Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy

The Indian History Journal (IHJ) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing. The Journal follows fair, transparent, and rigorous Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policies, informed by the core practices and principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The Journal seeks to promote responsible scholarship and a shared understanding of ethical academic practices among authors, reviewers, editors, and all other contributors involved in the publication process.

Editorial Policy

The Indian History Journal publishes original scholarly work that has not previously been published in substantially the same form elsewhere.

All submitted manuscripts are subject to preliminary editorial screening, including assessment of:

Relevance to the scope of the Journal
Originality and scholarly contribution
Compliance with submission and formatting requirements
Similarity and plagiarism screening
Basic academic and methodological standards

Manuscripts that fail to satisfy the Journal's basic criteria may be rejected without being sent for external peer review.

The final publication decision may take into consideration:

Editorial Team evaluation
Editorial Board assessment
External peer-review reports
Scholarly originality and contribution
Compliance with ethical and publication standards

Editorial decisions are based on academic and scholarly considerations and are not influenced by the author's identity, institutional affiliation, nationality, gender, religion, political views, or ability to pay publication charges.

The decision of the Editorial Team regarding publication is final, subject to the Journal's established correction, appeal, and retraction procedures.

Publication Model

The Indian History Journal follows an Issue-Based Publication Model.

The Journal does not follow a rolling or continuous publication system.
Accepted manuscripts are scheduled for inclusion in a designated issue.
Articles accepted for an issue are compiled and published together on a single officially announced release date.
The publication date of each issue is communicated through the Journal's official channels.

This model enables the Journal to maintain a structured publication schedule and coherent scholarly record for each issue.

Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted to the Indian History Journal are treated as confidential documents.

Information relating to a submission may be shared only with individuals directly involved in the editorial and review process, including:

Authors and corresponding authors
Peer reviewers
Editors and Editorial Board members
Publisher or designated publication staff, where necessary

Editors, reviewers, and other persons involved in the editorial process must not disclose or use unpublished information contained in submitted manuscripts for purposes unrelated to the evaluation of the manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Editors, reviewers, and Editorial Board members must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that could affect their impartiality.

Conflicts may arise from:

Personal relationships
Institutional affiliations
Academic or professional collaborations
Competitive research interests
Financial interests
Other circumstances that may compromise independent judgment

Where a conflict exists, the concerned editor or reviewer shall:

Disclose the conflict to the Editorial Team;
Recuse themselves from the relevant editorial or review process; and
Allow the manuscript to be handled by another suitably qualified and independent member of the editorial team.

Editors and Editorial Board members shall not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the written permission of the author(s).

Peer Review Policy

The Indian History Journal follows a double-blind peer review process.

Authors' identities are concealed from reviewers as far as practicable.
Reviewers' identities remain confidential from authors.
Manuscripts are normally evaluated by at least two qualified subject experts.
Additional reviewers may be invited where the subject matter or editorial circumstances require.
Reviewers are selected on the basis of subject expertise, academic qualifications, research experience, and relevance to the manuscript.

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and academically relevant assessments.

Reviewers must not use unpublished material, arguments, data, archival references, or interpretations contained in a manuscript for their own research without permission.

Pre-Archived Works Policy

The Indian History Journal does not ordinarily consider manuscripts that:

Have already been formally published elsewhere; or
Have been publicly distributed as preprints prior to submission.

However, manuscripts deposited in institutional repositories or academic repositories because of mandatory institutional, funding, or university requirements may be considered at the discretion of the Editorial Team.

Authors must disclose any such prior deposit at the time of submission.

The existence of an earlier repository version does not automatically guarantee acceptance.

Similarity and Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts submitted to the Indian History Journal are subject to similarity and plagiarism screening.

The Journal recognises that legitimate scholarly writing may contain unavoidable textual similarities, including quotations, titles, bibliographical information, standard terminology, archival descriptions, and properly cited source material. Consequently, similarity reports are assessed in context rather than solely on the basis of a numerical percentage.

