The Journalists: Ed Board – Trade, Law & Development

“The Journalists” is a five-part series where we interview the editorial board of some of the more popular legal journals in the country. Previously we have spoken to the editors of the Indian Journal of Law & Technology, as well as the NUJS Law Review, and the Jindal Law Journal. In this edition, the team at the Trade, Law & Development talk is through the journal’s selection process, the challenges faced by academic journals, and the most common errors that authors make..Bar & Bench: Broadly speaking, what are the some characteristics that all good articles have?.Ed Board, Trade Law & Development: It is impossible to justify the traits of a ‘good article’, in as much as legal writing is more an art than a science. However, certain essential characteristics that pervade through all well-written articles are:.– one or multiple novel ideas clearly departing from existing literature;.– incisive analysis from various points of view;.– well researched propositions that are backed up by sufficient authorities and inclusion of sources that exhibit a view contrary to the proposition established;.– lucid structure and good grammar;.– precision in the expression of ideas..B&B: How are editorial board members selected?.TL&D: TL&D follows a stringent selection procedure. A notice of ‘Call for Applications’ is released once at the end of every academic year. An interested candidate is subjected to a three-stage screening process that involves a strict scrutiny of his/her CV, a writing sample (for senior students, on international law/international economic law), and an interview. Students applying for the post of ‘Copy Editor’ are tested on their knowledge of the Harvard Bluebook..The applications are screened by the Editors-in-Chief in consultation with the journal’s Faculty-in-Charge. They are then subject to the final approval of the Consulting Editors who may raise objections to appointment based on the curriculum vitae or past performance of editors seeking renewal of their term. Only those candidates that suitably pass these three stages are selected, subject to vacancy. Board members are selected for one academic year. TL&D is a bi-annual publication and an incumbent Board of Editors has a term of two issues. At the expiry of the term, existing Board members interested in continuing must undergo the whole selection procedure all over again..B&B: What is the editorial procedure once a submission is received? Do you have blind reviews?”.TL&D: There are two types of submissions received by TL&D: ‘solicited’ and ‘unsolicited’. Solicited submissions are received from authors who have been invited to write for our journal. This is the procedure we usually follow for our “Special Issues”, which are based on a particular theme. Authors of high stature and established writing credentials are solicited and hence, such submissions are not subject to an ‘initial review’. However, after being received, they undergo the editorial review process..On the other hand, unsolicited submissions, are received by TL&D online portals such as ExpressO (BE Press). In addition, we receive submissions through our website or e-mail. These submissions are subject to an initial review, where they are analyzed by a team of three editors on their suitability for publication in the journal based on certain pre-decided criteria..Once an article is accepted for publication in the journal, a three-member editorial team undertakes a three stage editorial process, focussing on improving, inter alia, content, structure, language, grammar and correction of footnotes to meet the standards of the Harvard Bluebook..The Board of Editors does not undertake blind reviews. The editors are informed about the author’s work they are editing. This facilitates plagiarism checks and provides sufficient opportunity for the editors to ensure that the author is not merely repeating his past works. However, if a submission is received from a student or faculty of the University, a blind review is undertaken and editors are not informed about the identity of the author to prevent bias..B&B: What common errors do you notice in submissions? .TL&D: There are numerous common errors that we have noticed based on our experience. The most frequently encountered error is that authors often submit articles on issues that have already been covered extensively by extant literature on the subject. In other cases, manuscripts lack focus or do not adequately establish a particular proposition. Most articles also offer little analysis and frugal research on issues presented. Often, we notice that propositions are not supported by authorities. In addition, some manuscripts are not structured lucidly and do not make for a coherent read..B&B: Thoughts on present academic research environment in Indian law schools? .TL&D: It seems a tad unfair to judge the current general academic research environment in Indian law schools, especially given that our opinions are qualified by the limitation of being editors in a journal dealing in a niche area. Moreover, being students ourselves, it will be unjust to judge the academic climate..Keeping in mind our limited assessment window, we will proceed with caution. In our humble observation, the current state of academic research in India leaves much to be desired. The submissions we receive from Indian scholars are few and far between, compared to the bombardment of submissions from western scholars, although we are an Indian journal. While we do have a policy of relaxing standards for Indian submissions (especially from students) to promote Indian scholarship, we often notice that such submissions do not even meet the minimum standards acceptable for academic space..If the quality of the product is poor, there is of course a problem in its production. Legal writing, especially academic writing, must be taught and taken seriously in Indian law schools. Unfortunately, legal writing skills are imparted to students in a lackadaisical and inadequate fashion. Consequently, students do not appreciate the depth and the technicalities involved in drafting. Such drafting is not limited to legal writing, but extends to memorial drafting, contract drafting and petition drafting..Perhaps there is a case for introducing a second course in legal writing after a couple of semesters. By this time, a student is well and truly in the law school groove. Hence, they will be able to appreciate not just the importance of legal writing but its relevance to higher academic thinking and research skills..The TL&D Editorial Board consists of Ali Amerjee, Nakul Nayak, Aabhas Kshetarpal, Prakhar Bhardwaj, Aswin Iyer, Rohan Tigadi,Sagnik Das, Shivangi Tyagi, Thomas J. Vallianeth. Arpit Gupta, Dishi Bhomawat, Lakshana CV, Pranjal Mehta, Sagar Gupta, and Vatsal Vasudev.