The Department of Assamese, Gauhati University has been bringing out a research journal regularly since 1994. The name of the journal is Anvesan, (অন্বেষণ in Assamese) which means ‘Search’ or ‘Exploration’ in Assamese.

Anvesan was conceived as an annual bilingual research journal. Assamese and English research papers on language, literature and culture (preferably on language, literature and culture of Assam) were to be published in the journal. The first, i.e., 1994 issue of the journal was edited by Prof. Bhaba Prasad Chaliha, former Head of the Department of Assamese, Gauhati University. That was a special issue on Prof. Banikanta Kakati, a distinguished scholar and critic and the first Head of the department. Since then, several issues of the journal have been dedicated to critical evaluations of different eminent writers.

Since 1994, the journal has been a print-journal, printed at the Gauhati University Press, and published by the Registrar, Gauhati University. The journal acquired an ISSN (2250-2475) in 2011. It was subsequently shaped as a bilingual peer-reviewed research journal. The latest issue of the journal appeared in December 2018. That issue was edited by Dr. Taranee Deka, former Head of the department.

Publication of the 2019 issue got delayed due to the statewide political agitations of December 2019 and the subsequent lockdown due to Covid-19. As the unlocking process is on, the 2019 issue is presently in press and the 2020 issue expected to be brought out in time, i.e., in December 2020.

Authors may send their papers to the journal at any time, by using the following email ID: anvesan@gauhati.ac.in. For details, please see the section “Call for Papers and Book Reviews for Anvesan”.

Quality research papers and reviews of standard books are hereby invited from teachers and research scholars working on language, literature and culture (especially on language, literature and culture of Assam) for Anvesan, the peer-reviewed bilingual research journal (included in the UGC-CARE List) of the Department of Assamese, Gauhati University.

• The papers/book-reviews should be original, unpublished, not already submitted for publication or for any degree to somewhere else, and devoid of plagiarism. A ‘Declaration’ with statements on these points must accompany the paper/book-review.

• The first page of the paper/book-review should clearly indicate the title, the name(s) of the author(s), their designation(s) and institution(s), and their e-mail ID(s). Then, in case of a paper, there should be the ‘Abstract’, written within 150 words. The ‘Abstract’ should be followed by 5-6 ‘Keywords’. When it is a book-review, details of the reviewed book (title, author’s name, name of the publication house, year and place of publication, edition, and price) should occur in place of the ‘Abstract’. There is no need of ‘Keywords’ in case of a review.

• The second page should have the title of the paper/book-review at the top. Below the title, the main body of the paper/book-review should begin. No hint at the identity of the author(s) should be given on this page or on any page hereafter.

• The main body of the paper may be divided into convenient sections, if needed. It should then be followed by the ‘End-notes’ (foot-notes should be avoided) and the ‘References’ respectively. In case of a review, these are not important.

• References and citations should follow the instructions laid down in the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. When the MLA style does not help, style of a standard publication (such as of Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Routledge, EPW, and others) may be used to suit the particular (not all) reference(s) and citation(s).

• Black-and-white tables, graphs, diagrams, maps, and photographs may be attached with the papers/book-reviews. In case they are not original, proper citations and references will have to be given suitably.

• All legal responsibilities of comments, plagiarism, violation of copyright, and other disputable issues will be solely with the author(s) of the concerned paper/book-review. However, the copyright of the published papers/book-reviews will be with the Department of Assamese, Gauhati University. Statements on these points are parts of the aforesaid ‘Declaration’.

• The papers/book-reviews should be either in Assamese or in English. They should be neatly typed on Pagemaker 6.5/7.0 using Geetanjalilight (Ramdhenu or Winlipi), 14 point font in case they are in Assamese or on MS Word 2010/2013 using Times New Roman, 12 point font in case they are in English.

• The word limit for a paper is 4000. For a book review, it is 1500.

• Papers and book-reviews can be submitted all year round though the email anvesan@gauhati.ac.in.

• The authors will not be required to deposit any submission or publication or other fee.

• The Editorial Board of the journal will first select the papers/book-reviews for review. Then the Board will select a paper/book-review for publication if the reviewer(s) suggest it to do so, the paper/book-review is properly revised by the author(s) following the comments of the reviewer(s), and the paper passes a test for plagiarism.

• Anvesan is a print-journal. However, PDFs of the past issues are available online (see the Past Issues).

Anvesan (ISSN: 2250-2475), the peer-reviewed bilingual research journal (included in the UGC-CARE List) of the Department of Assamese, Gauhati University,  is committed to publish high quality papers and book-reviews with significant contribution to the fields of language, literature and culture (especially of language, literature and culture of Assam). All the articles and reviews published in the journal go through a double blind peer-review process. 

All submitted manuscripts are assessed by a designated member of the editorial board in terms of scope, originality, structure and contribution to the field. Should a manuscript fail in these regards, it will be rejected without undergoing external peer review.

Those that meet the minimum criteria are passed on to two experts for review. Whenever possible, referees are matched to the paper according to their expertise. Contributors are welcome to recommend the names of potential qualified reviewers though these recommendations are not necessarily used. The journal also maintains the right to add or change reviewers at any stage during the review process as circumstance dictates.

The reviewers will assess the manuscriptin terms of originality; conceptual and methodological framework; insightful discussion; contribution to the field and academic writing quality. After assessment, the reviewers will make any one of the following recommendations:

• Accept, with or without editorial revisions

• Invite the authors to revise their manuscript to address specific concerns before a final decision is reached

• Reject outright

Once the final comment of the reviewers is received, a decision is made about a submission within 2 or 3 weeks of submission.