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Call for applications 2027

VidhiAagaz Journal Infrastructure Grant

VidhiAagaz invites applications for the support of journals in law and its allied fields, published by universities and research institutions in any country. The Grant is made to raise the quality and regularity of these journals, and to prepare them for indexing and for wider circulation.

Applications open on 6 November 2026Guidelines for Applicants (PDF)

Technical infrastructure: Worth ₹2,00,000 a year for each journal
Term: Two years, renewable to five
Eligibility: Law and allied fields, any country
Closing date: 15 January 2027, or earlier once five grants are made

About the Grant

Journals published by universities and law schools carry a considerable share of the legal scholarship written each year. Many of them, however, publish without persistent identifiers or complete metadata, make no provision for long-term preservation, and appear irregularly as their editorial teams change. These are among the first matters that indexing services examine when they consider a journal.

The VidhiAagaz Journal Infrastructure Grant provides selected journals with the publishing infrastructure that indexing services expect, on condition that each journal observes the editorial standards those services apply. The Grant is made in kind, in the form of publishing services. No payment of money is made under it.

Each journal remains the property of its institution, which retains the journal’s title, its content and every editorial decision.

Aims of the Grant

The Grant is made with the following aims:

to raise the editorial standards of the journals it supports, through double-blind peer review, published policies and adherence to the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics;
to secure their regular publication, so that each issue appears on the date the journal has announced;
to make the scholarship they publish permanently citable and discoverable, through persistent identifiers, complete metadata and long-term preservation;
to prepare them for admission to indexing services and directories, including the Directory of Open Access Journals;
to bring their work to a wider readership in India and abroad; and
to give each journal a continuity of practice that does not depend on the members of any one editorial team.

The Grant does not promise that any journal will be indexed. Admission to an indexing service is decided by that service alone.

Scope of the Grant

For the term of the Grant, VidhiAagaz provides the following services without charge to the institution or to authors.

The journal’s website

Each journal is given an address on the VidhiAagaz journals platform and a website in its own identity, bearing the institution’s logo. VidhiAagaz maintains its hosting, security and nightly backups, and correspondence is sent in the journal’s own name.

The Journal Portal

Submission, double-blind review, decisions and proofs are managed through the Journal Portal, which keeps a dated record of every step and provides for conflicts of interest, appeals and corrections in accordance with COPE guidance.

DOIs and ISSN

Every article receives a Crossref DOI, deposited with its references, and VidhiAagaz meets the fees for up to thirty DOIs a year. VidhiAagaz also prepares the journal’s application for an ISSN.

Standards and preservation

Articles are published through Open Journal Systems with JATS XML and Google Scholar metadata, and are preserved through the PKP Preservation Network.

Indexing

VidhiAagaz applies to indexing services and directories on the journal’s behalf as it becomes eligible for each, and reviews its standing against their criteria in writing each year.

Advice and training

VidhiAagaz advises the journal on the standards indexing services apply, trains each new editorial team on the portal, and supports its editors throughout the Grant.

Exclusions

The Grant makes no payment of money to the institution, its editors or its reviewers. Editing, copyediting and peer review remain the responsibility of the journal. Similarity and AI screening, the typesetting of articles and the production of issues, DOIs in excess of thirty a year, printed copies and books fall outside the Grant, and VidhiAagaz provides them, where asked, for an additional fee.

Eligibility

Applications are invited from journals in law and its allied fields, including interdisciplinary work in law and policy, law and technology, and law and management, published by a university, law school, college or research institution in any country. Journals that have yet to publish their first issue may also apply. An applicant journal must:

be owned and published, or about to be published, by the applying institution, and not be published by a commercial publisher;
have a Faculty Editor, being a member of the institution’s academic staff who is responsible for the journal and who leads the application;
subject, or undertake to subject, every research article to double-blind peer review by at least two reviewers, of whom at least one is a subject expert from outside the editorial team;
screen, or undertake to screen, every submission for similarity and AI-generated text using Turnitin, iThenticate or DrillBit, and file both reports on the Journal Portal before review. An institution without access to these tools may obtain the reports from VidhiAagaz for an additional fee;
publish at least one issue and ten research articles a year. A new journal is required to publish its first issue, of at least five research articles, within twelve months, and to meet the full requirement from its second year;
have, or constitute, an editorial or advisory board in accordance with the Conditions of Grant: at least five members for a national journal, who may all belong to the institution, and at least seven members from at least three countries for an international journal;
be open access, and make no charge to authors for submission, review or publication during the Grant.

Journals edited by students are eligible, provided that the application is led by the Faculty Editor and that the journal meets the standard of review set out above. Journals in any language may apply, but the metadata of each article must be supplied in English.

Conditions of the Grant

Grants are made subject to the Conditions of Grant, which are sent to selected journals with the offer of a grant and form part of the Grant Agreement. The principal conditions are as follows.

Publication ethics

The journal follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics, and publishes its policies on ethics, review, copyright and the use of AI.

Record of review

All review is conducted on the Journal Portal. For every research article the journal keeps a complete record of its screening reports, its reviewers and their reports, the decision and its reasons, and the comments sent to the author.

Audit

VidhiAagaz may examine the record of any article from the period of the Grant, and examines a sample each year. An article published without a complete record is treated as not having been reviewed.

