In an exciting move for open-access advocates, India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) unveiled the country’s new open-access research policy in December 2014.

According to the new policy, Indian researchers working under DST or DBT grants may publish in the journals of their choice.

Then they will have to deposit their papers in institutional repositories within two weeks of acceptance by a journal.

While Indian scientists are encouraged to publish in high-impact, high-quality journals, the policy states that impact factor will not be considered a useful barometer of scientific accomplishment.

"[These departments] affirm the principle that the intrinsic merit of the work, and not the title of the journal in which an author’s work is published, should be considered in making future funding decisions," the policy notes.

"DBT and DST do not recommend the use of journal impact factors either as a surrogate measure of the quality of individual research articles, to assess an individual scientist’s contributions, or in hiring, promotion, or funding decisions."

By maximising the distribution of these publications through free online access, the Indian government hopes that the most important research developments will filter into higher education, explains Subhra Priyadarshini of Nature India.

This policy demonstrates India's commitment to open access research and scientific education.

Read the open-access policy document here.

ecancermedicalscience is an open-access journal.