For authors

Not sure your paper fits? Read Is my paper in scope? and the guide Writing for the journal, or send a proposal: the editorial office replies within seven days.

Which fields have an editor

Every paper is handled by a member of the Editorial Board who works in its field. Where the field has its editor, the paper goes to that editor at once. Where it does not have one yet, you may still submit: the paper is received and recorded on the day, and waits for an editor to take up the seat.

You can submit in every field today. Nothing to wait for before you send. What differs is what happens after: in a field without an editor the paper is held, safely, until one joins. We offer each seat to one scholar at a time and give them seven days to answer; if they decline or do not answer, we invite the next. So we cannot promise a date, but your paper keeps its place from the day it arrives.

On the submission form, choose the subject area closest to your paper; the editorial office passes it to the editor whose field it falls in.

What it costs you

Nothing. No article processing charge, no submission fee, no page charge, no colour charge, no charge to make your work open access. There is no stage at which money is asked of an author.

What you keep

Authors retain copyright. Articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0), so anyone may read, copy and build on your work provided they credit you. Every published article receives its own DOI, registered by the journal at no cost to the author.

What we expect

• Original work, not published elsewhere and not under consideration elsewhere. This includes conference proceedings. A paper declined by another journal, or withdrawn from one before you send it to us, is welcome. A preprint is not prior publication: tell us where it is posted.
• English throughout.
• Sources that a reader can check. Where you cite a text, cite the edition and the page.
• A question the paper answers, and evidence that bears on it.

Length and references

Three common kinds of paper. You may write in any design; most papers we expect are one of these.

• A study of change — what moved: the same people or place at two or more moments, and why they differ. A research article.
• A study of a mechanism — what held: how something is kept in place, or brought about, by what people do; for example, how marriage, schooling, land or the vote keep caste. A research article.
• A research note — a careful description of a state at a stated time and place, so that others can measure change against it.

Each kind, with three published examples to read and Transformation Notes worked for a study of change and for a study of a mechanism, is in Writing for the journal.

Sample notes and bibliography entries for common kinds of source are in Chicago's free Citation Quick Guide.

Transformation Notes

Every manuscript has them, placed directly after the abstract and keywords, under the heading “Transformation Notes”. Five headings, a sentence or two each, 250 words at most, not counted in the word limit:

• Who and where — the people and the place in India.
• When — the years or period of the evidence.
• What moved, or what held — what changed, or what stayed the same despite pressure to change.
• Why — the reasons or mechanism the evidence shows.
• So what — what follows for the people studied, for policy or practice, or for further research.

The notes are published with the article. They are read by the editorial office and by the referees, who check that the paper's evidence supports each answer. A manuscript whose notes are missing or incomplete is returned to you to complete them; it is not declined for that. See the example. The manuscript template has the box ready.

Preparing the manuscript

Send two files, both in Word format (.docx). The templates below already follow every rule on this page; write into them.

• The anonymised manuscript — manuscript template (.docx). Title, abstract, keywords, word count, main text, footnotes and bibliography. It must not show who you are: no names, no affiliations, no acknowledgements. Refer to your own published work in the third person, and clear your name from the file's properties before sending.
• The title page — title page template (.docx). It is never sent to reviewers. Names, affiliations and email addresses; an ORCID iD for the corresponding author (encouraged for the others); a note of up to 50 words on each author; acknowledgements; and the declarations below.
• If the text uses diacritics or a non-Latin script, add a PDF of the manuscript so that we can check how it displays.

Declarations

On the title page, under its own heading each: funding, competing interests, ethics approval and consent (for research with human participants), data availability, and use of generative AI tools. Where a heading does not apply, write “Not applicable”.

Name any generative AI tool used in preparing the article, including for translating sources or for editing beyond spelling and grammar checks, and say what it was used for. If none was used, say so. An AI tool cannot be an author, and the authors are responsible for every part of the article.

What happens after you send it

1. Office check. The editorial office first checks the manuscript against the three questions on the Aims page and against the requirements: length, references, Transformation Notes, an anonymised file and a separate title page. Missing or incomplete notes are returned to you to complete, not declined. A manuscript that does not is declined at once, with the reasons.
2. Desk check. A member of the Editorial Board in the paper's field reads it and decides whether it goes to review. Manuscripts outside the scope, below the minimum standard, or failing the similarity check are declined here, normally within two weeks, with the reasons.
3. Review. A member of the Board takes charge of the paper and invites at least two independent external reviewers. Neither you nor they learn each other's names.
4. Decision. Accept, minor revision, major revision, or reject. You receive the reports.
5. Revision. You revise and reply to each point. Usually one or two rounds.
6. Publication. Each article gets its own page, its own permanent address and its own DOI, and shows the dates on which it was received, accepted and published.

Indicative time to first decision: twelve weeks.