W-01Write for FPR · standing call for papers
How to write for FPR.
Pick an entry from the wanted list, write it, and send it in. An editor will read it and work with you on revisions until it is ready to publish. The monthly newsletter carries the current call and the entries added that month.
W-02From claim to citation
Claim
Open a wanted entry and claim it. Others can claim it too, and a claim lapses after 60 days unless you renew it. You can also propose a piece that is not on the list.
Write
Start from the scope note and the listed authorities, then go to the primary sources.
Submit
Upload a .docx. Editors convert accepted pieces for the site.
Revise
We do not reject submissions outright. Expect at least one round of comments.
Publish
Your piece gets a permanent link, an FPR citation, a cover and a certificate of publication.
W-03Who may write what
Years 1 and 2
The six encyclopedic forms.
Concepts, Doctrines, Principles, Tests, Canons and Fictions. The minimum length is 2,000 words.
Year 3 onwards
Any of the fourteen forms.
Including Lineages, Dissents, Fault Lines, Transplants, Lacunae and FP Research. The minimum length is 3,000 words.
Any year
An Obiter Watch note.
Take one remark a judge made in passing in a judgment from the last three months. Say what was said, why it was not needed to decide the case, and what it may lead to. Between 500 and 800 words. This is the quickest way to a first publication, and the best notes go out in the monthly newsletter.
Year 3 onwards · in pairs
One side of a Fault Line.
A Fault Line is a question on which courts disagree. Two students may each argue one answer, and the two pieces are published together, each linked to the other. Say which side you are taking when you claim the entry.
Any law student in India may submit. You verify your student status once, with a college email address or, where your college does not issue one, a student ID that an editor approves. A piece may have up to two student co-authors. Faculty may co-author FP Research only.
W-04How review differs
Thirteen forms
One editor
- An editor reads the piece against its sources.
- You receive comments and revise.
- The editor accepts it, or steers you to a sibling entry if another piece took the slot.
FP Research
Double-blind, plus a referee
- You send an anonymised copy: no names in the text or file properties.
- Two peers review it without knowing who wrote it.
- A faculty or practitioner referee reads it.
- The editor passes the reports to you, and you revise.
W-05The bar for FP Research
FP Research has three requirements.
An argument
For a position that is not available in Indian law today.
A comparison
Of at least three foreign jurisdictions, at least one of them non-Western.
The law, drafted
A statutory provision, a judicial test, or rules or regulations. A constitutional amendment does not qualify.
W-06What every piece needs
- A one-line thesis. It appears in large type at the top of the piece. If you cannot put it in one sentence, the piece probably needs more work.
- An abstract of about a hundred words: the question, the method, the conclusion.
- Bluebook citations. Put each citation in a footnote in your file. On the site they appear as notes in the margin.
- Primary sources. Cite the judgment or the statute, not a commentary on it, and give pinpoint references.
- Length. The word counts above are minimums, and footnotes do not count towards them. Only Obiter Watch notes have a maximum.
The style guide shows how to set out a piece and how each kind of source is cited, with a worked model.
Your own work
When you submit, you declare that the piece is your own, that every source is cited, and that it has not been published and is not under consideration elsewhere. An editor checks every piece for originality before it is reviewed. You keep the copyright; FPR publishes under a licence that lets readers share your piece with credit. The details are in the policies.
Artificial intelligence
You may use AI tools to find and search sources. The prose must be your own. Tell us how you used any tool when you submit; the disclosure is printed with the piece. If you build on an FPR editorial draft, you are credited as “Revised from an FPR editorial draft”.
What you get
- A public author page listing your published pieces.
- A certificate of publication and a PDF of your piece, with its citation, for your CV.
- A route to paid research: firms and chambers commission work from the strongest writers.
- One free month of Law Graduate by Iura, when it launches.
Campus editors
One student at each college helps others there choose an entry and reads drafts before they are submitted. What the role involves, and how to apply.
After publication
A published piece is changed only to correct an error, and each correction is listed on the piece. If the law changes, you or another author may write a linked afterword. FP Research takes formal replies, and you may answer a reply once.