Zeitgeist

Vision of the Journal

The vision of Zeitgeist is underpinned by four core principles:

1. Interdisciplinarity: The journal aims to transcend the silos of traditional academic disciplines by encouraging dialogue across diverse fields in the humanities and social sciences. It supports work that engages with multiple theoretical frameworks, methodological tools, and empirical contexts.
2. Inclusivity: The journal is committed to publishing voices from historically underrepresented regions, communities, and institutions. It prioritises contributions that address systemic inequalities and advocate for social justice.
3. Rigour and Excellence: All published content shall undergo a robust peer review process and meet the highest standards of academic integrity, conceptual depth, and methodological precision.
4. Regional Relevance and Global Engagement: While rooted in the intellectual ethos of Northeast India, Zeitgeist aspires to contribute to global scholarly debates, drawing connections between local experiences and transnational concerns.

In its inaugural phase, the journal will seek to consolidate an editorial and advisory board comprising scholars of repute, initiate partnerships with academic and research institutions, and establish clear protocols for publication ethics, peer review, and digital archiving. The ultimate objective is to position Zeitgeist as a flagship publication of Bahona College and a distinguished academic forum within South Asia and beyond.

Aims and Objectives

The central objective of Zeitgeist is to foster and disseminate knowledge that addresses the intellectual, ethical, political, and aesthetic challenges of our time. The journal will:

1. Serve as a platform for interdisciplinary scholarship that interrogates and reconfigures inherited disciplinary boundaries.
2. Promote regional scholarship from Northeast India and South Asia, situating it within global debates on democracy, development, identity, culture, and knowledge.
3. Facilitate the publication of theoretical interventions, empirical investigations, conceptual analyses, and innovative methodologies.
4. Encourage scholarly contributions that are attentive to the politics of knowledge, the ethics of representation, and the necessity of decolonial critique.

Scope of Contributions

Zeitgeist welcomes a variety of scholarly genres including, but not limited to:

1. Research articles presenting original theoretical or empirical work.
2. Review essays synthesising major debates or paradigmatic shifts in a given field.
3. Conceptual papers offering new frameworks or methodological interventions.
4. Critical reflections, dialogues, and interviews with scholars and public intellectuals.
5. Book reviews engaging with recent and significant publications in relevant domains.

Zeitgeist is envisioned as a dynamic, inclusive, and forward-looking academic journal that strives to elevate critical scholarship, foster academic community, and advance epistemic justice. It seeks to become a leading platform for interdisciplinary discourse and to meaningfully contribute to the evolving landscape of global research in the humanities and social sciences.

Disciplinary and Thematic Scope

The intellectual vision of Zeitgeist: An Interdisciplinary Journal in Humanities and Social Sciences is grounded in a commitment to disciplinary breadth and thematic inclusivity. The journal acknowledges that the pressing challenges of the contemporary world, ranging from ecological devastation and technological disruption to social inequality and cultural transformation, cannot be fully apprehended through isolated disciplinary lenses. Accordingly, Zeitgeist is conceived as a scholarly platform that encourages transdisciplinary dialogue, methodological experimentation, and the decolonisation of knowledge structures.

The journal welcomes submissions from both established and emerging scholars working across a wide array of fields within the humanities and social sciences. Submissions must be theoretically informed, methodologically rigorous, and reflective of original research or critical synthesis. Contributions that foreground intersectional, marginalised, and non-Western epistemologies are particularly encouraged.

Below is an indicative, though not exhaustive, outline of the disciplinary and thematic domains within the journal's purview:

(A) Humanities

1. History

• Political, social, economic, intellectual, and environmental histories.
• Subaltern, oral, memory-based, and indigenous historiographies.
• Colonialism, post-coloniality, decolonisation, and resistance movements.
• Regional histories of Northeast India, South Asia, and comparative transnational perspectives.

