June 25,Vol.23, No.3 | ISSN : 0972-8945 (Print) 3048-6165 (Online) SIJSS SOUTH INDIA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Academy of Social Sciences | www.sijss.com 119 UN Sustainable Development Goals Research: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis of Top NIRF-Ranked Universities Simya K * Research Scholar,Department of Studies & Research in Library and Information Science, Tumkur University, Tumakuru, India Rupesh Kumar .A Associate Professor,Department of Studies & Research in Library and Information Science, Tumkur University, Tumakuru, India Sandra M K* Research Scholar,Department of Studies & Research in Library and Information Science, Tumkur University, Tumakuru, India *Corresponding Author Email: sandramk@tumkuruniversity.ac.in Abstract: United NationsSustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to achieve socially equitable, financially successful and nature friendly world. Being the hub of knowledge creation and dissemination, academic institutes play a crucial role in promoting SDGs through research. Hence the present study analysed the productivity and impact of UN SDG research output of top ten NIRF-ranked universities. Bibliometric data of 51455 SDG publications produced by the top ten NIRF ranked universities for the period 2016-2024 was exported using the pre-defined SDG queries from the Scopus database. The study revealed a steady growth of institutional contribution on SDG research indicating the researchers’ meticulous involvement in implementing SDG. Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) produced highest number of SDG publications (8559) while Banaras Hindu University (BHU) accrued highest citations (200240). The non open access publications(32787)outnumbered their open access (OA) counterparts (18668). On the contrary, citation analysis highlighted that open access SDG publications received higher citations than non-open access publications, emphasizing the role of OA publishing in enhancing research visibility and impact. All the ten universities preferred articles as the major channel for disseminating their scholarly outputs. We recommend that universities should encourage researchers to contribute more SDG publications through open access channels to achieve the goals within the stipulated time. Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals,NIRF Universities, Bibliometric Analysis, Research Evaluation, Institutional Productivity INTRODUCTION To ensure the sustainable development of the planet United Nations introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals on 1st of January 2016 which is to be accomplished within (SDGs) the year 2030. Excess utilization of natural resources and unsustainable practices caused serious socio-economic environmental problems around the globe. SDGs addresses the challenges such as “poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice”, to build prosperity and promote socio economic and environmental development of the world. All sectors of the society including higher educational institutions play a major role in achieving these sustainable development goals. Growth and improvement in United Nations Sustainable development goals needs national and international research initiatives and cooperation (Sweileh, 2020). Research on sustainable development goals are gaining popularity over the years and currently institutions are more focused on SDG research practices. Higher educational institutions especially universities play a key role in transforming the traditional society to a knowledge driven society, so that the institutions all over the world are striving to contribute towards UN sustainable development goals. International ranking system like Times Higher Education and QS ranking provide separate framework to rank institutions that outshine in SDG research. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is an initiative by Ministry of Education, Government of India to rank higher education institutions in the country. NIRF also prioritized research and publications on UN Sustainable Development Goals by providing a separate score in the ranking (National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), 2024). Present study emphasizes on evaluating the productivity of UN SDG research output of top NIRF universities in terms of publication and citation analysis. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Academic research plays a key role in formulating new knowledge (Berggren & Bjørnskov, 2022) and academic excellence of an institution correlates with the scholarly output. Institutional research productivity evaluation has attracted the attention of researchers, particularly engaged in bibliometric studies. Academic Institutions all over the world are actively involved in creating publications addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (Purnell, 2022). International ranking system