Peer Review Policy

Every paper published in the International Journal on Legal Development and Practice (IJLDP) is peer-reviewed by an expert in that particular field of law. The peer-review process ensures that the paper matches up to the highest standards of legal writing. Through this process, the peer reviewer also assesses the factual and legal consistency of the paper.

1. Peer Review Process Overview:

Each paper submitted to the International Journal on Legal Development and Practice (IJLDP) undergoes a rigorous peer review process. The selection of peer reviewers depends on the paper's subject matter, and these experts in the field of law evaluate the paper for quality and accuracy. They may suggest acceptance with or without changes or recommend rejection. The editors convey the reviewer's decision and feedback to the author. Authors are given the opportunity to make the suggested changes. The paper may go through multiple rounds of editing at the editor's discretion. If the editors are satisfied with the revisions, the paper is accepted for publication, and authors are informed of this decision.

2.Type of Peer Review:

IJLDP employs a double-blind peer review system, ensuring that the author's identity remains confidential to the reviewers, and authors are not aware of the reviewers' identities.

3. Handling Queries About Reviewer Comments:

IJLDP editors act as intermediaries between authors and peer reviewers. Authors can relay questions about reviewer comments to the editors, who will then communicate with the reviewers and provide responses to the authors.

4. Number of Peer Reviewers:

Typically, two peer reviewers evaluate each paper. However, additional rounds of review may be conducted if the initial reviewer suggests further review.

5. Review Metrics:

Reviewers are encouraged to consider specific criteria when evaluating papers, including identifying issues, the depth of research, analyses and interpretations, clarity of arguments, originality, contributions to legal understanding, engagement with existing literature, use of current references, and the paper's structure and organization. Reviewers may recommend acceptance, suggest major or minor changes, or propose rejection, and the editors make the final decision.

6. Review Timeline:

IJLDP aims to provide authors with peer reviewer comments within two months of submission, although this timeline may be extended due to reviewer delays or additional review rounds. Regular updates on the paper's status are given, and the final decision on acceptance or rejection is contingent on the successful incorporation of reviewer comments.

7. Peer Reviewer Feedback:

Even when recommending rejection, peer reviewers are expected to provide constructive feedback explaining the reasons for rejection and identifying the paper's shortcomings.

Publication Ethics Policy

The International Journal on Legal Development and Practice (‘Journal’) is a double-blind peer-reviewed, academic journal. The quality and integrity of the works published by the Journal are the primary priorities of the editorial board, in the conduct, reporting, editing, and reviewing of works. The editorial team encourages the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all reasonable preventative measures against publication malpractices through this Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement (‘Statement’).

This Statement has been formulated in line with guidelines recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All persons associated with the Journal, in the capacity of the author, reviewer, and editor, are expected to acquaint themselves and adhere to the terms of this Statement.

Duties of Editors:

Editors of the Journal shall have the following ethical duties:

Editors shall ensure that the submissions received are evaluated objectively, and exclusively based on academic merit, without regard to any secondary consideration(s) such as the authors’ ethnic origin, religious belief, race, sexual orientation, gender, citizenship, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation.

• Notwithstanding the above, the editors shall reject submissions that fail to fulfill legal requirements in relation to defamation, obscene content, or other unlawful matter. Further, editors shall also reject submissions that have been plagiarized, the determination of which shall be made by the Editorial Board on a case-to-case basis.
• The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the content of the journal and may refuse to publish a submission on grounds of misconduct by the author (see  Conduct of the Author).
• If the Journal publishes an article that critiques a previous article published by the Journal, the Editors shall ensure that the author(s) of the previous article has an opportunity to respond to criticism of their submission; Provided that the author(s) response meets the review standards of the Journal.
• The editors shall not disclose any information about, or ideas obtained from, a submission to anyone besides the author(s), editorial team, reviewers, and the publisher, without the consent of the author(s).
• The editors shall disclose all relationships that may cause a potential conflict of interest, and request a recusal from editorial decisions in which they have or are perceived to have conflicts of interest. The Editor-in-Chief may allow such recusal, if the conflict is sufficiently grave, and allocate the relevant editorial work to another editor.
• The editors shall not use unpublished material disclosed in a submission for their own research purposes without the author’s consent.
• Submissions made by members of the editorial team shall not be accepted for publication in the Journal.
• The editors shall promptly respond to queries, ethical concerns, and malpractice complaints, and endeavor to address the complaints responsibly and sufficiently. Such queries, concerns, and complaints can be submitted to the editorial team at gmail id relation to suspicions of ethical concerns, malpractice complaints, or conflict of interest.
• Every reported act of unethical behaviour or malpractice shall be investigated and responded to by the current Editorial Board, irrespective of when the concerned issue was published. In case such a complaint or report involves a member of the Editorial Board, the appropriate investigation and decision will be taken by the Faculty Advisor of the Journal.
• There is no temporal limitation on the reporting of unethical behaviour or malpractice.
• In case of substantial plagiarism or repeated acts of malpractice by an author, the editorial board may contact the institution where the work was performed. (Also, see Duties and Responsibilities of Authors)
• If upon investigation, the alleged unethical behavior or malpractice is proven, the editorial board shall publish a clarification, correction, expression of concern, retraction, apology or other note as may be relevant in the subsequent issue of the Journal.
• Editors shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the published issues are securely preserved and that all issues of the Journal are open access and freely available to everyone for easy accessibility, through partnering with organizations or/ and maintaining its own digital archive.

