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CORRESPONDENCE
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 99, NO. 7, 10 OCTOBER 2010
862
pattern of citations varied from journal to
journal, as shown in Table 1. A majority
of these papers were cited between 1 and
5 times and only about 3% papers were
cited six or more times. The proportion
of cited domestic and foreign papers was
almost the same (38% and 40%). How-
ever, collaborative papers had higher
citations than domestic and foreign
papers (55%).
Possible reasons for fewer citations of
Indian science periodicals may be either
due to the low prestige of the journal or
the relative irrelevance of the work,
which was not connected to mainstream
science. Another possibility might be
that the work being published in these
journals is getting cited in domestic jour-
nals which are not indexed by SCIE. In
addition, other factors responsible for
poor citations might be the poor circula-
tion, low frequency of publication and
non-availability of these journals in the
Open Access mode. However, Open
Access, full-text information systems are
rapidly being developed in India. In
order to enhance the visibility and cita-
tions of Indian science journals, journal
editors need to create conducive condi-
tions to attract quality papers from India
and abroad. Also, there is a need to
constitute editorial boards which are inter-
national in character and to appoint pro-
fessional marketing agencies to increase
the circulation of the journals. All these
will help in enhancing the citations of
Indian science journals.
1. Monge-Najera, J. and Nielsen, V., Rev.
Biol. Trop., 2005, 53, 283–294.
2. Braun, T., Glänzel, W. and Schubert, A., In
The Web of Knowledge: A Festschrift in
Honour of Eugene Garfield (eds Cronin, B.
and Atkins, H. B.), Information Today,
Medford, NJ, 2000, pp. 251–277.
3. Maruši, M. and Maruši, A., Acta Med.
Croatica, 2005, 59, 285–296.
4. Garfield, E., Citation Indexing – Its Theory
and Application in Science, Technology
and Humanities, John Wiley, New York,
1979.
5. Ugolini, D. and Casilli, C., Scientometrics,
2003, 56(3), 345–355.
K. C. GARG*
S. KUMAR
National Institute of Science,
Technology and Development Studies
(CSIR),
Pusa Gate, Dr K. S. Krishnan Road,
New Delhi 110 012, India
*e-mail: gargkc@nistads.res.in
Kannimara teak: an extant forest genetic resource
The Kannimara teak is the largest teak
tree (48.5 m height, 6.57 m girth) in the
country, aged about 450–500 years. It is
a precious asset standing in the Parambi-
kulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala
(10°23′00″N, 76°42′30″E; Figure 1). The
tree is healthy, it flowers and fruits an-
nually and the seeds develop into viable
seedlings. During the colonial era such
giant teak trees were selectively har-
vested for ship-building. By the late 18th
century most teak genetic resources got
depleted in the wild and man-made plan-
tations were initiated. Trees akin to Kan-
nimara teak are still found as museum
exhibits in different parts of our country.
Incidentally, the Gass Forest Museum
(GFM) at Coimbatore, the oldest museum
in the country, has a tree cross-section
harvested during 1904. It is interesting to
trace how Kannimara teak escaped the
selective harvest forest management
practice of the British Raj. Historically,
the tree belongs to Kongu Nadu (presently
Coimbatore region) that worshipped the
‘Saptha Kanniayar’ (the seven virgin
guardian angels). This practice is still
prevalent among the people of Coimba-
tore region and its neighbouring districts.
During the British era, forest-dwellers of
Parambikulam believed that the Kanni-
mara teak was an abode of the seven
angels. This sentiment was respected by
the then rulers and the tree became
extant. Perhaps in terms of forest genet-
ics it is still a resource of many founder
alleles related to productivity and various
other characteristics. The Government of
India recognized the tree with ‘Mahvrik-
sha Puraskar’ (Great Tree) award in
1994. The United Nations is making
preparations to celebrate the year 2011 as
the ‘International Year of Forests’
(www.un.org). This reminds us that it is
time for us also to appreciate our pre-
cious forest resources.
B. NAGARAJAN*
DESHA MEENA
SARVESH SINGH
A. DANIEL
D. JESUBALAN
Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree
Breeding,
Coimbatore 641 002, India
*e-mail: nagarajan@icfre.org
Figure 1. a, View of the Kannimara teak. b, Volunteers measuring the girth of the tree.