sets up the Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (CARE).
- 2019–2024
The UGC-CARE Reference List operates in two groups: Group I (journals qualified through the CARE protocol) and Group II (journals indexed in recognised global databases such as Scopus and Web of Science). The list is updated periodically and becomes the default filter for Indian research output.
- 3 October 2024
UGC's 584th meeting decides to discontinue the CARE listing, citing the limits of a single central list for a system as large and varied as Indian higher education.
- 11 February 2025
A public notice announces the discontinuation, releases draft parameters for stakeholder feedback, and freezes the final list of 1,474 journals as on 10 February 2025 — published for reference only, with UGC stating that inclusion or exclusion implies no validation or endorsement.
- June–July 2025
UGC approves the final Suggestive Parameters for Peer-Reviewed Journals in June 2025 and notifies them to higher education institutions (HEIs) in July 2025.
- Late 2025 into 2026
UGC writes to institutions seeking feedback on implementation, and universities begin issuing their own circulars adopting the parameters. By 2026 the parameter-based system is the operating reality on the ground.
Every notice and old list mentioned here is preserved, with the original PDFs, in our UGC notices and lists archive. This page deliberately does not repeat that document-by-document record; it focuses on what the 2026 researcher should actually do.
What Exists Instead of a UGC CARE List in 2026
Four things now occupy the space the UGC-CARE list used to fill. Knowing which is which prevents most of the confusion circulating in 2026.
The Suggested Parameters
UGC's annexure of 35 parameters in 8 categories. This is the live, official yardstick for choosing peer-reviewed journals, and the core of this page.
The frozen reference list
The 1,474-journal list as on 10 February 2025, kept only for reference. It is not updated, cannot be joined, and UGC says it carries no endorsement.
Institutional committees
UGC suggests HEIs set up internal committees to apply and refine the parameters for their own disciplines. Your university's circular now matters more than any national list.
Global indexes, unchanged
Scopus, Web of Science, DOAJ and similar databases continue exactly as before. They were never UGC bodies, and journals still earn inclusion there on merit.
In 2026 the question "is this journal UGC CARE listed?" has no live answer. The questions that do have answers are: "does this journal meet UGC's suggested parameters?" and "can it prove that openly?"
The Suggested Parameters: Your 2026 Selection Yardstick
UGC's Suggestive Parameters for Peer-Reviewed Journals group 35 checkable items into eight categories. UGC describes them as suggestive, not mandatory — institutions may adapt them by discipline — but in practice they are the common denominator behind almost every university circular issued since mid-2025. Here is what each category asks of a journal, in plain terms.
| Category | What it checks | Quick self-test for a reader |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Preliminary criteria | Clear title, valid ISSN, regular periodicity, publisher contact details, stated peer-review policy, professional and secure website, open-access or fee policy, archiving arrangements. | Can you find the ISSN on the ISSN Portal and a named publisher with a working contact? |
| 2. Editorial board | Named board members with real affiliations and subject expertise; composition that matches the journal's scope. | Search two editors: do their institutional pages mention the journal role? |
| 3. Editorial policy | A described peer-review process, correction and retraction policy, authorship rules, and timelines that allow genuine review. | Is the review model (e.g. double-blind) and its typical duration stated? |
| 4. Content quality | Published articles that show rigour, originality and relevance to the stated scope. | Read two recent papers: are they coherent, referenced and within scope? |
| 5. Journal standards | Consistent formatting, article metadata, references, persistent identifiers such as DOIs, and issue regularity. | Do issues appear on schedule, with resolvable DOIs or stable links? |
| 6. Research ethics | Plagiarism screening, conflict-of-interest handling, and policies on misconduct — including disclosure rules for AI-generated content. | Is a similarity-check policy and an ethics statement published? |
| 7. Visibility | Presence in recognised databases, repositories and discovery services appropriate to the field. | Can you find the journal's articles via Google Scholar or an index? |
| 8. Impact | Citation behaviour in line with peer journals, including self-citation within a reasonable range. | Are impact claims explained and sourced rather than just asserted? |
Fake 2026 Lists, Clone Journals and Paid 'Inclusion' Offers
The end of the central list created a market for confusion, and 2026 searchers meet it head-on. These are the traps our editorial team sees most often, and each one is checkable in minutes.
- "Download UGC CARE list 2026 PDF" pages — there is no 2026 list; these files are relabelled 2025 data or pure fabrication, often wrapped in ads or malware.
- Paid "UGC-CARE inclusion" services — no person or agency can add a journal to a discontinued list, at any price.