The Journal follows a Zero Plagiarism Policy with respect to unattributed appropriation of another person's ideas, arguments, language, research, data, or intellectual work.

Forms of unacceptable academic misconduct include:

Direct plagiarism
Mosaic or patchwork plagiarism
Unattributed appropriation of ideas or arguments
Fabrication or falsification of evidence
Duplicate publication
Substantial self-plagiarism
Misrepresentation of sources

Where plagiarism or serious academic misconduct is identified, appropriate action may include rejection, withdrawal of acceptance, correction, or retraction, depending on the circumstances and stage at which the issue is identified.

Historical Sources, Archives and Research Integrity

Given the historical scope of the Journal, authors are expected to maintain the highest standards of accuracy and integrity in the use of primary and secondary sources.

Authors must:

Accurately represent archival and documentary evidence;
Provide appropriate citations for primary and secondary sources;
Avoid deliberate misrepresentation or selective manipulation of evidence;
Clearly distinguish between primary evidence, scholarly interpretation, and the author's own argument;
Accurately identify archival repositories, collections, documents, editions, and translations where applicable; and
Obtain necessary permissions where archival, visual, or copyrighted materials require permission for reproduction.

Fabrication, falsification, deliberate misquotation, or manipulation of historical evidence constitutes serious academic misconduct.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy

The Indian History Journal expects authors to remain primarily responsible for the intellectual, scholarly, and linguistic content of their manuscripts.

The Journal discourages the use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools to generate substantive scholarly arguments, interpretations, historical analysis, citations, archival evidence, or other intellectual content.

AI tools may be used in limited circumstances for purposes such as language assistance or technical editing, provided that such use does not replace the author's intellectual contribution and is transparently disclosed where required by the Journal.

AI systems must not be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

The accuracy of all statements;
The originality of the manuscript;
The authenticity of citations and references;
The accuracy of quotations and archival information; and
Any content produced or modified with the assistance of AI tools.

Undisclosed or inappropriate AI-generated content may be considered during the editorial assessment and may constitute grounds for rejection where it compromises the originality, accuracy, or integrity of the manuscript.

Open Access Policy

The Indian History Journal is an Open Access Journal.

All published articles are freely accessible online.
Articles are made available in PDF format from the date of publication.
No subscription or access fee is required from readers.
No embargo period is imposed on the published version.

The Journal is committed to facilitating broad and equitable access to historical scholarship.

Licensing

Articles published in the Indian History Journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, unless otherwise stated.

The licence permits reuse, distribution, and adaptation of the published work, subject to appropriate attribution.

Authors retain copyright in their work while granting the Journal the necessary rights to publish and disseminate the article.

Archiving and Self-Archiving

The Indian History Journal maintains an online archive of all published articles on its official journal platform.

Authors are permitted to archive the Final Publisher's Version/PDF of their published article in:

Institutional repositories;
Subject repositories;
Personal academic websites; and
Other legitimate open-access repositories,

provided that the original publication in the Indian History Journal is properly acknowledged and the official publication details and URL are retained.

Preprint dissemination before publication is not ordinarily permitted under the Journal's Pre-Archived Works Policy, subject to the exceptions stated above.

Copyright

Authors retain copyright in their published work.

Authors may subsequently reproduce or republish their work elsewhere, subject to the terms of the applicable licence and provided that:

The Indian History Journal is acknowledged as the original publisher;
Full bibliographic details of the original publication are provided; and
The official publication URL is included wherever reasonably possible.

Any subsequent publication must not misrepresent the work as having been originally published elsewhere.

Copyright Infringement

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all material submitted for publication complies with applicable copyright and intellectual-property requirements.

Authors must obtain appropriate permission for copyrighted material where permission is required, including:

Photographs
Maps
Tables
Illustrations
Reproduced documents
Newspaper material
Manuscript images
Translated or adapted copyrighted material

Authors are responsible for providing evidence of permission when requested by the Editorial Team.