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors:

The duties and responsibilities of all authors are, including but are not limited to, thus:

Authorship of the submitted manuscript should be based on the following criteria:

• Substantial intellectual contribution in either the ideation or conception of the submission;
• Contribution to drafting of the submission and making subsequent revisions;
• Ability to grant final approval of the version that has to be published;
• Agreement to be responsible and accountable for the accuracy and integrity of all aspects of the submission.
• The Journal encourages collaboration and thus, co-authorship. However, the manuscript submitted should accurately and clearly attribute authorship only to those who meet the criteria mentioned above.
• All authors undertake that their submission does not infringe on the copyright or any other rights of any third person, nor does it contain anything defamatory, slanderous, libelous, obscene or any other unlawful content.  All authors agree that they shall be solely responsible in case of any legal violations.
• Contributors who do not meet all the authorship criteria mentioned above should not be listed as authors. However, they should be acknowledged and their contributions should be specified.
• The corresponding author must obtain written permission to be acknowledged by all acknowledged individuals. Without such written permission, the Journal shall not publish acknowledgments for that individual.
• An author may request the removal or addition of author(s) after submission, acceptance or publication. In such a situation, the author shall provide a detailed explanation for the change and a signed statement of agreement for such a request.
• In case of disputes regarding authorship, the Journal and its editors shall not be responsible for the determination of attributing authorship and shall not adjudicate such disputes.

Misconduct by Authors

The Journal has the right to exercise its discretion to refuse to publish a submission by an author if that author(s) has engaged in misconduct. The Journal editors must act if they suspect or know of any allegations of any misconduct or any misconduct committed by an author. Misconduct shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

• Violations of publication ethics policy of the journal or any other journal;
• Previous criminal convictions by a court of law in any jurisdiction;
• Ongoing criminal proceedings in any jurisdiction;
• Allegations of, or ongoing proceedings or convictions whether in a court of law or any institution or organisation pertaining to sexual harassment;
• Ongoing disciplinary proceedings, in any institution or organization, including those pertaining to ragging or bullying;
• It shall be the duty of the author(s), to disclose any details pertaining to such misconduct to the Journal, at the earliest possible time.
• The manuscript or any variation of the manuscript submitted to the Journal shall not be simultaneously submitted elsewhere, nor shall it be submitted to the Journal if it has been accepted or submitted elsewhere.
• If the submission made to the Journal or any variation of the submission, in whole or in part, has been published or accepted for publication elsewhere, whether in the same or different language, the author(s) shall, at the time of submission to the Journal or immediately after receiving acceptance of publication, whichever is earlier, make a disclosure to that effect to the Journal, providing all the details of the relevant material. The Journal may ask the author(s) for additional details pertaining to the relevant publication.
• Plagiarism in all its forms is unethical and unacceptable. By making a submission to the Journal, the author(s) undertakes that the manuscript is their original work, has not been plagiarized, and does not contain anything that infringes upon copyright or any other rights of third parties.
• It is the responsibility of the author(s) to acknowledge their sources and provide appropriate references in the manner prescribed. Any information obtained through private means (such as from discussion or conversations with third parties), should not be used to include in the manuscript without explicit written permission from the concerned third party.
• Author(s) shall disclose any potential conflict of interest that may exist, whether financial, institutional, personal, or any other, which might give the appearance of influence whether in the content of their manuscript or in the review process.
• Potential conflicts of interest include, among others, any relationship with an Editor of the Journal, employment, grants, consultancies, representation in a dispute/case and paid expert testimony.
• It is the responsibility of the author(s) to make such disclosures on conflicts of interest to the Journal at the earliest possible time.
• If an author(s) discovers fundamental errors in their work published in the Journal, they must immediately notify the Journal of such errors and co-operate with the Journal in rectifying said errors.
• If the editors come to know of such fundamental error(s) in the published work, they shall provide the author an opportunity to prove the correctness of the work. If this is not proved, it shall be the duty of the author to co-operate with the Journal in rectifying such errors.
• The editorial board has the discretion to decide in what form and manner the error(s) shall be rectified.

