Journal Guidelines

1. EDITORIAL POLICY

• Only original and unpublished manuscripts based on original research or innovative work should be submitted for consideration in NCERT journals.
• Authors have a responsibility to ensure the originality of their work and to confirm that the manuscript has not been submitted or published elsewhere simultaneously.
• They must also respect the rights of other authors and avoid any form of copyright infringement. References taken from the scholarly sources must be cited properly.
• If a manuscript is based on a project or an assignment, the authors must include proper citations and obtain permission from the relevant departments and institutions. This is necessary to prevent the violation of third-party rights.
• Authors must submit a similarity report along with certificate that confirm the originality of the submitted paper generated from widely used plagiarism software.
• In case of more than one author the Editorial Board will communicate only with the corresponding author regarding all decisions.
• The selection of manuscripts for the journals follows a rigorous double peer review process, as outlined in the policy, in order to maintain the quality of publications.
• The views expressed by individual authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of NCERT, or the views of Academic Editors.
• As a matter of transparency and considering the academic interest of the author submitting a paper, it is mandatory that a decision on the paper submitted be taken as early as possible but not later than six months of the receipt of the paper under normal circumstances.
• Receipt of a manuscript from author must be acknowledged by the Academic Editor within a week’s time. A suggestive format of acknowledgement of receipt is given in Annexure-I.
• Providing all the relevant information to Stakeholders should also be the prime objective of the Department/Division/Institute. Therefore, a mandatory disclosure about Journal has to be there on the home page of respective Department/Division/Institute in NCERT's website. Details of the said mandatory disclosure has been given in Annexure II.
• While setting up of the manuscript after final acceptance, the above three dates must be mentioned at the top of the article along with Title of the Article; Name of the Author (s) along with ORCID ID(s).

2. REVIEW POLICY

The journals follow a stringent double-peer review process for evaluation of the submitted manuscripts. At the preliminary stage, a team of subject experts blindly screens the manuscripts under the supervision of the editorial committee. Based on the preliminary screening and evaluation of the similarity reports submitted by the author(s), the manuscripts are shortlisted. The selected manuscripts should then be sent to two reviewers for blind review. In case of a tie (one positive and one negative review), the paper should then be sent to a third reviewer, who holds a comparatively senior position in terms of academic credentials. The third reviewer's comments will be the basis for a decision to either accept or reject the paper. The comments and suggestions of the reviewers are conveyed to the authors for further course of action, if any.

The final version of the manuscript, as revised by the author(s) incorporating the suggestions of the reviewers, if any, is considered accepted for publication in the NCERT journals.NCERT journals follow a stringent double-peer review process for evaluation of the submitted manuscripts. At the preliminary stage, a team of subject experts blindly screens the manuscripts under the supervision of the editorial committee. Based on the preliminary screening and evaluation of the similarity reports submitted by the author(s), the manuscripts are shortlisted. The selected manuscripts should then be sent to two reviewers for blind review. In case of a tie (one positive and one negative review), the paper should then be sent to a third reviewer, who holds a comparatively senior position in terms of academic credentials. The third reviewer's comments will be the basis for a decision to either accept or reject the paper. The comments and suggestions of the reviewers are conveyed to the authors for further course of action, if any.

The final version of the manuscript, as revised by the author(s) incorporating the suggestions of the reviewers, if any, is considered accepted for publication in the NCERT journals.

3. PUBLICATION ETHICS

NCERT journals follow the publication and ethical standards set by the UGC and Ministry of Education (MoE) and so respect academic honesty and maintain the quality of research. It is mandatory to acknowledge funding agencies as well as the parent organisation, while the manuscript is prepared on the basis of such professional engagements in research activities. Therefore, manuscripts submitted for consideration in the journal must be authentic, unpublished, and based on the original research or innovative work. The journals also follow

the research ethics guidelines framed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for promoting ethical practices and supporting high standards in scholarly publications. Before submitting manuscripts to the NCERT journals, authors are encouraged to read and comply with the COPE guidelines accessible at: Link https://publicationethics.org/getting-started/what-publication-ethics

4. CORRECTION, COMPLAINTS AND RETRACTION POLICY

The Journal is committed to maintaining academic accuracy, transparency, and integrity. In cases of errors, ethical concerns, or disputes, appropriate corrective actions such as corrections, retractions, or editorial notes will be taken promptly. Minor inaccuracies will be addressed through errata or corrigenda, while serious issues- such as plagiarism, data fabrication, or legal violations may lead to article retraction, following due process and author notification. Complaints regarding editorial decisions, peer review, or ethical conduct must be submitted in writing and will be resolved within a defined timeframe. All actions will be documented and updated in the online version to ensure transparency and uphold the credibility of NCERT publications.

5. FEEDBACK/SUGGESTIONS FROM THE READERS

Readers of NCERT journals are welcome to report any error(s), misinformation, discrepancy, inaccuracy or any ethical or legal concern. The respective editorial boards of the NCERT journals shall be responsible for issuing corrections related to errors, falsification, misrepresentation, discrepancy or inaccurate information reported by the readers. Any correction noted shall appear in the next print issue. However, the digital edition with correctional clause mentioned in the footnote shall be updated.