Publishing is becoming increasingly difficult for Indian scientists

 
The two main causes:
 
1. The open-access trend.
 
While the number of journals is increasing due to the widespread use of the internet, the number of journals accessible to Indian scientists is actually decreasing at a rapid rate due to the trend of publishing in open-access journals.
 
A few days back I asked my student to submit our manuscript to the Journal of Flood Risk Management. "It is an open-access journal," he said. I then figured out that the journal switched to open access in 2020. EGU journals have always been out of reach for us, and now all AGU journals have also taken the open-access route this year.
 
In case you are wondering why open access is a challenge for Indian researchers: Indian funding agencies do not provide funds for publication fees (nor should they, in my opinion).
 
2. Unlimited power of editors for desk rejection.
 
Editors are not required to provide any justification for desk rejections, as high rejection rates are often a bragging point for journals. Indian scientists are particularly disadvantaged, as the number of Indians on editorial boards is proportionally very low. Worse, an Indian editor may not necessarily be sympathetic to an Indian author, as we lack a strong culture of cooperation.
 
What could be an effective solution?
 
Indian scientists should come together to establish their own journals, as it is difficult to find a single Indian journal in many subject areas. For example, there is no credible journal on hydrological sciences from India. Moreover, publishing in an Indian journal is often viewed negatively within India itself.
 
Indian funding agencies have the power to change this trend by making it mandatory to publish in Indian journals. In this age of the internet, the location of the journal’s office should not matter.