About the journal
Polymathica is a quarterly, double-blind peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes original research across the humanities, social sciences, commerce and management, natural sciences, and technology. It gives particular space to work that crosses disciplinary boundaries.
Many of today's questions do not belong to one field. A study of startup survival draws on finance, sociology and public policy. Climate adaptation in a river valley needs ecology, economics and local history. Polymathica exists for research of this kind, and for strong single-discipline work that speaks to readers beyond its own field.
The journal is based in Assam, in Northeast India, and welcomes submissions from researchers everywhere. We especially encourage early-career scholars, PhD candidates and researchers from institutions in the Northeast and other under-represented regions.
Announcements
Call for papers open for the inaugural issue. Submissions for Volume 1, Issue 1 are accepted until 15 December 2026. Read the call
Editorial board and reviewer applications open. Faculty members with a PhD and peer-reviewed publications are invited to apply. How to apply
Polymathica is launched. A free, open-access home for multidisciplinary research from Northeast India and beyond.
Why publish with Polymathica
- Free to publish, free to read. No submission fee and no article processing charge.
- Rigorous review. Every research article is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers under double-blind review.
- Clear timelines. First decision targeted within 6 weeks of submission.
- Authors keep copyright. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
- Permanent identifiers. DOIs will be assigned to every article once Crossref membership is in place.
Article types
| Type | Description | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Research article | Original empirical, theoretical or methodological work | 5,000–8,000 words |
| Review article | Systematic or critical review of a body of literature | 6,000–9,000 words |
| Case study | In-depth analysis of an organisation, community, policy or event | 3,000–5,000 words |
| Short communication | Preliminary findings or a focused argument | 2,000–3,000 words |
| Book review | Critical review of a recent scholarly book | 1,000–1,500 words |
Call for papers: Volume 1, Issue 1
Polymathica invites original research articles, review articles, case studies and short communications for its inaugural issue, to be published in March 2027.
| Submission deadline | 15 December 2026 |
|---|---|
| First decision | Within 6 weeks of submission |
| Final revised papers due | 28 February 2027 |
| Publication | 31 March 2027 |
| Fees | None. Free to submit, free to publish, free to read |
Suggested themes
Papers on any topic within the journal's scope are welcome. For the inaugural issue we especially encourage work on:
- Entrepreneurship, startups and MSMEs in emerging regions
- Financial inclusion, digital payments and household finance
- Education, skills and employability after NEP 2020
- Climate, ecology and livelihoods in river and hill economies
- Culture, language and identity in Northeast India
- Artificial intelligence and its effects on work, learning and society
- Public policy, governance and rural development
Who should submit
Faculty members, research scholars, postdoctoral researchers and practitioners from any discipline and any country. Co-authored and interdisciplinary papers are encouraged.
How to submit
Prepare your manuscript following the author guidelines and send it to the editorial office listed on the contact page with the subject line "Submission: [short title]".
Aims and scope
Polymathica aims to publish rigorous, readable research that connects ideas across disciplines and contributes to theory, policy and practice.
Aims
- To provide an open, high-quality outlet for multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research.
- To encourage dialogue between disciplines that rarely publish side by side.
- To support early-career researchers through constructive, developmental peer review.
- To bring research on Northeast India and comparable regions into wider scholarly conversation.
- To make all published research freely and permanently accessible.
Subject areas
- Commerce & ManagementAccounting, finance, marketing, HRM, entrepreneurship, startups
- EconomicsDevelopment, regional, agricultural and behavioural economics
- Social SciencesSociology, political science, public policy, anthropology
- EducationPedagogy, higher education, educational technology
- HumanitiesLiterature, philosophy, history, language and culture
- PsychologySocial, organisational and cognitive psychology
- Natural SciencesEnvironmental science, ecology, life sciences
- TechnologyComputing, data science, AI and society, digital innovation
- Law & GovernanceLegal studies, regulation, institutions
- Northeast StudiesSociety, economy, ecology and culture of Northeast India
What we look for
Submissions should make a clear contribution, use sound and transparent methods, and engage with relevant literature. Interdisciplinary papers should explain how combining perspectives produces insight that a single discipline could not. Papers must be written so that an educated reader from outside the field can follow the argument.
