Publishing a Research Paper as an IITM BS Student: Affiliation Rules

You can list "IIT Madras" or "IIT Madras BS Degree" as your affiliation in a research paper only in one case. The work must have been guided by a faculty member or instructor who is officially associated with the institute. If you did the work on your own, publish it in your personal capacity, with no IIT Madras affiliation. Using the name without permission can lead to disciplinary action, up to cancellation of your registration.

The two rules

Rule 1: Affiliation needs official faculty guidance

An affiliation is the institution printed under your name on a paper. The Data Science handbook allows you to use IIT Madras, or IIT Madras BS Degree, only when an official faculty member or instructor of the institute guided the work. Both conditions matter. The person must guide the research, and they must be officially associated with IIT Madras.

Rule 2: Independent work goes under your own name

If you wrote the paper without any faculty involvement, you publish it in your personal capacity. Do not cite IIT Madras or IIT Madras BS Degree as your affiliation, even though you are a student there.

What happens if you break the rule

The handbook treats any unauthorised use of the institute's name in a publication as a violation. The disciplinary action can be as severe as cancellation of your registration. See non-academic rules for the other conduct rules in the programme.

Quick check before you submit

The last row is not covered by the handbook. Doing a course is not the same as working under a faculty member's guidance on the paper, so ask first.

Approvals: what the handbook says and does not say

The handbook does not describe an approval form or a sign-off process. The only condition it states is guidance by an official faculty member or instructor. In practice:

• If a faculty member guided you, agree with them in writing on how the affiliation line should read.
• If you are unsure whether your case counts, raise a support ticket before you submit, not after.
• Keep a record of the guidance, such as emails, in case questions come up later.

Why this matters for higher studies

The handbook describes the MS at IIT Madras as research-based. If you are thinking about that path, see routes from the IITM BS to an MS, MTech or PhD. Keep your record clean too: any disciplinary violation rules you out of the Certificate of Merit and Certificate of Academic Distinction. See IITM BS prizes.

Common questions

Can I mention in my author bio that I study in the IITM BS programme?

The handbook rule is about the affiliation in a research publication. It does not talk about author bios or other mentions. To stay safe, ask the support team before you use the institute's name anywhere in the paper.

Does this apply to preprints?

The handbook does not name preprints. Its rule covers any research publication, so the safe choice is to treat a preprint the same way.

My guide is a professor at another university. Can I list IIT Madras?

No. The guide has to be a faculty member or instructor officially associated with IIT Madras. Without that, the handbook's rule for you is to publish in your personal capacity.

Is there a similar rule in the Electronic Systems handbook?

The Electronic Systems handbook has no such section. The rule is written in the Data Science handbook. Since the penalty for misusing the institute's name is serious, ES students should confirm with support before they publish.