The Journalists: Tanya Aggarwal, ALSD Student Journal

"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 Sambhav Sharma interviews Tanya Aggarwal from Amity Law School Delhi.

Tanya Aggarwal is the Editor-in-Chief of the Amity Law School Delhi Student Journal. The Ninth Volume of the Journal focuses on “Legal Framework in India and Ease of Doing Business”.

What makes the ALSD Student Journal unique and distinct from other Journals?

The ALSD Student Journal has been encouraging research amongst law students for the last 10 years. It is distinct as it operates on contemporary themes instead of a specific domain of the law. Volume 9 of the Journal focuses on “Legal Framework in India and Ease of Doing Business”, which makes it peerless. The government has been working on multiple fronts to position India as a global manufacturing hub.

There have been sweeping changes across legal and regulatory systems to promote ‘Invest in India’, ‘Atmanirbharta’, and to boost the skill of its workforce. This Journal comes at a strategic time when COVID-19 has prompted global firms to look for new manufacturing centres to expand their geographic spread, and reduce dependency on a single country.

Bearing in mind this moment of opportunity for India, the Journal invites research literature which explores the implications of the recently undertaken legal reforms and assesses how India can become a more attractive destination for business.

What was the process of selection for the editor-in-chief in your college?

ALSD has a Student Journal Society. It is a tradition for the graduating Editor-in-Chief to propose names for appointment as the next Editor-in-Chief. In addition to that, a call for expression of interest to be appointed as the Editor-in-Chief is issued by the faculty Editors of the Journal Society. Following the publication, the interested applicants go through a two-tier selection process.

Tier One being evaluation on the basis of the CV and the recommendation of the graduating Editor-in-Chief. The second tier comprises of an interview conducted by the Faculty Supervisory Editor and the Faculty Advisory Board members of the Journal Society.

Based on the induction process, the Faculty Editors choose the Editor-in-Chief of the Student Journal Society.

What are the tasks performed by an editor-in-chief?

The work of the Editor-in-Chief ranges from the reconstitution of the student editorial board to the final publication of the journal. Once the team is restructured and the required inductions are carried out, the Editor-in-Chief along with her Board of Editors and the Advisory Board agree on a Theme for the next Volume of the Journal.

The Editor-in-Chief oversees both the logistical aspects, from inviting publications to communicating the outcome to the authors, and the blind peer-review process.

How has the experience of serving as the editor-in-chief been so far?

My goal has been to produce a volume I can be proud of. I have attempted to look at each stage of the publication process from the perspective of the author as well as the editors. The Editorial Board and I have brought modifications to the review process to honour the days and weeks authors put into their submissions.

The capable and hardworking team of Editors has been working hard to ensure timely procedural feedback, and substantive feedback to the authors, while also addressing their queries.

It has been a learning curve to review and edit the submissions. The use of the language, intricacies of the citation style, the approach towards the research problem, and the novel arguments that unfold in the review process are a stimulant to original thinking and setting up standards in terms of my own work.

How has COVID-19 affected the functioning of the editorial board? Have there been any changes?

Most definitely. This is my third year of association with the Society, and like all sectors of our lives, the Journal Society has seamlessly shifted to a virtual set up.

Today, the ALSD Student Journal is not limited to being a print-based academic journal, but is also channelized through ALSD website (https://www.amity.edu/als/epublication.aspx). The Editorial Board meetings have turned into Google Meet Calls, and we have switched to a paperless review process.

What advice would you give to writers interested in getting published in your Journal?

“Read, read more, and then write!”

One of the best advices I was given is that if you want to write, you must read! I urge everyone interested in publishing with our journal to keep a forward-looking approach in their piece; analyse the past and present legal setting and contribute to the research literature analysing the future implications.

I strongly suggest that the original analysis of the author forcefully brings out the correlation of the research problem with the theme of the journal.