Guidelines for Paper Submission
The deadline for submitting papers for consideration for the primary list of presentations is midnight on November 30th, 2024.
Paper once submitted will be treated as a Final Submission for the 83rd Session of the Indian History Congress. Multiple submissions of a paper will lead to its rejection.
1. All authors and co-authors must be members and have paid the membership fee for the current session of the Indian History Congress (IHC)
Note: Except for the authors who became Life Members in any previous session, it is mandatory for all authors and co-authors to pay the Membership Fees (Initial/Renewal/Life, as applicable) for the current session before submitting their papers.
2. Eligibility for Paper Submission:
(a) The author and the co-author(s) must have completed and received their Master’s degree/marksheet at the time of paper submission.
(b) ‘Student Members’, who are due to receive their Master’s degree/marksheet, are ineligible for paper submission.
3. Ensure following criteria of submission to avoid rejection of the paper(s):
(a) A member can submit only one paper in one section and a maximum of two papers in two different sections (whether as an author or a co-author).
(b) Submission of two papers in one section or more than two papers in different sections will lead to the rejection of all papers irrespective of other author and co-author(s) of the papers.
4. Research Scholars should not acknowledge or add their supervisors as co-authors.
PERMISSION: When reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures, maps, or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere, you have to obtain permissions from copyright holders.
FIRST PAGE: Mention the following details on the top of the paper in Times New Roman (Size: 12):
(i) Name of the author. In case of multiple authors, mention the names of the author and the co-author(s). [Research Scholars should not acknowledge their supervisors].
(ii) Place of Work
(iii) Email ID
(iv) Section in which the paper is to be presented
(v) Membership Number
(vi) Title of the Paper
*Nomination for the Best Paper Prize (optional): If you wish to nominate your paper for a prize, mention the name of the prize alongside the title of the paper. Members must attach proof of Date of Birth to verify their eligibility for the chosen prize. Kindly note that the maximum age for eligibility for any nominated prize is 45 years at the time of the session.
MAIN BODY: The main body of the text should begin from below the above details on the first page itself [Do not add abstract].
SPELLINGS: Consistently use British English, such as ‘-ise’ spellings (‘characterise’, ‘socialise’, or ‘recognise’). However, when quoting from another work, the original spellings should be maintained.
QUOTATIONS: When quoting, use single ‘quotation marks’ except for when ‘a quote is “within” a quote’.
DIACRITICAL MARKS: Diacritical marks are compulsory for papers submitted to Ancient India and Medieval India sections. However, do not use diacritics for words commonly recognised in English (e.g. Sultan or Raja).
For Arabo-Persian vocabulary, follow F. Steingass’s A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary. For Dravidian languages, use the Madras University Tamil Lexicon, or some standard equivalent. For Sanskrit vocabulary, follow the Indian Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST). However, keep the original text when quoting from translations or translations in other modern works.
REFERENCING STYLE: Mention the name of the archives, location, and the major series used. When using material from a private collection, mention the name and location of the collection.
There is no bibliography in research papers. Only mention endnotes: the first reference to a work should be given in full. When a reference to an already cited work is repeated, only mention the surname of author(s) with a shorter version of the main title of their works. Use ‘Ibid.’ (note capitalised “I”) when reference to the same work is repeated from a preceding endnote. However, when you cite multiple references in an endnote and one of those references repeat in the next endnote, mention its shorter version.
In references, list the authors' names as they are, without rearranging them to place the last names first.
Examples of the style to be followed:
[When citing a single page, use “p.”, and when multiple pages, use “pp.” after the year. E.g. p. 120. and pp. 120-21.]
(a) Books:
Name of Author(s), Book Title, Publisher, Location, Year.
Example: Irfan Habib, The Agrarian System of Mughal India, 1556-1707, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1963, p. or pp.
(b) Edited Volumes:
Single Editor
Name of Editor, ed., Volume Title, Vol. No. (if available), Publisher, Location, Year, Page number
Example: R.E. Frykenberg, ed., Delhi Through the Ages: Essays in Urban History, Culture and Society, Oxford University Press, Bombay, 1986, p. or pp.
Multiple Editors
Names of Editors, eds., Volume Title, Vol. No., Publisher, Location, Year, Page number
Example: Mohammad Habib and K.A. Nizami, eds., A Comprehensive History of India: The Delhi Sultanat (A.D. 1206-1526), Vol. 5, People’s Publishing House, Delhi, 1970, p. or pp.
(c) Articles in Journals:
Name of Author(s), ‘Article’s title’, Journal’s name, vol.(no.), year, Page number
Example: Allison Busch, ‘Hidden in Plain View: Brajbhasha Poets at the Mughal Court’, Modern Asia Studies, 44(2), 2010, p. or pp.
(d) Articles in Edited Volumes:
Single editor
Name of Author(s), ‘Article’s title’, in Editor’s Name (ed.), Volume Title, Publisher, Place, Year, Page number
Example: Herman Goetz, ‘Persia and India after the Conquest of Maḥmūd’, in A.J. Arberry (ed.), The Legacy of Persia, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1953, p. or pp.
Multiple editors
Name of Author(s), ‘Article’s title’, in Name of Editors (eds.), Volume Title, Publisher, Place, Year, Page number
Example: Nile Green, ‘Idiom, Genre, and the Politics of Self-Description on the Peripheries of Persian’, in Nile Green and Mary Searle-Chatterjee (eds.), Religion, Language, and Power, Routledge, New York, 2008, p. or pp.
(e) Primary Sources
Edited Primary Source
Name of Author(s), Title of the Work, ed. Editor's Name, Publisher, Location, Year, page number
Example 1 (single editor): Fīroz Shāh Tug̠ẖluq, Futūḥāt-i Fīrozshāhī, ed. Shaikh Abdur Rashid, Department of History, Muslim University, Aligarh, 1954, p. or pp.
Example 2 (multiple editors): Ẓiyā’ Baranī, Tārīḵẖ-i Fīrozshāhī, eds. Saiyid Ahmad Khan, W. Nassau Lees and Kabir al-Din, Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1862, p. or pp.
Translated Primary Source
Example 1 (When the Translated Work share the same title with the Original Work): Name of Author(s), Title of the Work, tr. Translator's Name, Publisher, Location, Year, page number
Ziya Barani, Tarikh-i Firoz Shahi, tr. I.A. Zilli, Primus Books, Delhi, 2015, p. or pp.
Example 2 (When the Translated Work is titled differently by the Translator): Name of the Author, Original Title of the Work, in Name of the Translator(s) (tr. and ed.), Title of the work given by the Translator(s), Publisher, Location, Year, page no.
Isami, Futuhu’s Salatin, in Mahdi Husain (tr. and ed.), Futūḥu’s Salāt̤īn or Shāh Nāmah-i Hind of ‘Iṣāmī, Vol. 2, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1976, p. or PP.
[if the translator has not edited the work, then only mention (tr.) after their name]
UPLOAD your paper in the word-processed format (.doc/.docx).
(a) The paper will be rejected if it is uploaded in any other format than the prescribed (do not upload the PDF version of the paper)
(b) The paper must be legible and typed in the English language in the prescribed format (do not use computer software or AI-bots to translate the .doc/.docx file from any other language into English)