- Certificates claiming a journal was "added to UGC CARE" in 2025 or 2026 — the listing closed to additions before then, so such certificates cannot be genuine.
- Clone journals — fake websites copying the title and ISSN of a once-listed journal. Always reach a journal through the publisher's own domain, not through a forwarded link.
- "UGC approved journal number" claims for journals founded after 2018 — those numbers belonged to the pre-CARE approved list, which closed years ago.
- Journals quoting a "UGC impact factor" — UGC has never issued impact factors.
Do
- Verify every ISSN at portal.issn.org.
- Read UGC notices only on ugc.gov.in or your university's circular.
- Keep screenshots and PDFs of what you verified, with dates.
Avoid
- Trusting any third-party "2026 list" without an official source.
- Paying anyone who promises UGC listing, approval numbers or guaranteed acceptance.
- Submitting through emailed links instead of the journal's own portal.
How to Verify Any Journal Yourself in 2026
Because no central list will do it for you, verification is now a personal skill — and a fast one once you have the routine. The flow below takes about twenty minutes per journal and maps directly onto UGC's parameter categories, so the evidence you gather is exactly what an institutional committee wants to see.
- ISSN checkConfirm the ISSN on the ISSN Portal and that the title and publisher match.
- Website readFind the peer-review policy, fees, licence, contact details and editorial board.
- Board samplingIndependently confirm two or three editors' affiliations.
- Content samplingRead two recent papers for scope fit, rigour and referencing.
- Discovery checkSearch the journal and its articles in Google Scholar and stated indexes.
- Record itSave dated screenshots and notes into your evidence file.
Where to Publish in 2026: Our Journal Network
After the verification method, the practical question: where can you actually submit in 2026? We recommend the three journals of our own network — not because a list says so, but because each one publishes its policies, fees, review process and identifiers openly, so you can run the checks above yourself before you submit a single page.
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.
A few verifiable facts about JMVRA, this site's journal: the Journal of Modern and Versatile Research Approach (online ISSN 2984-8911) has published monthly since June 2023 as a multidisciplinary, online-only journal of JMVRA Publication. The publication fee is ₹971 for Indian authors and US$41 for international authors, payable only after acceptance — nothing is charged to submit. Articles carry a CC BY 4.0 licence and Crossref DOIs under the prefix 10.56975, which is shared by the group's journals. 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).
Is JMVRA UGC Approved? Where We Stand in 2026
Authors ask this daily, so here is the full statement we stand behind:
JMVRA is a Transparent, Peer-Reviewed, Open Access Journal (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.
In 2026 no journal anywhere can hold a live UGC-CARE listing or a UGC journal number, because the lists that issued them no longer operate. What a journal can do — and what JMVRA does — is meet the parameters UGC now asks institutions to apply, and publish the evidence:
- Registered online ISSN 2984-8911, verifiable on the ISSN Portal.
- Named editorial board and a published double-blind peer-review process.
- Open fee policy: ₹971 / US$41, charged only after acceptance, with no hidden charges.
- Plagiarism screening before review, and clear ethics and correction policies.
- Monthly issues published on schedule since June 2023, with Crossref DOIs and CC BY 4.0 open access.
- Discoverable via Google Scholar, Crossref search and the discovery services listed on our indexing page.
Our UGC recognition page sets out this position in detail, and the discontinuation explainer covers the policy background. We never quote a UGC number for JMVRA and we never claim a CARE listing — any journal that does either in 2026 is misstating the facts.
Publishing Through 2026: JMVRA's Monthly Issue Rhythm
JMVRA publishes twelve issues a year, one per calendar month, which matters practically in 2026: you are never more than a few weeks from the next issue, and a paper accepted mid-month is scheduled into the current or following issue. As of mid-October 2026, the position for the rest of the year looks like this.
| 2026 issues | Status | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| January – September | Published | Nine monthly issues are already in the archive — browse them to judge scope, quality and regularity for yourself. |
| October | In progress | Papers submitted now enter review immediately; acceptance timing decides whether October or November is your issue. |
| November | Open for submissions | A realistic target for manuscripts submitted in October that complete review and revision smoothly. |
| December | Open for submissions | The last 2026 issue — the practical deadline for anyone who needs a "published in 2026" line this year. |
A typical submission moves through desk screening, similarity check, double-blind review, revision and decision; review quality is never compressed to hit a date. If your requirement is tied to a 2026 deadline — a PhD submission, an appraisal cycle — submit through the JMVRA submission portal as early in the quarter as you can, and say nothing of deadlines to reviewers: the schedule works by starting early, not by rushing review.