2. Philosophy

• Epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, and aesthetics.
• Political philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of language.
• Non-Western traditions including classical Indian, Buddhist, and Indigenous philosophies.
• Environmental ethics, phenomenology, existentialism, and critical theory.

3. Literary Studies

• Comparative literature and world literatures.
• Postcolonial literatures, Indigenous literatures, diaspora literatures.
• Feminist and queer literatures; subcultural and countercultural narratives.
• Literary theory, narratology, genre studies, and cultural textual analysis.

4. Linguistics

• Sociolinguistics, multilingualism, language contact and change.
• Language endangerment, revitalisation, and linguistic human rights.
• Applied linguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics, and syntax.
• Translation studies and translingual practices.

5. Religious and Theological Studies

• Comparative theology, ritual studies, philosophy of religion.
• Indigenous spiritualities and syncretic traditions.
• Textual interpretation and hermeneutics.
• Religion and politics, secularism, fundamentalism, and interfaith dialogue.

6. Cultural, Aesthetic, and Visual Studies

• Aesthetic theory, iconography, performance and theatre studies.
• Film studies, television, photography, and popular visual cultures.
• Fashion studies, material culture, and everyday aesthetics.
• Digital cultures, gaming, and new media ecologies.

(B) Social Sciences

1. Sociology

• Social stratification, caste, class, gender, race, and ethnicity.
• Urban and rural sociology, sociology of education, and social change.
• Sociology of knowledge, science and technology, and deviance.
• Environmental sociology, medical sociology, and sociology of the body.

2. Anthropology

• Cultural and social anthropology, kinship and ritual studies.
• Medical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and visual ethnography.
• Ethnographic fieldwork, reflexive methodologies, and autoethnography.
• Indigenous knowledge systems and museum anthropology.

3. Political Science and International Relations

• Political theory, governance, state formation, and democratic practices.
• Geopolitics, diplomacy, and international institutions.
• Nationalism, citizenship, identity, and civil society.
• South Asian politics, insurgency, and post-conflict transitions.

4. Economics

• Development economics, political economy, informal economies.
• Feminist economics, labour studies, and globalisation.
• Ecological economics, environmental sustainability, and rural development.
• Behavioural and institutional economics.

5. Law and Legal Studies

• Jurisprudence, constitutional law, and legal anthropology.
• Access to justice, human rights, and customary law.
• Critical legal studies, transitional justice, and legal pluralism.
• Law, gender, caste, and marginalised communities.

6. Education

• Critical pedagogy, curriculum design, and educational policy.
• Multilingual education, inclusion, and disability studies.
• Gender in education, access, and equity.
• ICTs in education and alternative pedagogical practices.

7. Psychology

• Cognitive, developmental, and cultural psychology.
• Social psychology, mental health, and trauma studies.
• Educational and counselling psychology.
• Psychology of marginalised and neurodiverse populations.

(C) Interdisciplinary and Emerging Fields

• Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Studies: Feminist theory, intersectionality, queer temporality, masculinities, trans identities.
• Indigenous and Tribal Studies: Customary knowledge, land rights, resistance politics, oral traditions.
• Environmental Humanities: Climate ethics, ecocriticism, animal studies, posthumanist thought.
• Migration and Diaspora Studies: Statelessness, displacement, diasporic identities, border regimes.
• Peace and Conflict Studies: Transitional justice, reconciliation, ethnic conflict, insurgency.
• Media and Communication Studies: Critical media theory, journalism ethics, digital publics, algorithmic governance.
• Digital Humanities: Data ethics, computational analysis, interactive storytelling, network theory.
• Science, Technology, and Society (STS): Techno-politics, innovation, surveillance, indigenous technologies.
• Caste and Social Justice: Dalit studies, Ambedkarite thought, caste in law and politics.
• Borderland Studies: Statelessness, cartographic anxiety, identity on the margins.