The Journal may decline to publish material where adequate permission has not been obtained.

Publication Malpractice

The Indian History Journal takes allegations of publication misconduct seriously.

Depending on the nature and severity of the misconduct, the Editorial Team may:

Reject a manuscript;
Withdraw an acceptance decision;
Suspend publication processing;
Issue a correction or clarification;
Retract a published article;
Notify relevant institutions where appropriate; or
Restrict future submissions from individuals found to have engaged in serious or repeated misconduct.

Potential grounds for action include, but are not limited to:

Plagiarism;
Fabrication or falsification;
Duplicate or redundant publication;
Simultaneous submission to multiple journals;
Misappropriation of intellectual material;
Manipulation or misrepresentation of sources;
Copyright infringement;
Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
Falsification of authorship or contribution;
Serious ethical violations.

Any action taken will depend upon the evidence available and the circumstances of the individual case.

Correction and Retraction Policy

The Indian History Journal recognises its responsibility to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record.

Where a published article contains an error, authors should promptly notify the Editorial Team.

Depending on the nature and significance of the issue, the Journal may publish:

A Correction;
An Erratum;
A Clarification; or
A Retraction.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the scholarly meaning of an article may be corrected without issuing a formal correction notice.

Where an error or misconduct substantially affects the reliability or integrity of the published work, retraction may be considered.

Authors are expected to cooperate fully with the Editorial Team in investigating and resolving concerns relating to their published work.

The final decision regarding correction or retraction rests with the Editorial Team, following appropriate editorial consideration.

Author Declarations

Submission to the Indian History Journal constitutes an acknowledgement that the author(s):

Confirm that the submitted work is original.
Confirm that the manuscript has not been previously published in substantially the same form.
Confirm that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
Have properly acknowledged and cited all sources.
Have accurately represented primary and secondary evidence.
Have obtained necessary permissions for copyrighted or reproduced material.
Have disclosed any relevant prior repository deposit or archival availability.
Have disclosed relevant conflicts of interest.
Confirm that all listed co-authors have made an appropriate contribution and approved the final manuscript.
Accept responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the submitted work.

Funding and Financial Disclosure

The Indian History Journal is published by Allahabad Academic Press.

The Journal may operate through a commercial publishing model, including Article Processing Charges (APCs), to meet costs associated with editorial administration, peer-review management, copyediting, typesetting, digital infrastructure, DOI and metadata services, website maintenance, archiving, and other publication-related operations.

Where applicable, authors are expected to disclose any external funding received in support of the research.

The payment or non-payment of an APC does not influence editorial decisions, peer-review outcomes, or the academic assessment of a manuscript.

The Journal does not accept funding on terms that compromise editorial independence.

Article Processing Charges (APC) Policy

The Indian History Journal follows an Article Processing Charge (APC) Policy.

APCs, where applicable, are intended solely to support the operational and publication costs associated with producing and maintaining the Journal.

Important Provisions

APCs are payable only after formal acceptance of a manuscript.
Submission does not require payment of an APC.
Payment of an APC does not guarantee acceptance or publication.
Editorial decisions are made independently of an author's ability or willingness to pay.
APC amounts may be revised from time to time and may vary according to the applicable issue or publication category.
The applicable APC, if any, will be communicated to authors through the Journal's official communication channels following acceptance.

All official communication concerning APCs should be conducted through the Journal's designated official email address:

ihjournal@allahabadacademicpress.com

Authors are advised to rely only on official Journal communications concerning publication charges and should not make payments to unauthorised individuals or third parties.

Editorial Independence

The Indian History Journal maintains editorial independence in relation to the academic evaluation and publication of submitted manuscripts.

Financial considerations, including APCs, shall not determine whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, or sent for peer review.

Editors and reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts on the basis of scholarly quality, originality, relevance, methodological soundness, and contribution to the field.

The Publisher may provide the infrastructure and administrative support necessary for publication but shall not interfere with independent academic editorial decisions.