Open licence

Every article is free to read on publication, under a CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-NC 4.0 licence.

Annual report

The Faculty Editor reports on each year of the Grant within thirty days of its close.

Preservation

Every issue published during the Grant is kept online at a stable address and preserved through a recognised digital preservation service.

The following acknowledgement appears on the journal’s website and on every article published during the Grant:

Published by [name of the Institution]. Publishing Partner: VidhiAagaz. Supported by the VidhiAagaz Journal Infrastructure Grant.

Duration of the Grant

Each grant begins on the date of its Grant Agreement. Grants are made for an initial term of two years, and may be extended one year at a time to a total of five years. An extension is granted only where the journal has observed the Conditions of Grant in full during the preceding year and has made demonstrable progress towards the standards of the Directory of Open Access Journals. VidhiAagaz considers each extension on the basis of the journal’s annual report, and extension is not automatic.

In accepting the Grant, the institution commits the journal to VidhiAagaz as its Publishing Partner for the term of the Grant. The institution may end the Grant earlier by giving six months’ notice, without any payment, but a journal that does so may not apply again for five years.

Application procedure

Each journal may submit one application, which is made by its Faculty Editor.

01
Read the Guidelines
Applicants should first read the Guidelines for Applicants and satisfy themselves that the journal meets the conditions of eligibility.
02
Complete the form
The form asks for the journal’s aims and scope, its editorial team and board, its review procedure, its record of publication over the last two years or, for a new journal, its plan for the first issue, and a statement of how the Grant would be used.
03
Attach the letter
The form must be accompanied by a letter from the head of the institution, such as the Vice-Chancellor, Dean or Registrar, confirming that the institution publishes the journal and supports the application.
04
Apply early
Applications are assessed as they arrive. The call closes at 23:59 Indian Standard Time on Friday, 15 January 2027, or earlier if five grants have been made by then. The receipt of each application is acknowledged by email, with a reference number.
05
Grant Agreement
Where a journal is selected, the Grant Agreement is signed on behalf of the institution by its Registrar or by another authorised officer.

Applications open on 6 November 2026

Assessment of applications

Applications that satisfy the conditions of eligibility are assessed by VidhiAagaz in the order in which they are received, against four criteria.

40%
Editorial standards
The rigour of the journal’s review, the quality of the work it has published and the soundness of its policies. For a new journal, the procedure and policies it proposes are considered.
30%
Institutional commitment
The leadership of the Faculty Editor, the continuity of the editorial team and the support the institution gives to the journal.
20%
Contribution to scholarship
The journal’s place in its field, and the extent to which it serves a subject or a readership that is otherwise poorly served.
10%
Readiness
The journal’s capacity to work under the Conditions of Grant without delay: for an established journal, an ISSN and a regular schedule; for a new journal, a credible plan for its first issue.

New journals are assessed against the same criteria, on the strength of their editorial team, their plan and the policies they propose, and are not disadvantaged by the absence of a publication record. VidhiAagaz may invite the Faculty Editor to a conversation before reaching a decision. A grant is offered to each application that reaches the required standard, until five grants have been made. The call then closes, and its closure is announced on this page. Decisions are final, and VidhiAagaz may make fewer grants than intended if too few applications reach the required standard.

Timetable for 2027

Call opens: 6 November 2026
Last date for enquiries: 31 December 2026
Closing date for applications: 15 January 2027, or earlier once five grants are made
Assessment of applications: In order of receipt, throughout the call
Decision on each application: Communicated to the Faculty Editor in writing
Start of each grant: The date of its Grant Agreement

Questions from applicants

Is any money paid to the institution?

No. The Grant is made in kind, as technical infrastructure worth ₹2,00,000 a year for each journal, which a supported journal receives without charge.

Does VidhiAagaz take part in editorial decisions?

No. The selection, review and editing of articles rest entirely with the journal’s editors, and the institution constitutes its own board under the Conditions of Grant. VidhiAagaz satisfies itself only that the conditions of the Grant are met.

Who owns the journal?

The institution, which remains the journal’s publisher and retains its title and ISSN. VidhiAagaz is named as Publishing Partner.

May a journal apply before its first issue has appeared?

Yes. The application should set out the journal’s aims and scope, its editorial team and board, the review procedure it will follow and its plan for the first issue. A journal selected at this stage publishes its first issue within twelve months, and applies for an ISSN once that issue has appeared.

Is a student-edited journal without external reviewers eligible?

Only if it adopts double-blind peer review, with at least one reviewer from outside the editorial team, before the Grant begins. Review by the editors alone does not meet the standard required.

What happens when the Grant comes to an end?

The journal may continue with VidhiAagaz on the terms then offered to partner journals, or may move to another publisher. Its published issues remain online and preserved.

Does the Grant guarantee indexing?

No. The Grant prepares a journal to apply. Each indexing service decides for itself which journals it admits.

Applications

Applications are assessed as they arrive, and the call closes at 23:59 Indian Standard Time on Friday, 15 January 2027, or earlier once five grants have been made. Journals are therefore advised to apply early. Enquiries about eligibility or the application may be addressed to the Grants Office at grants@vidhiaagaz.com until 31 December 2026.