The Journalists: Manjri Singh, NALSAR Student Law Review

"The Journalists” is a multi-part series where we interview the editorial board of some of the more popular legal journals in the country. In this edition, Campus Ambassador Chendhil Kumar interviews Manjri Singh from the NALSAR Student Law Review.

Why did you want to become an editor in this journal?

The NALSAR Student Law Review publishes quality scholarship, ensured through a two-stage process including a peer review. The process leading up to the final publication of the volume allows for editorial creativity and direction to bring to life the editorial board’s vision for the issue, along with the opportunity to connect with different writers, academicians and scholars.

It provides the satisfaction of being part of a procedure that encourages and offers the very best of student scholarship.

I was personally motivated to become an editor for the chance to stay connected with legal writing through this distinctive role.

Tell us about the core areas that the journal deals with?

The NALSAR Student Law Review (NSLR) is an annual, student-edited, peer-reviewed law journal and the flagship publication of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

The journal invites and publishes articles relating to all fields of law, and each volume strives to ensure a diversity in areas and themes covered, with the common thread being topical relevance.

Please explain the review process of the journal?

The first stage of the process consists of a plagiarism check and a preliminary review by the editorial board to gauge the suitability of the content.

Once the submission successfully clears this stage, a peer-reviewer is identified on the basis of qualifications and expertise in the area of law that the article deals with.

The article is then reviewed and any specific feedback may be incorporated by the author. The submission is anonymized at every stage.

Can you tell us about your advisory board?

Our advisory board consists of multiple notable names including His Excellency Judge Abdul G. Koroma, Prof. BS Chimni, Prof. Amita Dhanda, Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud, Mr. Arvind Narrain, Mr. Somasekhar Sundaresan, all of whom contribute immensely to the publication process by providing general guidance and direction.

The details of the Board of Advisors are available here: https://nslr.in/board-of-advisors/.

What's your role as an editor and what do you think the other students must do to become an editor with the Journal?

The role of a senior editor is multi-faceted. It includes inviting submissions, making evaluations of the strength of the submission, identifying stylistic changes for readability, selecting and reaching out to appropriate reviewers, staying on top of communications with publishers, taking crucial decisions with respect to the policy of the journal and the final selection of submissions, amongst other more general skills.

In order to become an editor of the journal, a demonstration of copy-editing skills, critical and analytical skills, research and writing skills is a must (especially to clear the qualifying editorial board test), and most importantly a great passion for reading through scores of intriguing submissions.