Outside our scope
We do not publish purely descriptive reports without analysis, opinion pieces without scholarly grounding, or work already published or under review elsewhere.
Editorial board
The editorial board is being formed for the inaugural volume. Scholars with a PhD and a record of peer-reviewed publication are invited to apply for associate editor and reviewer positions.
Email: polymathica@rahulkumardas.in
Join the board or reviewer panel
Board members are listed with their full designation, department, institution, address and official email.
Send a short CV, your area of expertise and links to recent publications through the contact page, with the subject line "Editorial board application" or "Reviewer application".
Responsibilities of editors
- Screen submissions in their area for scope and quality within 7 days.
- Invite and manage at least two independent reviewers per manuscript.
- Make fair, timely recommendations based only on academic merit.
- Declare any conflict of interest and step aside when one exists.
Submission guidelines
Please read these guidelines before submitting. Manuscripts that do not follow them may be returned without review.
Before you submit
- The work is original, unpublished and not under review elsewhere.
- All authors have approved the manuscript and agree to its submission.
- The similarity index is below 10%, excluding references and quoted material.
- Any use of AI tools is disclosed (see Ethics & policies).
Manuscript preparation
| File format | Microsoft Word (.docx) |
|---|---|
| Language | English (British or American, used consistently) |
| Font | Times New Roman, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing, 2.54 cm margins |
| Title page | Separate file with title, author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, corresponding author email, funding and acknowledgements |
| Abstract | 150–250 words, structured as Purpose, Methodology, Findings, Originality |
| Keywords | 4–6 keywords; JEL codes welcome for economics and commerce papers |
| Structure | Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References |
| Tables & figures | Numbered, titled, cited in the text; figures at 300 dpi or higher |
| Referencing | APA 7th edition, with DOIs where available |
Anonymising your manuscript
Because review is double-blind, remove author names, affiliations and self-identifying references from the main file. Cite your own earlier work in the third person, and clear author details from the document properties.
How to submit
Until the online submission system is live, email two files (the anonymised manuscript and the title page) to the editorial office listed on the contact page. Use the subject line "Submission: [short title]". You will receive an acknowledgement and a manuscript ID within 3 working days.
Fees
Polymathica charges no submission fee, review fee or article processing charge.
Peer review process
Polymathica uses double-blind peer review: reviewers do not know the authors' identities, and authors do not know the reviewers'.
- Submission and acknowledgementThe editorial office confirms receipt and assigns a manuscript ID within 3 working days.
- Initial screeningThe editor checks scope, formatting, anonymisation and similarity. Papers that fail are returned within 7 days.
- Reviewer assignmentThe handling editor invites at least two independent experts in the field.
- ReviewReviewers assess originality, methods, contribution and clarity, usually within 3–4 weeks.
- DecisionThe editor makes one of four decisions: accept, minor revision, major revision or reject.
- RevisionAuthors revise and respond to each comment point by point, within 3 weeks for minor and 6 weeks for major revisions.
- Acceptance and productionAccepted papers are copyedited, typeset and sent to authors for proof checking before publication.
Reviewer criteria
- Is the research question clear and significant?
- Are the methods appropriate and described in enough detail to be replicated?
- Are the conclusions supported by the evidence?
- Does the paper engage with current literature?
- Is it clearly written for a multidisciplinary audience?
Appeals
Authors may appeal a decision once, in writing, within 30 days. Appeals are reviewed by an editor not involved in the original decision.
Guidelines for reviewers
Reviewers are the foundation of the journal's quality. Thank you for giving your time and expertise.
Before you accept
- Accept only if the manuscript is within your expertise and you can finish the review within 3–4 weeks.
- Decline if you have a conflict of interest, or if you think you can identify the authors.
Writing your review
- Summarise the paperIn two or three sentences, state what the paper claims and how. This shows the authors you understood their work.
- Assess the contributionIs the question important? Does the paper add something new to the literature?
- Check the methodsAre the data, sample and analysis appropriate and clearly described? Could another researcher repeat the study?
- Test the conclusionsDo the findings follow from the evidence, and are limitations acknowledged?
- Comment on clarityIs the paper readable for scholars outside its field? Are tables and figures clear?