Zeitgeist is especially interested in research that destabilises canonical assumptions, decentres Eurocentric epistemologies, and foregrounds the lived experiences and intellectual traditions of marginalised communities. The journal actively encourages collaborative, multi-author, and inter-institutional submissions and values both qualitative and mixed-method approaches.

Advisory & Editorial Board

Current Members of the Advisory Board

For the inception phase of the journal, commencing from the calendar year 2025, the Advisory Board shall comprise the following distinguished members:

In addition to the abovementioned members, the Principal, the Vice-Principal, and the Coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of Bahona College shall be the Patrons of the journal in their ex-officio capacity.

Current Members of the Editorial Board

For the inception phase of the journal, commencing from the calendar year 2025, the Editorial Board shall comprise the following members from Bahona College:

Comprehensive and Legally Binding Author Guidelines

Effective from May 2025. All submissions must comply in entirety. These guidelines must be read in conjunction with the Author Declaration and Compliance Form.

1. Aims and Scope of the Journal

Zeitgeist is a peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal published by Bahona College, Jorhat, Assam. It is devoted to promoting rigorous, critical, and socially engaged scholarship in the fields of humanities and social sciences. The journal provides a platform for original research that interrogates disciplinary boundaries, engages with decolonial and intersectional epistemologies, and contributes to contemporary debates of regional and global significance.

While the journal has a strong regional anchoring in Northeast India, its thematic and methodological reach is global. Submissions are particularly encouraged from underrepresented regions, communities, and traditions of thought that challenge dominant epistemic paradigms and seek to transform the academy's role in society.

2. Types of Contributions Accepted

The journal accepts the following categories of submissions:

1. Research Articles (5,000–7,000 words) - These are expected to be original research contributions offering new insights, empirical evidence, or theoretical arguments. Submissions must clearly state the research problem, engage with relevant scholarly debates, outline the methodology employed, present findings or arguments in a coherent manner, and conclude with implications or recommendations.
2. Review Essays (4,000–6,000 words) - These essays provide critical engagements with scholarly literature or conceptual developments in a particular field. They must go beyond summary to offer analytical synthesis, critique, comparative framing, or propose new directions in the literature.
3. Thematic Commentaries (2,500–3,500 words) - These short articles offer timely reflections on political, social, cultural, or academic developments. They must be theoretically informed, well-referenced, and grounded in relevant scholarly or empirical contexts.
4. Interviews (Flexible length; prior approval required) - Zeitgeist publishes interviews with scholars, activists, writers, and public intellectuals whose work contributes to the journal's thematic focus. All interviews must be accompanied by a contextualising introduction and must be edited for coherence, accuracy, and consent.
5. Book Reviews (1,000–1,500 words) - Reviews should critically assess academic books published in the past three years. The review must position the book within its field, evaluate its contributions and limitations, and avoid mere summarisation.

All word counts mentioned include the main text, endnotes, references, tables, and figures.

3. Submission Process

All manuscripts must be submitted via email to: zeitgeistjournal.bahona@gmail.com.

The subject line must follow this format: "Zeitgeist Submission – [Author's Full Name] – [Submission Type]".

Each submission must include the following documents as attachments:

1. The anonymised main manuscript file in .docx (Microsoft Word) format.
2. A separate Title Page containing:
   • Full names of all authors
   • Institutional affiliations and current designations
   • ORCID iDs (strongly recommended)
   • Email and phone number of the corresponding author
3. A scanned and signed copy of the Author Declaration and Compliance Form. Digital signatures are permitted.

Manuscripts that do not include all required components will be considered incomplete and will not be processed for review.

Each manuscript submitted to the journal shall list NO MORE THAN THREE (3) AUTHORS. Submissions exceeding this limit will not be considered for review.

4. Language and Style Requirements

All manuscripts must be written in formal, academic British English. Submissions containing excessive grammatical errors, inconsistent usage, or informal tone will be returned for revision without peer review.

