The updated norms are based on the UGC Guidelines [Letter No. – D.O.No.F.1-18/2010 (CPP-II), Dated- 6th August 2018 (www.ugc.ac.in.)]. Below are the details:

1. Use MS Word 12-point Times New Roman font for main text.
2. Headings/Subheadings: Use Bold. Capitalise First Letter of Each Word, except for Articles (a, an, the); short Prepositions (in, on, at…); and Conjunctions (and, for…).
3. Alignment: Justified.
4. Spacing: Space After: 2 | Line Spacing: 1.5 | Margins: 1 inch on top, bottom and both sides.
5. References & In-text Citations: APA style https://apastyle.apa.org/
6. Avoid unnecessary/excessive formatting.
7. Use Graphs/Tables/Charts/Diagrams containing data in EDITABLE format in MS Word (Pictures may be used as they are).
8. Tables: may be submitted in MS Excel or MS Word. All figures should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi, 1,500 pixels, minimum width 4 inches, and their format should be TIFF or JPEG. Do not provide excessive formatting for tables and figures. Due permissions should be taken for copyright-protected photographs/images.
9. Use British spellings throughout (‘labour’ instead of ‘labor’, ‘centre’ instead of ‘center’; ‘s’ instead of ‘z’ in ‘-ise’ and ‘-isation’ words).
10. Use double quotes throughout, and single quotes within double quotes for quotes within quotes. Spellings of words in quotations need not be changed.
11. Spell out numbers from one to nine and use figures for numbers 10 and above. However, for exact measurements use only figures (e.g., 3 km, 9 per cent…). Also, spell out numbers when starting a sentence (e.g., Nine/Ten/Eleven respondents said they never visited a primary health centre).
12. For Abbreviations/Acronyms/Contractions, provide expansion in brackets in the FIRST INSTANCE an acronym is used in the text.
13. Dashes: Use the longer M dash (—) (Alt + Ctrl + Num -) to indicate break in sentence and wherever it is used instead of commas for parentheses (e.g., The study highlighted the problems faced by company employees — many of them from middle class backgrounds — and possible interventions for their wellbeing). Use the midsize N dash (–) (Ctrl + Num -) to show number ranges and dates (e.g., 2–10, pages 18–22; 2023–2025; 3–5pm). Use the shorter hyphen (-) for compound adjectives (data-driven, home-bred…).

Levels of Plagiarism

• Level 0: Up to 10% similarity – No penalty
• Level 1: Above 10% to 40% similarity
• Level 2: Above 40% to 60% similarity

Penalties for Plagiarism

• Level 0: Minor similarities, no liability
• Level 1: Author required to re-submit a revised version within one month
• Level 2: Research Paper will be rejected