Journal of Law, Policy and Governance (JLPG), Inaugural Issue [Vol. I, Issue I, 2026; Peer-Reviewed; No Publication Fee]

The Journal of Law, Policy and Governance (JLPG) is a double-blind peer-reviewed scholarly journal published as a flagship initiative of the School of Law, Governance and Public Policy, Chanakya University, Bengaluru. It is dedicated to advancing high-quality research and critical inquiry at the intersection of law, governance, public administration, public policy and social transformation.

The journal provides an intellectual forum for academics, researchers, legal practitioners, policymakers, members of the judiciary, regulators, public administrators and civil society actors to engage with contemporary legal and governance challenges through rigorous, original and policy-relevant scholarship. It welcomes doctrinal, empirical, theoretical, comparative, socio-legal and policy-oriented research, and encourages work that bridges academic research and policy practice.

The journal is published on a quarterly basis. Its print and online ISSN are stated on the journal website as forthcoming, which is consistent with this being the inaugural volume.

The School of Law, Governance and Public Policy (SLGPP) at Chanakya University, Bengaluru offers an interdisciplinary programme in law, governance and policymaking, rooted in India’s civilizational wisdom and aligned with global practice. The School emphasises research, experiential learning and public engagement, and integrates constitutional principles, governance models and global perspectives with Indian knowledge systems.

The journal is edited by Dr. Chetan Singai of Chanakya University, Bengaluru. Its editorial board draws members from institutions including the National Law School of India University Bengaluru, Gujarat National Law University, National Law University Delhi, IIM Calcutta, O.P. Jindal Global University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Observer Research Foundation, the Central University of Kerala, the University of Florida, the University of Hull and Suffolk University.

The journal invites submissions across five thematic areas:

• Law and Justice: Constitution, constitutionalism, democracy and governance; criminal justice and security governance; legal thought, jurisprudence and Indian knowledge systems; law, society and social transformation; law, ethics and public affairs; contemporary challenges and reforms related to national security.
• Governance and Public Administration: Contemporary challenges and reforms in public administration; administrative law and regulatory governance.
• Public Policy and Development: Public policy governance and institutional reforms; environment and climate governance.
• Technology, Regulation and Society: Technology, artificial intelligence and digital governance; intellectual property, innovation and knowledge governance; competition law, markets and economic regulation.
• Global and Comparative Studies: International and comparative law and governance.

Submissions addressing emerging areas of scholarship that align with the broader objectives of law, governance and public policy are also encouraged.

The journal publishes original and unpublished scholarly work in the following categories. Each category must include an abstract, keywords and references.

• Research Articles: 5,000 to 7,000 words, presenting significant theoretical, doctrinal, empirical or interdisciplinary contributions.
• Review Articles: 3,000 to 4,000 words, offering critical analyses of existing literature, emerging debates or developments within the journal’s thematic areas.
• Case Comments and Legislative Reviews: 2,000 to 4,000 words, critically examining judicial decisions, legislative enactments, policy instruments and regulatory frameworks.
• Book Reviews: 1,500 to 2,500 words, reviewing recently published books relevant to law, governance and public policy.

Submission of a manuscript constitutes a declaration by the authors that the work is original, unpublished and not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Manuscripts must be prepared in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) to the following specification:

• Font: Calibri. Title in 14 point, bold and justified; main text in 12 point.
• Line spacing 1.5 throughout, justified alignment, 6 points paragraph spacing after each paragraph.
• Margins of 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides, A4 page size.
• Headings in 12 point bold and numbered consecutively (1. Introduction, 2. Literature Review); sub-headings in 12 point regular and numbered hierarchically (1.1, 1.1.1), with a maximum of three heading levels.
• Tables, figures and charts numbered consecutively with a concise title and source, presented in black and white, with in-table font between 10 and 12 point. Colour is not permitted.

Every submission must carry an abstract of approximately 250 words setting out the research problem, objectives, methodology, principal findings and contribution, together with five keywords. All manuscripts must conform to APA 7th Edition citation style, and authors are encouraged to provide DOIs and stable electronic sources where available. Manuscripts that do not comply with the prescribed citation style may be returned for correction before entering review.

The manuscript file submitted for peer review must be fully anonymised and must not contain any information capable of identifying the authors, including names, institutional affiliations, acknowledgements, self-identifying references, file properties or metadata.

The journal follows UGC regulations on academic integrity and is guided by COPE principles on publication ethics, plagiarism, authorship responsibility and related matters. All submissions are screened through Turnitin or another plagiarism-detection mechanism adopted by the journal.

The policy page states a general maximum similarity threshold of 15 percent subject to editorial scrutiny, while the guidelines page states that the overall similarity index shall not exceed fifteen to twenty percent, excluding references, bibliography, standard terminology and properly quoted material. A similarity score within the permissible limit does not automatically guarantee acceptance. The journal maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation and unethical authorship.

Where an AI tool has been used for limited and permissible purposes, authors must disclose the name and version of the tool, the nature of its use and the reason for it. Research involving human participants, interviews, surveys or personal data must comply with applicable ethical requirements, and authors are responsible for obtaining approvals and informed consent.

There is no cost to authors. The submission guidelines state that the journal does not levy any submission, processing or publication charges on authors.

Copyright in published articles remains with the authors or, where applicable, with the organisation employing the author, subject to the terms of employment. On acceptance, authors may be required to execute a publishing or licensing agreement in accordance with the journal’s policies. Authors remain responsible for obtaining permissions for any copyrighted material reproduced from third-party sources.

All submissions are first reviewed by the editorial team to determine whether they fall within the aims and scope of the journal, meet basic standards of scholarship and presentation, comply with submission requirements and raise any immediate ethical or plagiarism-related concerns. Submissions that pass initial screening are ordinarily sent for double-blind peer review, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential from one another.

Editorial decisions fall into four categories: accept, accept with minor revisions, revise and resubmit, and reject. The journal publishes the following editorial metrics: median time to first decision 21 days, median time from submission to acceptance 45 days, and median time from acceptance to publication 15 days.

Manuscripts are reviewed on a priority basis, with early submissions receiving first priority, mid-term submissions second priority, and submissions received on the deadline third priority. Early submission is encouraged to maximise the opportunity for publication in the inaugural issue.

Manuscripts must be submitted through the journal’s online submission portal hosted at Editorial Scholar, which is linked from the call for papers page as “Submit Your Manuscript”. Authors will need to register or log in to the portal to create a submission.

Submission by email is permitted only in exceptional circumstances where the portal cannot be used because of technical difficulties. In such cases manuscripts, revised papers and related author documents may be sent to the manuscript email address listed below, along with a brief description of the problem encountered.

The last date to submit for the inaugural issue is 10 December 2026.