Call for Papers: Socio-Legal Review (SLR), NLSIU Bengaluru [Rolling Submissions; No Fee; Peer-Reviewed; Articles, Notes from the Field, Case/Legislative Comments]

Socio-Legal Review (SLR) is a peer-reviewed, bi-annual journal that encourages interdisciplinary research at the intersection of law and the social sciences, with a focus on South Asia. It is an open-access, student-run journal published by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru. First published in 2005 with the help of a grant from the Modern Law Review, it has carried work by scholars such as Roger Cotterrell, Werner Menski, Pratiksha Baxi and Gina Heathcote, and has been cited by the Supreme Court of India in Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2018) and Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018).

SLR accepts submissions for both the Journal and its online platform, the SLR Forum, on a rolling basis all year round. The journal does not charge authors for submitting or publishing their work.

SLR takes an expansive view of 'law and society' and seeks scholarship that goes beyond treating law as merely a set of rules and doctrines. It welcomes interdisciplinary research that critically enquires into the intersections between law and the social sciences, especially in the South Asian context. Authors should read the journal's full Aims and Scope before submitting.

• Articles: 5,000 to 10,000 words. Full-length research papers that engage existing literature and make an original argument on a specific research question.
• Notes from the Field: 3,000 to 5,000 words. Brief narratives documenting observations, experiences or insights from fieldwork in ongoing or completed empirical research.
• Case/Legislative Comment: 3,000 to 5,000 words. Short critical analyses of a recent judgement or enactment that are not purely doctrinal and take account of social and political factors.
• Book Reviews: 3,000 to 5,000 words. Review essays by experts on recently published books in socio-legal studies. SLR does not accept unsolicited reviews: contact the journal by email first. Book reviews are not peer-reviewed.

• Co-authorship of up to three authors is allowed.
• Manuscripts must be submitted as a Word document, with all personal or institutional information identifying the author removed.
• No simultaneous submission: a manuscript under consideration at SLR must not be under consideration at another journal.
• Main body: EB Garamond, size 12, 1.5 line spacing, justified. Footnotes: EB Garamond, size 12, single spacing, justified.
• Footnotes in OSCOLA (4th edition), with pin citations as far as possible.
• British spelling per the Oxford English Dictionary, the Oxford (serial) comma, and short forms in place of 'hereinafter'.
• Extracts in double quotation marks; extracts over 50 words set as a separate paragraph indented 1 inch on both sides, without quotation marks.
• AI policy (June 2026): an AI disclosure statement must be the first page of every submitted article, and the desk review will not begin without it. AI may be used only in a limited, assistive role (grammar, minor language edits, citation formatting, exploratory searches); it must not be used to generate or rewrite any part of the article.

• Internal review (2 weeks): desk review, then evaluation by two internal editors. The journal commits to an editorial decision within 2 weeks of submission.
• Peer review (4 to 6 weeks): double-anonymised review by two external subject experts (except book reviews). Revisions, if requested, are due within 3 weeks of receiving comments.
• Finalisation and publication (up to 6 weeks): copy-editing and typesetting after the revised manuscript is accepted; pieces may appear as Advance Articles before the print edition.

The SLR Forum invites short essays and commentary on contemporary developments or issues of persisting relevance that fit the journal's Aims and Scope. Purely doctrinal or legal analysis is not accepted; pieces must use an interdisciplinary lens.

• 800 to 2,500 words, with sources hyperlinked in the text (no footnotes or endnotes).
• Co-authorship of up to two authors.
• Submit as a Word document by email to sociolegalreviewforum@gmail.com, with the subject line matching the title of the submission, and with identifying information removed.
• The Board aims to revert with editorial comments within two weeks. Cross-posting is not allowed.

All content is free to read with no embargo. Authors retain copyright and publish under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 licence.

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, with no closing date. Submit Journal manuscripts through the Digital Commons platform using the 'Submit Article' link on the SLR repository (an account on the platform is needed) and follow the on-screen instructions. For queries, email slr@nls.ac.in. Forum essays go by email to sociolegalreviewforum@gmail.com.