DNLU Student Law Journal-Online Is Inviting Submissions On A Rolling Basis

Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur was established in 2018. The University is established for the advancement of learning, teaching, research, and diffusion of knowledge in the field of law.

The DNLU Student Law Journal (DNLU SLJ) is a flagship journal of Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur, established with the objective of promoting academic research and fostering debate on contemporary legal issues. It is an annual, double-blind student-reviewed, and edited journal, focusing on an interdisciplinary approach towards legal writing. DNLU SLJ as a journal sparks the expression of thoughts and incentivises students through a healthy platform for representation. The journal provides opportunities for young brilliant minds to explore varied fields of law and its scope is sufficiently broad to encompass domestic and international legal and policy-related concerns and is not limited to any one area of law. The journal has the Hon'ble Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court as 'Patron-in-chief' and Hon'ble Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Kumar Sinha as Patron.

The DNLU Student Law Journal-Online is inviting submissions on a rolling basis.

DNLU-SLJ (Online) Guidelines

Please refer to the below guidelines

DNLU-SLJ was conceived for serious academic deliberation and to disseminate information to the interested audience. DNLU-SLJ has reacted to the growing need for immediate reactions to contemporary legal developments by launching DNLU-SLJ (Online).

Editorial Policy

• Ethics Policy

The editorial team is committed to a strict ethics policy to protect the integrity of the editorial process. The DNLU Student Law Journal prioritizes transparency and commits to diversifying its editorial board and eliminating any remote chances of unconscious bias. Editors ensure a purely objective evaluation of the submissions received during all stages of the review process.

• Exclusive submission policy

The journal will accept only exclusive submissions. Submissions that are with another journal or publication for consideration shall not be considered and the submission will be deemed rejected. The Exclusive Submission Policy has to be followed strictly and any revelation of its non-compliance will result in an automatic rejection.

• Copyright policy and fair use

The author is vested with all moral rights and will be given due credit for the respective publication. The author is allowed to republish the submission wherever applicable, owing to the condition that proper attribution and acknowledgement of the first publication is to be provided.

• Copyrights with the DNLU-SLJ

The Journal shall retain all the copyrights arising out of the publication. It shall retain non-exclusive rights to edit, publish, reproduce, distribute, and translate the published work. The Journal will have the right to make available the publication in whatever media or form it wants to.

• Open Access Policy

The Journal aims to incorporate diverse themes and issues for submissions. The Open Access Policy is followed by the Journal. All articles published on the forum would be freely accessible on the website, without any subscription fee or time limit. 

Review Process

• Technical Review

The DNLU-SLJ (Online) follows a comprehensive peer review process for the submissions received. Stage I shall be of technical review, i.e. a preliminary review of the manuscript, including basic plagiarism scrutiny and paraphrasing check. A manuscript with plagiarism exceeding the prescribed limit shall be rejected at the preliminary stage. This stage shall be completed within 48-72 hours and any intimation regarding rejection or further process of the manuscript shall be done within these three days.

• Content Review

The manuscripts will undergo a meticulous content review in the second stage of the review process. The Board shall attempt to complete this stage within the next 14 days. The Editors shall review the article on various parameters, such as structure and relevance, language and logical coherence, grammar, articulation, factual accuracy, citation style, and contribution to the existing literature. Factors like adherence to the proposed theme and the word limit, the originality of the idea, and the quality of the content shall be evaluated.

Any rejection shall be accompanied by proper reasons by the Board. And the final acceptance or rejection of the piece will be relayed forthwith to the respective authors. Authors shall be duly given reasons for rejection at this stage

Final Submission

If any changes are required at any stage of the review process, the Board shall forthwith communicate the same to the corresponding author via mail. The authors are expected to duly comply with all the changes suggested by the Editorial Board and make the respective amends prior to their final submission. Authors may have discretion on the same, but not without a prior discussion with the board. The changes, minor or substantial, will have to be made within the assigned deadline, failing which shall result in a first warning and subsequent failure to meet the deadline shall result in an automatic rejection.

Final discretion of the board

The final decision regarding the submission, its acceptance or rejection or any editorial or subjective or any other required changes in the accepted submission, shall rest solely on the discretion of the Board of Editors and compliance to the same is expected. Though the Board of Editors shall always endeavour to work efficiently, they encourage you to contact them if you have not heard from them within two weeks. All efforts shall be duly undertaken to have constant communication with the corresponding author at every stage of the review process.

Withdrawal policy

If any author wants to withdraw their work from the consideration stage, they may do the same within 10 days of the submission, after which they shall not have any say in the same until rejection is conveyed to them. If a withdrawal is made, after the 10-day period, a genuine reason must be given for the withdrawal, the failure of which can result in the temporary blacklisting of the author.

Submission Guidelines

They invite submissions on a rolling basis throughout the calendar year from members of the bar, legal professionals, law students, or others who are interested in publishing with them and wish to further legal discourse. Authors are expected to adhere to the following submission guidelines:

• The DNLU-SLJ (Online) only accepts submissions electronically in MS Word (.doc/.docx) format. Submissions must be uploaded to the submission form attached below.
• Original submissions are invited from undergraduate and graduate students, research scholars, academicians and practitioners. Submissions may be co-authored by a maximum of two authors.
• Their policies on academic writing reflect their commitment to academic integrity and fairness. The use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process is prohibited due to concerns about the authenticity and originality of submitted work.
• DNLU-SLJ(Online) follows a zero-tolerance towards plagiarism. Adherence must be given to the University Grant Commission (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018. In case of non-compliance with the UGC's policy, the articles will be rejected.
• The submissions must be in the following categories: 

1) Response to articles in the print or previous articles published in DNLU-SLJ (Online).

2) Articles on contemporary issues and legal developments.

3) Book Reviews.

4) Case Comments.

5) Comments on legislation and policies.

• The word limit for the submission is 1000-2500 words, exclusive of the abstract and endnotes.
• All submissions must be accompanied by an abstract not exceeding 200 words.
• The main body of the manuscript should be in Times New Roman, Font Size of 12, with 1.5 line spacing and Justified alignment.
• Submissions made for the Online format are encouraged to have hyperlinks. However, in the absence of hyperlinks, the author(s) must use endnotes.
• All Endnotes must conform to the 4th Edition of OSCOLA rules of citation and must be in Times New Roman font, with Font Size 10 and line spacing of 1.0.
• For OSCOLA rules of citation please follow the link – OSCOLA RULES OF CITATION
• The body of the manuscript should not contain any personal details of the author for the purpose of anonymity.
• The manuscript must be original and unpublished work and must not be under simultaneous consideration for publication elsewhere.
• Copyright of all submissions selected for publication shall vest with DNLU.

How to Submit?

All the submissions are to be made only through the form available on the website.

Contact Information

Incase of any queries, please contact dnluslj@mpdnlu.ac.in