Thank you for your interest in publishing with us at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). We accept contributions in the following formats: Expert Speak, Issue Brief, and Occasional Paper.
To publish with ORF, please write to [email protected]. The subject of your email should include the format (e.g., Expert Speak / Issue Brief / Occasional Paper) and the subject or tentative title of your work. Your email should include a short introduction to yourself.
As we receive large numbers of submissions throughout the year, we request you to wait for our team to respond to your communication.
To ensure the integrity of ORF publications in all their formats—both short-form and long-form—ORF strongly discourages authors from using AI, machine learning, and other algorithmic tools in their writing. Authors who use AI tools in the writing of an article, production of images or infographic elements of their paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, must be transparent in their conduct and fully disclose which AI tool was used and how.
ORF publishes in various formats, under the direct supervision of both the Publications Committee and the editorial team. This document gives an overview of these publication formats, and ORF’s protocols throughout the entire process of receiving drafts from authors, sending them for reviews, and editing and producing them for publication.
ORF reserves the right to accept or otherwise reject a submission. If your draft is accepted, this document should guide you in working with the ORF team in seeing your paper through to publication.
We invite you to contribute in one of the formats described in the following paragraphs.
An Expert Speak is a commentary written by experts in their domain. These are expected to be based on data and facts, and contain sound analyses of current affairs and important policy trends. Expert Speaks may also include essays that engage, in a non-polemical manner, with important socio-cultural changes that have policy, economic, and political implications.
Indicative length: 800 – 1,500 words. Exceptions can be made after consultation with the Web Editor and will be based on topic and relevance.
Review process: ORF Expert Speak pieces undergo a review process that consists of the following steps:
Please note: Plagiarism checks for short-forms are done mainly to determine if any substantive ideas have been lifted from other publications. The editors consider not only the percentage result of the software check. Extensively quoting one’s own work is highly discouraged.
The final draft will be cleared for publication by the Web Editor after it has been copy-edited and checked for plagiarism.
An Issue Brief provides a succinct analytical account of a public policy issue that is of national or global relevance. It should be comprehensible to both the informed and general reader.
Endnotes are required. Authors are strongly encouraged to provide tables, graphs, and other graphics that will make the brief more comprehensive and visually appealing.
Indicative length: 3,000 – 5,000 words, inclusive of endnotes
Review process: Drafts are reviewed by at least one ORF expert, and one or more external referees. The reviewers’ comments are shared with the author for any required revisions.
The draft is copy -edited, and the author is apprised of any editorial changes that the editor deems fit. The final draft will be cleared for publication by the ORF Editor after it has been copy -edited and checked for plagiarism.
An Occasional Paper is similar to an extended journal article. It is expected to be of high academic quality and may be based on secondary or primary research.
Endnotes are required. Authors are strongly encouraged to provide tables, graphs, and other graphics that will make the paper more comprehensive and visually appealing.
Indicative length: 5,000 – 10,000 words, including endnotes. However, the Director of Studies, in consultation with the ORF Editor and the concerned Centre/Programme Head, may decide to publish a piece of shorter length as an Occasional Paper. This is after determining the unique contribution of the paper to ORF’s OP brand.
Moreover, not every piece that may breach the 5,000-word mark will be automatically published as an OP, if it is determined to be more suitable as an Issue Brief.
Review process: Drafts are reviewed by at least one ORF expert, and one or more external referees. The reviewers’ comments are shared with the author for any required revisions.
The draft is copy -edited, and the author is apprised of any editorial changes that the editor deems fit. The final draft will be cleared for publication by the ORF editor after it has been copy -edited and checked for plagiarism.
You will find our Style Guide here, and the Citation Style Sheet here.
ORF assures our contributors of transparency at every stage of the publication process.