What Authors and PhD Scholars Should Do in 2026
For authors, the parameter era is actually good news: the rules are public, so you can protect yourself without waiting for anyone's list. The working method in 2026:
- Get your university's current circular on journal selection — many HEIs issued their own parameter-based rules during 2025 and 2026, and that document governs your submission, not a blog's claims.
- Build a shortlist of three to five verified journals per paper, using the six-step check above, before you format anything.
- Run a similarity check on your manuscript before submission — JWSCAN produces an iThenticate (by Turnitin) report with an overall similarity index and source-by-source detail, so you fix overlaps before an editor sees them.
- Keep an evidence file per publication: the journal's policy pages, your acceptance letter, reviewer correspondence, the DOI and the ISSN Portal record.
- Treat the frozen 1,474-journal reference list as history, not a filter — UGC itself says inclusion implies no endorsement, and journals listed there in February 2025 may have changed since.
What Journal Editors and Publishers Should Do Now
If you run a journal, 2026 rewards the boring virtues: published policies, regular issues, real review records and persistent identifiers. The parameters are effectively a public audit checklist, and the infrastructure to meet them is the hard part for a small editorial team. This is where the Journey & Wisdom services fit naturally.
Prove your process
JWJMS runs the submission portal, desk screening, reviewer invitations and reminders, revision rounds, decisions and issue building — with a full record of each step, which is exactly the documentation the editorial-policy parameters ask about.
Prove your ethics
JWSCAN screens every manuscript with iThenticate similarity detection before review, giving you the plagiarism-screening evidence the research-ethics parameters expect.
Prove your standards
JWDOI registers Crossref DOIs and deposits article metadata through a sponsored prefix, so even a new journal meets the persistent-identifier and metadata expectations without joining Crossref directly.
For anything beyond these documented capabilities, contact the team to discuss your requirement at [email protected] or WhatsApp +91 91063 65667.
Common 2026 Mistakes Around UGC Claims
Finally, the errors we see most in 2026 — from authors, institutions and journals alike. Each costs real time or credibility, and each is avoidable.
Authors and institutions
- Rejecting a sound journal solely because it is "not in CARE" — no journal is, any more.
- Accepting a 2026 "CARE certificate" at face value.
- Leaving journal selection until the thesis deadline month.
- Judging journals by fee alone, in either direction — a low fee is not proof of fraud, and a high fee is not proof of quality.
Journals
- Keeping "UGC CARE listed" badges on the website after February 2025.
- Quoting old UGC approval numbers that belonged to the pre-2018 list.
- Publishing impact claims with no stated source or method.
- Hiding fees until after acceptance correspondence begins.
The honest summary of the UGC CARE list 2026 question: the list is gone, the parameters are here, verification is yours to do, and journals that publish their evidence — as JMVRA, TIJER and JNRID do — are exactly the venues the new system was designed to reward. Submit early, verify everything, and keep your records.
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.orgSee every Journey & Wisdom product and platform · JW ecosystem map
How to choose and submit to a journal in 2026: step by step
Read your institution's current rule
Find the latest university or department circular on journal selection; since 2025 it is based on UGC's Suggested Parameters, not the CARE list.
Define what the paper needs
Note your deadline, subject area, budget and any indexing requirements before looking at any journal.
Build a shortlist of three to five journals
Start from transparent venues you can verify — our network journals JMVRA, TIJER and JNRID publish every policy openly.
Verify each ISSN
Look the number up on portal.issn.org and confirm the title and publisher match the website you are reading.
Check the journal against UGC's eight parameter categories
Use the table on this page: policies, board, ethics, standards, visibility and impact claims.
Run a similarity check on your manuscript
Screen it through JWSCAN (iThenticate by Turnitin) and revise any flagged overlap before submission.
Format to the journal's guidelines
Match the template, reference style and word limits exactly — mismatches are a leading desk-rejection cause.
Submit through the official portal
For JMVRA that is the submission page on jmvra.org; never submit via third-party agents or emailed links.
Respond to review promptly
Return revisions with a point-by-point reply; in a monthly cycle, fast author responses are what keep a 2026 publication date realistic.
Pay only after acceptance
A legitimate fee — JMVRA charges ₹971 (Indian) / US$41 (international) — is invoiced after the acceptance decision, never before.
Archive your evidence
Save the acceptance letter, review correspondence, DOI, licence page and ISSN record in one dated folder per paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a UGC CARE list for 2026?
No. UGC discontinued the UGC-CARE journal listing by public notice dated 11 February 2025, following a decision at its 584th meeting on 3 October 2024. No 2026 list exists or is planned. The final list of 1,474 journals, as on 10 February 2025, was published for reference only, and UGC states that inclusion or exclusion implies no endorsement.
