Bhāvanā aims to be India’s premier mathematics magazine, with a broad readership of mathematics researchers, teachers and students in universities, colleges, and high schools, as well as the wider community interested in mathematics and its applications. Bhāvanā welcomes unsolicited manuscripts, or proposals for the same. Below are general guidelines for submissions to Bhāvanā. Comments and suggestions from readers in the form of letters to the Editor, or otherwise, are also welcome. The editors can be contacted at editor@bhavana.org.in.
Our readership
Bhāvanā publishes articles that appeal to a very diverse audience, who could be at various stages of their education, or pursuing diverse careers. This includes students, mathematicians employed in both academia and industry, researchers in fields related to mathematics, and enthusiasts with a recreational interest in mathematics.
While the print edition of Bhāvanā is sent only to those who have subscribed, the readership is projected to be much larger because Bhāvanā is freely accessible online. Many readers, therefore, while interested in mathematics, may not be actively engaged in mathematics research.
Reaching the audience
Each article should target a large section of the diverse readership of Bhāvanā. Thus, the article should be accessible to readers who may not be experts in mathematics. This should be the case particularly with articles having extensive mathematical content—only those articles of an expository nature will be carried in Bhāvanā. Therefore, each article must contain an introduction accessible to anyone, and the key points of each article must be clear to almost any reader.
Articles in Bhāvanā
Bhāvanā welcomes engaging articles that may fall into the following categories:
- Expositions of historical or contemporary developments in mathematics.
- Discussions of the professional aspects of mathematics, such as the practical side of conducting mathematical research, job opportunities, interviews with people who are mathematicians or are otherwise of interest to a mathematical readership, and coverage of conferences and workshops.
- Aspects of mathematics education at all levels.
- Reviews of books, documentaries, movies, plays and software related to mathematics.
Articles whose content does not fall into these categories may also be submitted and will be reviewed subject to editorial discretion.
Structure of the article
Feature article submissions, including those on mathematics, should be written in a way that confers long-term value upon them. This can be accomplished by submissions that incorporate the following aspects into their subject matter:
- Historical—Providing the context through a chronological thread of developments.
- Thematic—Discussing the central topic as part of a larger set of related ideas.
- Pedagogical—Including necessary mathematical preliminaries that make it self-contained.
- Applicable—Highlighting applications of “pure” or abstract topics through vivid examples, or through connections to more concrete and easily understood ideas.
- Narrative—Binding seemingly disparate mathematical ideas together in a clear and cohesive manner.
Format and length
An article in Bhāvanā can be of six to nine pages, but can be longer on occasion. Articles on professional topics and book reviews can be three to five pages in length. However, it should be borne in mind that shorter articles are more likely to be read in their entirety. The first page of each article will contain 400 or 500 words, with subsequent pages containing about 800 words per page. The page count includes space for illustrations such as figures, photos and pullquotes, as well as allowances made for displayed equations and a bibliography. Creative use of graphics and colour in illustrations is welcome and encouraged.
Editorial process
Considering the intended audience of Bhāvanā, any submissions that contain considerable amounts of specialist and technical language, jargon that may discourage readers, or long lists of references, may be rejected by the editors without external review.
Articles that clear editorial review are conveyed to external referees. With suggestions from referees, the authors become part of the editorial process of their submissions. This involves two-way communication with editors to decide upon changes, and any improvements necessary, to ensure that the submission is in line with Bhāvanā standards.