• Font: Times New Roman
• Font Size: 12-point
• Line Spacing: 1.5
• Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all sides
• Alignment: Justified
• Heading Hierarchy: Authors must use consistent formatting for headings (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3)
• Pagination: All pages must be numbered consecutively in the footer

Avoid colloquial expressions, contractions, and overly ornamental language. The tone should reflect precision, clarity, and intellectual engagement.

5. Abstract and Keywords

All manuscripts, except book reviews and interviews, must include an abstract and keywords.

• The abstract should be between 300 and 350 words.
• It must succinctly state the research problem, theoretical approach, methodology, key findings, and significance of the work.
• Include five to six keywords, listed alphabetically and separated by commas.
• These should not repeat the title but reflect the conceptual and thematic terrain of the submission.

The abstract serves as the primary basis for indexing and reviewer selection and should be written carefully and independently of the main text.

6. Citation and Referencing: APA 7th Edition Style Guide

Zeitgeist strictly follows the APA (American Psychological Association) 7th Edition referencing style. Submissions that do not adhere to APA will be returned for correction.

a) In-text Citation Rules

• Use the author–date format for all in-text citations.
• One author: (Sen, 2020)
• Two authors: (Desai & Kumar, 2021)
• Three or more authors: (Roy et al., 2018)
• Page numbers must be included when quoting: (Spivak, 1988, p. 274)
• Narrative citation: Chakrabarty (2000) argues that…

b) Reference List Format

The reference list must be arranged in alphabetical order, with a hanging indent format.

• Books: Spivak, G. C. (1988). In other worlds: Essays in cultural politics. Routledge.
• Edited Books: Thapar, R. (Ed.). (2003). Cultural pasts: Essays in early Indian history. Oxford University Press.
• Book Chapters: Guha, R. (1997). Subaltern studies: Project and critique. In A. Ludden (Ed.), Reading subaltern studies (pp. 3–44). Permanent Black.
• Journal Articles: Chatterjee, P. (1993). The nation and its fragments. Modern Asian Studies, 27(3), 263–288. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X00011123
• Web Sources: Klein, N. (2007). The shock doctrine: The rise of disaster capitalism. https://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine

c) Additional Notes

• Only capitalise the first word of a title/subtitle and any proper nouns.
• Do not italicise article titles; only italicise journal names and book titles.
• All cited works must appear in the reference list and vice versa.
• Use endnotes sparingly for explanatory purposes only—not for citations.

7. Peer Review and Anonymisation Protocol

All submissions undergo a double-blind peer review. Authors must ensure:

• The manuscript is fully anonymised, with no author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, or self-identifying citations.
• Citations of the author's previous work must be anonymised in-text as (Author, Year) and listed as "Author" in the bibliography.
• A separate file (the title page) must contain all author details and declarations.

Failure to comply will lead to immediate desk rejection.

8. Use of Tables, Figures, and Images

All visual material must be embedded within the main text at appropriate points and:

• Numbered sequentially (e.g., Table 1, Figure 2)
• Accompanied by a clear caption and source attribution
• Submitted separately as high-resolution files (minimum 300 DPI) in JPEG or PNG format, where applicable
• Include alt text descriptions for all figures (for accessibility)

Authors must obtain written permission for the use of any copyrighted material and submit proof.

9. Research Ethics and Institutional Compliance

All research must comply with institutional, national, and international ethical standards. Authors must:

• Disclose whether the research involved human participants, sensitive data, or vulnerable populations
• Provide evidence of Ethical Review Board (ERB)/IRB approval, including protocol/reference number, in both manuscript and Declaration Form
• Ensure that informed consent was obtained and documented
• Avoid deception, coercion, or unauthorised data gathering

The editorial board reserves the right to request documentation of ethical approval at any stage.

