Submission Guidelines

NOTE: The NLS Blog highlights the work of the university’s faculty and research staff. Submissions are accepted only from members of the current NLSIU community via the designated email ID. At present, while we extend invitations to visiting scholars and guests on campus to write for the blog, we do not accept unsolicited submissions from external authors. You may instead reach out to any of the other five blog platforms on the NLS Forum website. If you do not hear back from us, please assume that your article did not meet our submission guidelines.

Scope

We welcome submissions under the following categories:

  • Original research: pieces based on recently concluded or ongoing research, preferably focused on primary material
  • Commentary: case comments, comments on new legislations and policy developments
  • Reviews: analytical responses to books, articles, and other relevant publications
  • Short pieces based on longer research articles, seminars, or presentations
  • Interviews with scholars and practitioners across legal studies and allied interdisciplinary field

We do not accept opinion pieces, how-to pieces, and explainers. 

Length and Format

  • Submissions must be between 800 and 1,200 words. We may consider publishing longer pieces in parts.
  • All sources must be hyperlinked in the body of the text. For offline references, please use endnotes.
  • All submissions must be accompanied by:
    • An author bio (3–4 lines) and social media handles
    • A short summary of the submission (1–2 lines), along with 3–4 keywords

Writing Style

The NLS Blog is committed to producing and curating knowledge that is useful and accessible. Towards this end, we encourage clear and concise writing that is aimed at scholarly as well as non-specialist audiences.

Submit Your Work

To submit your article, please write to editor@nls.ac.in with the subject line
‘The NLS Blog: <Article Title>’.

All submissions must be sent as Word documents.

AI Policy | 07.07.2026

This policy will be updated as needed to respond to the dynamic nature of generative AI and its
interactions with research and writing.

A. AUTHORS
We review each article to assess whether it is original, rigorously researched, and retains the human authorial voice. Any use of AI should not undermine these standards and must be limited to a minor, assistive role.

Below is an illustrative guide on what we see as permissible or not when it comes to AI use. This
guide applies to all stages of a manuscript.

AI tools may be used only in a limited, assistive capacity to:
● Correct grammar, spelling, or punctuation.
● Make minor language improvements.
● Format citations.
● Support preliminary and exploratory searches (only akin to a search engine).
● For research, AI must be used only in an assistive capacity; substantive analysis must be
author-led.

All AI-assisted outputs must be carefully reviewed by the author, who remains responsible for
the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the work.

AI tools must not be used to:
● Rewrite any part of the article.
● Generate any part of the article.
● Generate or shape research questions, hypotheses, or arguments.
● Convert the author’s notes into an article.
● Synthesise or produce literature review.
● Add citations to the article not actually reviewed by the author.

This list is not exhaustive.

Disclosure Statement
Authors must include an AI disclosure statement as the first page of the article submitted. The
review process will not begin without the statement. The disclosure statement must (i)
identify any AI tools used (including those that are AI-assisted, like Grammarly) in research,
writing, and editing; (ii) specify in detail what AI was used for; and (iii) confirm that all AI-
assisted outputs were reviewed and revised by the author.

The blog reserves the right to decide on publication based on whether the disclosed AI usage
meets its academic publication standards. Disclosure statements will also be shared with peer
reviewers.

AI disclosure statements will be requested from all authors, irrespective of the stage of the
manuscript.

False AI statements will be considered violative of academic ethics and will result in immediate
disqualification of the article.

A Note on Editorial Support
We review manuscripts to primarily assess the originality and rigour of the argument. The
Editorial Board, with the Faculty Board’s advice, will guide the author through the peer reviewer
recommendations and revisions. They will also assist with structural editing, language editing,
and proofreading to publish the best possible version of the manuscript.

B. EDITORS AND PEER REVIEWERS

Editors and peer reviewers must not upload any part of an unpublished manuscript to an AI
tool/software.

Peer reviewers are required to sign a declaration that the review was written entirely by the
reviewer and no part of the manuscript was uploaded to or processed by any AI tool.

Editors and peer reviewers may use AI tools to:
● Do exploratory searches to look for secondary material to understand a concept or field
(only akin to a search engine).
● Seek assistance on matters related to grammar, vocabulary, or syntax without uploading
any part of a manuscript to an AI platform.
All outputs must be reviewed and verified by editors/peer reviewers.
Editors and peer reviewers shall not use AI tools to:
● Outsource editorial judgement
● Generate peer reviews/editorial reports