Submission Guidelines

Stage 1. Extended Abstracts
Submit an extended abstract of 1200 to 1500 words, not counting references. References should follow APA style. You can write alone or co-author with a senior mentor, but the lead and presenting author must be under 35.

Papers must be anonymised: take out all names, affiliations, and anything that identifies you, before you submit. If your submission is not anonymised, it may be rejected without review.

Stage 2. Camera-Ready Paper
If your extended abstract is accepted, revise it into a camera-ready version that addresses the reviewers' comments, and submit it by 30 January 2027 along with your presentation slides or poster. The camera-ready paper and any accompanying poster will be published in the Aarohan Compendium.

Criteria for Selection

Relevance, originality, rigour, and international or comparative value are the criteria for selection, reflecting Aarohan's aim to be a genuinely international seminar.

• Relevance and Thematic Integration: A clear connection to the seminar's core themes. The submission must successfully weave together the chosen Domain and Discourse. 

• Originality: A distinct argument, case, or perspective not already well covered in the literature. We highly value research that highlights marginalized, vernacular, or non-canonical design narratives and expands the plurality of voices in the field.

• Rigour and Methodological Soundness: Sound evidence and argument, whether historical, empirical, pedagogical or design-based.

• International or Comparative Value: A demonstration of how the research connects local specificities to global conversations, whether through a focus on India, another specific national or cultural context, or a comparative study between them.

• Clarity and Impact: The abstract must be well-organised and clearly written, articulating not just the research question and methods but also its actionable insights or potential contribution to advancing the conversation around design, culture, and communication.

Review Policy and Publication

All abstracts submitted to Aarohan 2027 undergo an initial desk review to evaluate their alignment with the conference's core domains and foundational discourses. 

Submissions that do not align with these criteria will be screened out during this internal stage, while those that pass proceed to a blind peer review focused on providing constructive, supportive feedback and determining initial acceptance. 

Upon acceptance, authors will be assigned to present their work as either an oral or poster presentation. They need to submit the same by a deadline (before the event). 

All accepted abstracts, regardless of presentation type, will be published in the official Aarohan Book of Abstracts with an assigned ISBN. 

Following the conference, select full papers will be chosen based on reviewer and chair recommendations to be published in the open-access Conference Proceedings, complete with dedicated DOIs for enhanced research visibility.

All acceptances will be conditional pending changes suggested by the reviewers. The accepted papers will be published after the conference. The authors of each accepted paper will receive detailed instructions on how to submit a final, publication-ready version of the paper. The paper will not be formally accepted for archival until the authors revise it and submit a final draft for approval by the Review Committee Chairs. Until such time, all papers will be considered "conditionally accepted".

Eligibility and Presenter Requirements

The lead and presenting author must be under 35, and can be a scholar, technologist, maker, designer, entrepreneur, or researcher from India or abroad. This same person must present the accepted paper or poster at the seminar.

If accepted, you must submit your slides or poster by the deadline given in your acceptance notice.

Aarohan Talks and Open Access

Selected speakers in each of the four domains give their consent to be filmed and archived as 'Aarohan Talks', a visual record of their lectures of 12-15 minutes each.

The presentation made at the event will be the shared property of the presenter and the organisers, and will be placed in the public domain.

Speakers also commit to the publication of their papers in open access by the organisers.