10. Plagiarism, Data Integrity, and Research Misconduct

Zeitgeist maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism and academic fraud. All submissions are scanned using anti-plagiarism software. Any of the following will result in immediate rejection, retraction, and institutional reporting:

• Plagiarised text (even unintentionally)
• Fabricated or falsified data
• Improper reuse of previously published work without disclosure ("self-plagiarism")

Authors must also ensure that:

• All data used is verifiable and retained for audit, if requested
• Datasets not included in the manuscript are accessible via repositories or supplementary files

11. Authorship Policy

All named authors must satisfy the four ICMJE authorship criteria:

1. Substantial contribution to conception, design, data, or analysis
2. Drafting or critical revision of the manuscript
3. Final approval of the version submitted
4. Accountability for the integrity of the entire work

The following are not acceptable:

• Guest, ghost, or honorary authorship
• Post-submission additions or deletions without written consent from all authors

All authors must sign the Author Declaration Form.

12. Conflicts of Interest and Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose any potential conflict of interest—financial, institutional, professional, or personal—that may affect the interpretation of results.

A Funding Statement must accompany all submissions that received financial support, including grants, institutional assistance, or third-party consultancy.

13. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

If any AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, Midjourney) were used:

• Their use must be clearly disclosed under a section titled "Author Note on AI Use"
• Authors must specify how the tool was used (e.g., language editing, figure generation)
• AI tools cannot be listed as authors
• Final responsibility for all content lies solely with human contributors

Failure to disclose AI usage will be considered a breach of publication ethics.

14. Copyright, Licensing, and Article Processing Charges (APC)

• Upon acceptance, all articles will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
• Authors retain copyright
• Zeitgeist retains the non-exclusive right to distribute and archive the work
• An Article Processing Charge (APC) of INR 500 is payable after final acceptance. This is a one-time, non-refundable fee to support open-access infrastructure
• No fees are charged for submission, peer review, or access.

15. Editorial Decisions and Appeals

All editorial decisions are based on peer review, originality, relevance, and compliance.

Review outcomes: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject

• Authors will receive detailed reviewer comments and editorial instructions
• Revised submissions must be accompanied by a point-wise response note
• Appeals must be made in writing and will be reviewed by an external advisory member in accordance with COPE principles

16. Final Compliance

Submissions that fail to comply with these guidelines in full will not be considered for peer review.

All authors must submit a completed and signed Author Declaration and Compliance Form, available on the official website or upon request.

All communication must be addressed to: zeitgeistjournal.bahona@gmail.com

Journal Submission Form

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Call for Papers

ZEITGEIST: An Interdisciplinary Journal in Humanities and Social Sciences (Peer-reviewed)

Bahona College, Jorhat

Bahona College invites scholarly contributions for the upcoming issue of Zeitgeist, a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal dedicated to original research in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Submission Deadline: 30 June 2025

Submission Link: https://bahonacollege.edu.in/journal-z/about_us

Documents to be Submitted:

1. Abstract (300–350 words) with 5–6 keywords
2. Full Paper (anonymised manuscript)
3. Cover Page (including full author details)
4. Signed Author Declaration and Compliance Form

Submission Format:

1. Acceptable submissions include research articles, review essays, thematic commentaries, or book reviews.
2. Manuscripts must be in MS Word format, typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, 1.5 line spacing, and justified alignment.
3. All citations and references must adhere strictly to APA Style (7th Edition).

Processing Fee: ₹ 500 (to be paid upon acceptance)

Important Dates:

• 25 June 2025: Early Bird Submission Deadline
• 30 June 2025: Final Paper Submission Deadline
• 15 July 2025: Notification of Acceptance
• 20 July 2025: Processing Fee Payment Deadline
• August 2025: Publication of the Issue

Editorial Board:

• Dr. Kasturi Goswami – Department of Economics
• Bikram Bora – Department of History
• Dr. Reema Rabha – Department of Economics
• Dr. Munmi Bora – Department of English

For any queries, contact:

Email: editor.zeitgeist@bahonacollege.edu.in

Contact

We welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions. Please feel free to reach out to us using the contact information below:

Email: editor.zeitgeist@bahonacollege.edu.in