Publication Parameters for Medical Faculty Promotions: A Survey on the Medical Council of India Amendment 2019 with Review of Literature

Objective The aim of this study was to gather the opinion of medical practitioners in India regarding the modifications in the recently released MCI (Medical Council of India) circular for faculty promotion criteria across medical colleges in the country and their suggestions for further changes. Materials and Methods An 11-set validated online questionnaire was circulated among medical practitioners across various medical colleges in the country, open for a period of 8 days between 5 to 12 June, 2020. The participants in this online survey were asked to rank the order of authors and types of manuscripts on a scale of 0 to 1 with increments of 0.1 and were also asked for an opinion regarding indexing, inclusion of impact factor of the journal, and citation indices. Results There were 182 respondents included in the survey, belonging to 12 different states. Majority of the doctors participating in the survey were professors (37.3%, 68/182). About 81.3% (148/182) doctors were aware of the latest MCI guidelines. Opinion for adding citations to the promotion criteria was expressed by 59.3% (108/182). There was a general suggestion to include number of citations, and Google Scholar as citation service. A scoring table was proposed based on the responses, to rank various publications. Conclusion As per the survey, more than 80% of the medical practitioners were aware of the recent update by MCI for faculty promotion. The participants expressed that the exiting guidelines may be further modified by the inclusion of all authors and all types of manuscripts into the criteria, based on a graded score system.