Duties of Publisher

Publisher shall have the following duties:

• Upon notification by the editor(s) of any proven unethical behaviour or malpractice, the publisher shall take appropriate measures to amend the work in question, in accordance with the directions of the editor(s). This may involve the prompt publication of clarification(s), correction(s), expression of concern(s), apologies or other note(s) as may be relevant in the journal, or the retraction of the impugned work, where such work has already been published.
• The publisher shall reasonably cooperate with the editor(s) in identifying and preventing the publication of unpublished work(s) whose author has been proven to have engaged in unethical behaviour or malpractice.
• Publishers shall reasonably cooperate with the editorial board to ensure that the published material is securely preserved, and that all issues of the Journal are open access and freely available to everyone for easy accessibility, through partnering with organisations or/ and maintaining own digital archive.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Peer-Reviewer

The duties and responsibilities of the Peer Reviewer have been laid down in the IJLDP Peer Review Policy.

• The Journal’s Editorial Board shall determine whether the guidelines mentioned above have been violated its decision shall be final.
• The Journal has the right to exercise its discretion to reject, retract, modify or refuse future submissions if the above-mentioned guidelines have been violated.
• The Journal’s Editorial Board has the right to amend the Publication Ethics and Malpractice statement at any time.
• In case the present statement does not cover a sui generis event or situation, the Journal’s Editorial Board has the discretion to arrive at a decision based on the general principles and intent of this Statement, as well as by reference to best practices and guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

 

PUBLICATION CHARGES

IJLDP is committed to the principle of open-access publishing. All articles published in the journal are made freely and openly accessible to the public. This means that anyone can access, read, and use the published articles without any cost, provided proper acknowledgment is given to the authors. To sustain the open access model and cover the costs associated with the publication process, authors are required to pay a one-time Article Publication Charge (APC) of Rs. 1500/- for each accepted article. The APC contributes to Peer Review, Administration and Management, Professional Production, and Dissemination. 

IJLDP does not charge authors for articles that are not accepted for publication. Authors are only requested to pay the APC if their article successfully undergoes peer review and is accepted for publication. Further, the journal does not impose any submission charges or surcharges based on article length or element.  The APC and any potential waivers or discounts will be communicated transparently to authors during the submission and acceptance process.

Diversity and Inclusion Policy

IJLDP is unequivocally committed in promoting the diversity and inclusivity in all aspects of its operations. This Diversity Policy outlines our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment for authors, reviewers, editors, and readers, and to ensuring that all individuals are treated with respect, dignity, and fairness. This policy applies to all aspects of IJDLP including but not limited to manuscript submissions, peer review, editorial decisions, and content publication.

IJLDP are dedicated to embracing diversity in all forms, including but not limited to, distinctions in race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, first-generation college, graduate or law student status, socioeconomic status, and disability. We perceive equity to mean treating all members and authors, regardless of their differences, equally and fair.  Lastly providing inclusion and welcoming environment to mean including all members and authors, regardless of their distinct attributes, in the overall culture and structure of the journal at large that values the unique perspectives and contribution of all individuals. Ensuring that our editorial processes are free from bias and discrimination.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not merely words, hashtags, soundbites, or trends. They are core values and guiding principles central to our foundation. To fulfil our commitment, we will strive to have diverse Editorial Board and pool of Reviewers and are implementing a blind review system to minimize bias during the review process. Promote the journal in underrepresented communities to increase awareness and submissions and engage in partnerships and collaboration with organizations dedicated to diversity and inclusions. Further regularly review and update this policy to adapt to changing needs and best practices.

Having a diverse journal is critical to our growth and important to us for many reasons. First, it allows our members to engage in a robust exchange of different ideas, perspectives, and worldviews. Second, it allows our members, many of whom may come from different backgrounds, to interact and form meaningful relationships that extend beyond their notable distinctions. Third, it increases the likelihood of the Editorial Board publishing novel scholarship that expands across various practice areas and also focuses on topics that are disproportionately impacting diverse persons. Lastly, it helps dispel stereotypes and preconceived notions about certain groups and their behaviours, ideologies, and experiences. As such, we will continue to keep diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront of our organization to make significant strides in all three areas.

We readily recognize that around the world, diverse groups have historically faced oppression and various forms of discrimination for possessing unique characteristics that should be celebrated rather than condemned. We will regularly review and assess our progress in promoting diversity and inclusion. Any incidents of discrimination or bias will be taken seriously, and appropriate action will be taken to address them. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion will be transparent, and we will communicate our progress to our stakeholders.

IJLDP believes that diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of academic excellence. We are committed to creating a space where all voices are heard, respected, and valued. We encourage all stakeholders to join us in this commitment and to hold us accountable in fulfilling our mission.