A Report on the Editor’s Workshop
The Editor’s Workshop was conducted by the Symbiosis Law Review in collaboration with the Research and Publication Cell on 27th of February, 2021 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm. The Guest Speaker was Mr. Abhinandan Malik, Director of Eastern Book Company (EBC) Publishing Pvt. Ltd. The workshop began with an introductory address by Dr. Sanu Rani Paul Ma’am, the Faculty-in-charge of the Symbiosis Law Review, followed by an address by Dr. Sarfaraz Ahmed Khan, the Director of Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad.
The Workshop aimed at building and developing the understanding of the editors and the members of the various processes and workflows that should be incorporated by the Editorial Board of journals of high repute. The workshop emphasised the kind of writing that must be accepted. The substantive nature of the article must be first considered before delving into the technical nature of the same. Mr. Abhinandan Malik provided a list of aspects about a paper that needs to be preferred during selection (notes, critiques, and so on) and also emphasized the fact that the article must present something new to the existing field. He put out three major considerations that editors must keep in mind while selecting articles – a novelty, a non-obvious article, and an article that has utility. He urged the editors to always reread the article to arrive at what point the author intends to make. To understand the intention, the conclusion also plays a very important role according to Mr. Malik.
The speaker then suggested that editors reverse-engineer the concerned article to understand its claim and to make sure that the author has presented their arguments in a logical sequence. Mr. Malik kept stressing the fact that the claim of the author must be supported by logical statements and the thesis statement of the paper must always have an answer that is either yes or no. He focused on identifying places where the author is making fallacious statements and recommended editors to not consider such articles. Mr. Malik consequently highlighted various points that should be considered while editing a paper- firstly, to make sure that the paper has a proper structure, a flow and everything that can be removed has been removed. Secondly, he touched upon various tips to technically edit papers concerning spellings, pronunciation, etc.
This session also addressed points like deadline and timeline, plagiarism inclusion of board of advisors, etc. The speaker concluded by discouraging plagiarism and mentioned how a plagiarised article indicated an unethical author. However, he also reminded us to keep in mind to always look out for those same authors who grow and learn from their mistakes and bring forth original manuscripts and encouraged the participants to give people like those another chance.
The workshop acted as a step-by-step guide on the editing of an article such as substantial and technical editing, processes and workflows that an editorial board of a law review should incorporate for better competition. The workshop was a great learning experience for both the students and the faculties as it gave a thorough insight into all prerequisites, considerations and criteria that should be taken into account while editing a Legal Article.
The workshop was extremely informative and helpful to the editors of various journals and blogs of Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, and provided the means to build a strong foundation that would enhance academic writing in SLS, Hyderabad.
Thanks to Symbiosis Law Review, The Research and Publication Cell and Mr. Abhinandan Malik for conducting such an interesting and interactive session!
