MNLUM Criminal Law Review Blog (Rolling Submissions)

The MNLUM Criminal Law Review Blog is accepting submissions on a rolling basis, so there is no fixed closing date and you can send in your work whenever it is ready. It is a scholarly platform run by the Centre for Research in Criminal Justice at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai, devoted to rigorous and accessible writing on criminal law and criminal justice.

The Blog is peer-reviewed, student-run, and free to submit to. If you have a sharp piece of criminal law analysis, this is a strong, low-cost place to be published.

The Centre for Research in Criminal Justice (CRCJ) is a research and policy-dialogue centre at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai, one of India's National Law Universities. The Centre focuses on criminal justice and allied fields, and the MNLUM Criminal Law Review Blog is its scholarly online publication.

The Blog fosters rigorous and accessible discourse on criminal law, criminal justice administration, penology, criminology, and allied fields. The editors seek contributions that critically engage with doctrinal developments, policy debates, legislative analyses, judicial trends, and interdisciplinary perspectives relevant to the criminal justice system.

The following categories are accepted:

• Blog Articles / Short Articles
• Case Comments or Case Analyses
• Legislative or Policy Commentaries

Every submission must show analytical depth, originality, and relevance to contemporary criminal justice concerns. Purely descriptive or explanatory pieces without critical engagement are discouraged and may be rejected at the preliminary review stage.

The call is open and submissions are free to make. Co-authorship is allowed up to a maximum of two members.

Your submission must not contain any identifying details of the author(s) such as name, institutional affiliation, or acknowledgements. Those details should only be entered in the submission form.

Please follow these formatting rules closely; submissions that do not conform may be rejected at the editors' discretion.

• Word count: 800 to 1500 words. Longer submissions may be considered on the basis of their quality, subject to editorial approval.
• Font size: 12 pt for body text; 10 pt for footnotes.
• Spacing: 1.5 for the body; 1.0 for footnotes.
• Citations: all citations must be hyperlinked. Where hyperlinking is not possible, citations may be provided as footnotes conforming to the Bluebook 21st Edition standard.
• Format: submit only in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx).

All submissions must be the original and unpublished work of the author(s). Plagiarism exceeding 30% will lead to preliminary rejection.

AI tools are permitted only for limited purposes such as summarising cases and improving phrasing. Authors remain solely responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their work, and violations on these grounds will result in preliminary rejection.

The Blog does not allow cross-posting of pieces previously published elsewhere. It is open to cross-posting pieces originally published by the MNLUM CLR, subject to prior intimation.

There is no submission fee. The editors reserve the right to make the final decision on selection, editing, and publication of all submissions. Accepted articles and their copyrights shall vest with MNLU Mumbai.

The editorial review cycle typically takes up to three weeks from the date of submission, though this may vary with the volume of submissions and reviewer availability. If you do not hear back within three weeks, you may reach out to the Editorial Board at clr.crcj@mnlumumbai.edu.in.

All submissions must be made only through the official Google Form. Upload your piece in Microsoft Word format and enter your author details in the form rather than in the document itself. Since submissions are rolling, you can apply at any time.

• Piece falls within criminal law, criminal justice, penology, criminology, or allied fields
• Original, unpublished, critically engaged (not purely descriptive)
• 800 to 1500 words, in .doc or .docx
• Body 12 pt / 1.5 spacing; footnotes 10 pt / 1.0 spacing
• Citations hyperlinked, or Bluebook 21st Edition footnotes
• Plagiarism under 30%; AI use limited and disclosed responsibly
• No author-identifying details in the document
• Co-authors limited to two
• Submitted via the official Google Form