Is JMVRA UGC approved?
Yes. After UGC discontinued the UGC and UGC-CARE journal lists, journals are now judged against UGC's Suggested Parameters for Choosing Peer-Reviewed Journals, and JMVRA is aligned with those parameters: registered ISSN 2984-8911, published double-blind peer review, open fee and ethics policies, monthly issues since June 2023, Crossref DOIs and CC BY 4.0 open access. No journal can hold a live UGC-CARE listing or UGC number in 2026, because those lists no longer operate.
Where can I download the UGC CARE list 2026 PDF?
Nowhere, because no such list exists. Sites offering a "2026 PDF" are redistributing the frozen February 2025 reference list under a misleading label, or an invented file. If you need the historical documents, use UGC's own website or our archive page of old lists and notices, which preserves the original PDFs with their real dates.
Are UGC CARE Group I and Group II still valid in 2026?
No. The Group I and Group II structure belonged to the UGC-CARE Reference List, which was discontinued in February 2025. In 2026 there are no live groups and no mechanism to join either one. Journals formerly in Group II were there because of indexing in databases such as Scopus — that indexing continues independently and can still be verified at the database itself.
Does a paper published in a formerly CARE-listed journal still count?
Papers published while the list was operational are generally assessed under the rules that applied at the time, but each university sets its own policy. For new submissions in 2026, most institutional circulars now apply UGC's Suggested Parameters instead. Check your institution's latest notification rather than relying on the journal's old listing status.
What replaced the UGC CARE list?
UGC's Suggestive Parameters for Peer-Reviewed Journals — 35 parameters in eight categories covering preliminaries (ISSN, periodicity, website), editorial board, editorial policy, content quality, journal standards, research ethics, visibility and impact. They were approved in June 2025 and notified to higher education institutions in July 2025. Institutions apply and adapt them through internal committees.
How do universities decide which journals count in 2026?
Through their own circulars and committees. UGC suggested that HEIs set up internal committees to apply the parameters according to their disciplines, and asked institutions for implementation feedback. In practice your supervisor, research cell or academic council now issues the governing rule — always obtain the current version before submitting.
How can I check whether a journal is genuine in 2026?
Verify the ISSN on portal.issn.org, read the peer-review and fee policies on the journal's own site, independently confirm two editorial board members' affiliations, read two recent articles, and search the journal in Google Scholar. Keep dated screenshots. If any step fails — unverifiable ISSN, anonymous board, hidden fees — reject the journal.
Can a journal apply to UGC CARE in 2026?
No. There is no application route, no evaluation queue and no list to join. Any agency offering paid UGC-CARE inclusion in 2026 is selling something that does not exist. What a journal can genuinely do is align with UGC's Suggested Parameters, publish the evidence, and pursue recognised indexes such as Scopus or DOAJ on merit.
Which journals can I publish in during 2026?
We recommend our own network: JMVRA (this journal, multidisciplinary, monthly, ISSN 2984-8911), TIJER (tijer.org) and JNRID (jnrid.org). All three publish their policies, fees and review processes openly so you can verify them against UGC's parameters yourself. For journals outside our network, apply the verification routine on this page before trusting any claim.
What does JMVRA charge, and when?
₹971 for Indian authors and US$41 for international authors, payable only after a paper is accepted through double-blind peer review. There is no submission fee and there are no hidden charges; the fee schedule is published on the publication-charges page. Acceptance is never guaranteed and is independent of payment.
How long does publication take in a monthly journal?
JMVRA publishes an issue every calendar month, so accepted papers are scheduled into the current or next issue. The overall time depends on peer review and how quickly you return revisions — typically a few weeks end to end, never a guaranteed date, because review is genuine. Submitting early in the month gives the smoothest path.
Is JMVRA indexed in Scopus or Web of Science?
No, and we do not claim otherwise. JMVRA's discoverability runs through Crossref DOIs, Google Scholar and the discovery services listed on our indexing page. Journals earn Scopus or Web of Science inclusion through those databases' own evaluation processes; be sceptical of any journal that claims such indexing without a verifiable database record.
What is JMVRA's impact factor?
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). We state this distinction wherever the figure appears, and UGC's impact parameters reward exactly this kind of sourced, explained metric over bare numbers.
Will UGC bring back a central journal list?
As of late 2026 there is no indication of that. UGC moved deliberately from central listing to institution-level judgement, notified the parameters in July 2025 and has been gathering implementation feedback since. Follow announcements on ugc.gov.in rather than rumours; any genuine change will arrive as a public notice there.
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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.