Teachers eligibility qualifications 2024 by the National Medical Commission: What is new in publication criteria?

What is new in publication criteria?The teachers eligibility qualifications (TEQ) in medical education have undergone major changes over the years, reflecting the dynamic regulatory landscape in India.Since its inception in 2009, these guidelines have been revised 6 times. 1 The National Medical Commission (NMC) has carried out the seventh revision to add another curve in this regulatory roller coaster.While these revisions aim to improve the quality of medical education and research, frequent changes create uncertainty and adaptation challenges for medical faculty.It is undeniable that publications require time, 2,3 and if the criteria change suddenly without a relaxation period, it may complicate matters.For example, authors may submit a manuscript expecting that the first to third and corresponding authors would get credit for the publication during promotions, but if the criteria change and the corresponding author is no longer eligible for credit, one person would suffer.Hence, stakeholders should make policy with a vision for the future and enable educators and researchers to focus on meaningful contributions to medical science without the constant need to recalibrate to new regulations.The recently published TEQ [now known as Medical Institutions (Qualifications of Faculty) Regulations, 2025] by the NMC introduces an important change regarding research publication credit.4 While the required number of publications remains unchanged (Fig. 1), the new guidelines specify that only the first three authors of a paper will be eligible for credit, excluding the corresponding author from consideration.This marks a departure from the previous framework, where all authors received equal credit, fostering a collaborative research environment.The exclusion of the corresponding author is particularly concerning, as they often play a critical role in conceptualizing, supervising, finalizing the research work, and handling the manuscript till publication.We remain hopeful that these guidelines will undergo further refinement to address these concerns and create a more inclusive framework.By recognizing the contributions of all authors and fostering collaborative research, future revisions can better align with the principles of fairness and academic growth.5 We suggest that the NMC revert to recognizing the contributions of all authors for the reasons mentioned above.