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Philosophy of National Law School of India Review

For more information, please see National Law School of India Review Aims and Scope page.

Who Can Submit?

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in National Law School of India Review provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

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Submission Guidelines

All contributions submitted to the NLSIR should be original, and should not have any plagiarised content.

By submitting contributions to NLSIR, the author(s) confirms that the manuscript is not being simultaneously considered for publication elsewhere (online or print).

Pieces with relevance to India or Indian law are particularly welcome. This, however, is not a prerequisite.

Submissions are accepted for the following categories:

Long Articles: Between 5,000 and 10,000 words. Papers in this category are expected to engage with the theme and literature comprehensively, and offer an innovative reassessment of the current understanding of that theme. It is advisable, though not necessary, to choose a theme that is of contemporary importance. Purely theoretical pieces are also welcome.

Essays: Between 3,000 and 5,000 words. Essays are more concise in scope. These papers usually deal with a very specific issue and argue that the issue must be conceptualised differently. They are expected to make an easily identifiable and concrete argument.

Case Notes and Legislative Comments: Between 1,500 and 2,500 words. Case Notes are expected to analyse any contemporary judicial pronouncement, or a new piece of legislation, whether in India or elsewhere. The Note must identify and examine the line of cases in which the decision in question came about, and comment on implications for the evolution of that branch of law. In case of Legislative Comment, the Note must analyse the objective of the legislation, and the expected legal impact.

Book Reviews: Between 2,000 to 3,000 words.

The journal is flexible regarding the word count depending on the quality of the submission. All word limits are exclusive of footnotes.

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Formatting Guidelines

The body of the manuscript should be in Times New Roman, font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing. The footnotes should be in Times New Roman, font size 10 with single line spacing.

The manuscript should contain only footnotes (and not endnotes) as a method of citation. Citations must conform to OSCOLA (Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities) (4th) style of citation.

Authors are required to adhere to the NLSIR Style Guide which can be found here.

Authors are required to adhere to the NLSIR Style Guide which can be found href="/styleguide.html">here

Submission Procedure

Submissions may be emailed to mail.nlsir@gmail.com under the subject “33(1) NLSIR – Submission”. All submissions must contain the following:

The manuscript in a .doc or .docx format. The manuscript should not contain the name of the author, their institutional affiliations, or any other identification markers. The title of the manuscript should indicate the sub-theme that the author(s) have chosen.

A separate cover letter in a .doc or .docx format, containing the Name of the author, Professional Information, Title of the manuscript, and Contact information.

An abstract of not more than 150 words.

General Information

The deadline for submissions is October 30th, 11.59 PM.

Co-authoring of papers among individuals of the same or different institutions is permissible, for a maximum of three authors.

Upon submission, every manuscript will undergo two internal reviews by the Board of Editors. If approved in both the rounds, it is subject to a double-blind peer review process.

We hope to update authors on the submission within 4 weeks of their submission.

Contact

For more information, please visit www.nlsir.com. For queries, write to us at mail.nlsir@gmail.com. You can subscribe to NLSIR here.

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Editorial Review Process

Upon the receipt of a submission, the Editor-in-Chief undertakes a preliminary review of the submission. This involves a formal examination of the submission to ensure that the identity of the author is not on the manuscript and to check length, as well as situations where the submission is self-evidently unsuitable. This stage is normally complete within a week of the submission.

The anonymized manuscript is then assigned to an Editor on the board to assess the manuscript on the following criteria:

Language, Grammar and Sentence Construction

Identification of Relevant Issues

Depth of Research

Clarity of Argument

Originality and Innovation

We endeavor to complete the evaluation on the above metrics within 3 weeks of the submission.

If the Manuscript is found suitable by the Editor on the above metrics, it is recommended by the Editor for a second round of review. The first Editor cannot approve the manuscript, in any case and can only recommend a second round of review. However, if it is not found suitable, the editor can reject the submission at this stage.

Upon the recommendation for the second round of review, the anonymized manuscript is then assigned to a different Editor on the board to assess the manuscript on the same criteria as mentioned in 2(a)-2(f).

If the manuscript is found suitable in the second round of review, the manuscript is then recommended for a peer review. Please note that a finding on the suitability of the manuscript in the second round is not a confirmation for publication. The second editor merely recommends the manuscript for a peer review. However, the second editor can also reject the manuscript at this stage – notwithstanding the first round of review. We endeavor to complete the evaluation on the above metrics within 5 weeks of the submission.

Upon receiving a recommendation for peer review, the manuscript is then subjected to a double-blind peer review. The Peer reviewers offer independent and expert advice on the manuscript. Only upon receiving an acceptance from the peer, the publication of the manuscript is confirmed.

Please note that the peer can recommend a rejection of the manuscript at this stage, as well. The Editorial Board reserves the discretion to follow the peer reviewer’s recommendation. Please read our Peer Review Policy for more details. This stage can take up to a month as it can be difficult to locate suitable reviewers who are willing to act.

An article approved by the peer reviewer is approved for publication. The Editorial Board then subjects the article to Line Editing in order to ensure that the final manuscripts follow the NLSIR Style Guide. The changes made at this stage by the Line Editors are presented to the author for their approval.

Upon receiving their consent, the article is processed for publication in the upcoming issue of the NLSIR.

Copyright Policy

Authors contributing to IJLT retain the copyright in their articles but agree to publish them under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 4.0) License. The terms of this license permit third parties to freely copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to adapt, transform, and build upon the material for non-commercial purposes.

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