For the first time, penalties are being formally stitched into the ranking methodology, signalling a tougher stance on research malpractice and misrepresentation of data. The negative marking system will soon be declared.This year, the framework docked some marks from an institute’s overall score if published papers were retracted by academic journals. And hence, such instances need to be doubly punished with harsher negative marks,” said professor Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman of the ranking committee. By extending penalties to citations, he explained, govt is signalling zero tolerance towards dishonesty in academic output.The revised rules will also push institutions to institute stronger internal checks. Universities need to invest in ethics training, plagiarism detection systems & transparent review mechanisms, lest a single tainted citation pull down their standing, said Sahasrabudhe.