Research Capacity-Building Practices in Indian Higher Education Institutions: A Document-Based Content Analysis
Author : Prema Parikh, Dr. Anupama Chirag Dave
Abstract : Purpose: This study aims to identify research capacity building practices adopted by top ten research scored Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Design/Methodology/Approach: Top performing research institutions were identified using research-specific metrics from prominent ranking and accreditation frameworks, including the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). From this pool, a purposive sample of ten HEIs was selected based on the public availability of both their research policy and research promotion guidelines, ensuring each institution is represented across one or more evaluative frameworks. This selection yielded a total of 20 institutional policy documents for analysis. Adopting an exploratory qualitative research design, a deductive codebook comprising six major themes and twenty sub-themes was developed to guide the investigation. NVivo 15 was utilized to execute systematic content analysis, enabling the coding and extraction of critical themes from the documentation. Findings: Institutional Support was the major theme followed by Leadership & Research Management and Research Environment & Culture across all documents of the 10 sampled HEIs. Within each sub-themes Financial support, Incentives & Recognition, Research Planning & Governance and Industry collaboration emerged as both widely adopted and heavily elaborated parameters, while practices like Senior mentoring, Research supervision, Academic networking were comparatively rare and thinly described. Originality/Value: The study offers a novel, document-based diagnostic framework distinguishing various parameters related to research capacity-building practices across institutional categories, providing HEIs, academic leaders and policymakers an empirically grounded benchmark for strengthening research governance, mentorship, and collaboration.
Keywords : Accreditation and Ranking Frameworks, Higher Education Institutions, Institutional Support, Research Capacity Building, Research Policy.
Conference Name : International Conference on Trends and Future Directions in Education Policy (ICTFDEP - 26)
Conference Place : Mumbai, India
Conference Date : 12th Sep 2026