- Make a recommendationAccept, minor revision, major revision or reject, with reasons the editor can follow.
Tone and confidentiality
- Be specific and constructive. Point out problems and suggest how to fix them.
- Keep the manuscript confidential and do not share it or upload it to AI tools.
- Do not contact the authors directly.
Recognition
Reviewers receive a certificate of reviewing for each completed review and are acknowledged annually on this website.
Frequently asked questions
Does Polymathica charge any fee?
No. There is no submission fee, review fee or article processing charge. Reading is also free.
Is the journal peer reviewed?
Yes. Every research article is reviewed by at least two independent experts under double-blind review.
Does the journal have an ISSN?
The journal will apply for an e-ISSN from the ISSN National Centre India after its first issue is published. The number will be shown here once assigned.
Is the journal indexed?
Not yet. The journal will apply to Google Scholar, Crossref, DOAJ and other databases as it meets each service's requirements. We will not claim any indexing that has not been granted.
How long does review take?
We aim for a first decision within 6 weeks. The full process, including revision, usually takes 2–3 months.
Can I submit a paper presented at a conference?
Yes, if it has not been published in full in proceedings. Mention the conference in your cover letter.
Can research scholars submit?
Yes. PhD scholars are welcome, and we encourage them to submit with their supervisors where appropriate.
Will I get a publication certificate?
Yes. Each author of a published article receives a certificate of publication.
Who owns the copyright?
Authors keep copyright. Articles are published under CC BY 4.0.
Publication ethics and policies
Polymathica follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for authors, editors and reviewers.
Open access statement
All content is freely available without charge to readers or their institutions. Readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of articles without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, in line with the Budapest Open Access Initiative definition of open access.
Plagiarism
All submissions are checked with similarity-detection software. Manuscripts with a similarity index above 10% (excluding references) or any evidence of copied text, data or ideas are rejected. Plagiarism discovered after publication leads to retraction.
Authorship
Everyone listed as an author must have made a substantial contribution to the work and approved the final version. Changes to the author list after submission require written agreement from all authors.
Use of AI tools
AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors who use AI tools for language editing, analysis or drafting must state how they were used in the methods or acknowledgements section. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy and originality of the content. Reviewers must not upload manuscripts to AI tools.
Conflicts of interest
Authors, reviewers and editors must declare any financial or personal relationship that could influence the work. Editors do not handle manuscripts from their own institution's colleagues, students or co-authors.
Research ethics
Research involving human participants must have informed consent and, where required, approval from an institutional ethics committee. Participant data must be anonymised.
Data availability
Authors are encouraged to share data and code in a public repository, or to explain in a data availability statement why this is not possible.
Corrections and retractions
Errors that affect the findings are corrected with a published correction notice. Articles with serious misconduct or unreliable findings are retracted, with the original kept online and clearly marked.
Copyright and licence
Authors keep copyright. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0), which allows anyone to share and adapt the work with proper credit.
Archiving
Published content will be deposited with a long-term digital preservation service so it stays available if the journal ceases publication.
Issues
Polymathica publishes four issues a year.
| Issue | Period | Submission deadline | Publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issue 1 | January–March | 15 December | 31 March |
| Issue 2 | April–June | 15 March | 30 June |
| Issue 3 | July–September | 15 June | 30 September |
| Issue 4 | October–December | 15 September | 31 December |
Volume 1, Issue 1 · January–March 2027
The inaugural issue is now open for submissions. Accepted articles will appear here with their abstracts, full-text PDFs and citation details.
Articles will appear here once published.
Contact the editorial office
Send submissions, board applications and general enquiries to the editorial office.
| Publisher | Rahul Kumar Das, on behalf of Polymathica |
|---|---|
| Managing Editor | Rahul Kumar Das |
| Address | Department of Accountancy, Lakhimpur Commerce College, North Lakhimpur, Assam, India |
| polymathica@rahulkumardas.in | |
| Website | polymathica.rahulkumardas.in |
Email subject lines
- Submission: [short title]
- Editorial board application
- Reviewer application
- Query: [manuscript ID]
Cite this journal
Polymathica: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research. Assam, India. https://polymathica.rahulkumardas.in/