Editorial Board

Advisory Committee and Editor

Current and Past Issues

Guidelines for Authors

Ethics Guidelines

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BimaQuest is a publication of National Insurance Academy, Pune since 2001. It is published in the months of January, May and September every year. BimaQuest in now included in prestigious UGC-CARE list, EBSCO database and Google Scholar.

BimaQuest invites original contributions from academicians and practitioners.

Areas:

Contributions can be in one or more contemporary topics in the areas of: 

Contributions

In the form of Articles, Research Papers, Case Studies and Essays. We also invite Reviews of books that are yet to be published or published during last one year of BimaQuest publication in the above areas. 

• Guidelines for Authors
• Sample Article

Submissions in electronic form are to be sent to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Submission Cycle The submissions can be made throughout the year. Typically, a decision on the submission may take 4 to 6 months.

Ethics

Peer reviewed publications from academic institutions essentially offer a platform for sharing the views and ideas of research / theory / concepts. It is based on trust among various stakeholders viz. editors, peer reviewers, authors, readers and publishers. BimaQuest is interested in promoting ethical practices in its publication activities. Please refer to Ethics Guidelines

BimaQuest follows double blind review for shortlisting articles for publication. Authors whose contributions are published are given two print copies.

Editorial Board

Mr. G. N. Bajpai

Former Chairman, LIC of India and SEBI

Mr. H. Ansari

Former Member, IRDAI and Ex-Chair Professor, NIA

Mr. Mayur Ankolekar 

Consulting Actuary, Ankolekar & Co., Actuaries and Consultants 

Dr. K. S. Reddy

Faculty, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics 

Dr. Jacob Mankidy 

HR Consultant

Advisory Committee and Managing Editors

Director, NIA

Mr. V. Sathyakumar

Chair Professor (Financial Inclusion and Social Security)

Mr. Renjit Gangadharan

Chair Professor (General Insurance)

Mr. Mr. V.  Balagopal

Chair Professor (Life Insurance) 

Managing Editors

Dr. M.C. Patwardhan and Dr. S. Uma

Guidelines for Authors

National Insurance Academy, Pune invites original Articles / Research Papers / Case Study and Essays / abridged Thesis for publishing in its journal, BimaQuest in the following areas:

• Insurance, Pension and Social Security
• Economics of Insurance, Pension and Social Security
• Marketing and Consumer Behavior
• Legal and Regulatory aspects
• Human Resources and Organizational Development
• Finance and Investment
• Information Technology  
• Risk Management
• Financial Awareness and Literacy 

We also invite reviews of books that are yet to be published or published within a year of the date of BimaQuest publication. Manuscripts based on conceptual ideas, policy research as well as new ideas are also considered. 

Manuscripts received for publication in Bimaquest will undergo a preliminary editorial review and then sent for blind peer review before shortlisting for publication by the Editorial Board.

All published work should be acknowledged and references given. The author is responsible for obtaining written permission of any copyrighted material included in the submissions. Author(s) remain solely responsible for the accuracy of all material (notwithstanding any scrutiny and any alterations made) provided and views expressed. Submissions should not have been copyrighted or sent for possible publication anywhere else at the same time of submitting to the BimaQuest. If the paper is accepted for publication, the author(s) is / are required to sign a copyright declaration, thereby transferring copyright to the Publisher, viz., National Insurance Academy, Pune. 

The style should be reasonably formal, clear and understandable. The submissions for publication should be in the following format:  

• Title of article, Name(s) of author(s), designation, and contact details (phone numbers email id, and postal address) of all / corresponding author to be given in the first (separate) page of the article.
• Title of article in font size 14 with initial letter of each word in capital e.g. ‘Trends in Indian Bond Market’
• Abstract of about 100 words be given in the beginning of the article in Italics. It should give the main objectives and conclusions of the paper.
• At least 5 Keywords are to be included at the end of the abstract e.g. ‘Insurance, Distribution, Pricing, Solvency, Persistency’
• All pages of article be serially numbered. 
• Diagrams, Tables and Charts:
  • be serially numbered
  • have a heading or caption
  • the source be quoted wherever applicable
  • be prepared using two colors only
• All diagrams and figures should be submitted as separate files in jpeg, gif, tif format; tables are to be provided with XLS format. (even if they are embedded in the main text)
• We recommend restricting the text size to:
  • Articles 5000 words
  • Research Papers 10000 words
  • Essays / Abridged Thesis 15,000 words
  • Book Reviews 1500 words
• We advocate formatting:
  • the text in MS Word, Times New Roman with the font size of 11
  • Headings with font size of 14 and Sub- Headings with font size of 12
• Full References and citations be given at the end of the article as per the APA style  (For details: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2010/01/the-generic-reference-where.html). Blue book citation format is to be followed for legal articles (https://www.rgnul.ac.in/PDF/f7ff0636-9075-47f2-8e17-a5ba7be7a3cf.pdf). 

In case of URLs, the access date should be mentioned.

• References in the text should be in the form: Author’s Name (Year) e.g. ‘Rajkumar and Kannan (2014)’
• Appendices / Annexures: This should be placed after the references. 

Permission for the reprint / reproduction of copyrighted material of NIA may be taken by writing to the Editor of BimaQuest. The request / reprint permission request received from authors will be with the approval of the Advisory Board and with the acknowledgement of the original publication. 

 All correspondence should be addressed to: The Editor, BimaQuest

Case Study Guidelines

Sample Article

Ethics Guidelines

Peer reviewed publications from academic institutions essentially offer a platform for sharing the views and ideas of research / theory / concepts. It is based on trust among various stakeholders viz. editors, peer reviewers, authors, readers and publishers. Their contribution result in mutually beneficial and sustainable publication.

BimaQuest, The Journal of Insurance, Pension and Management, follows double blind–peer review and selection - process.  Editor(s) mediate exchange of views of authors and reviewers prior to publication, without disclosing identities. Based on the practices and learnings of our publication, BimaQuest, since 2001, ethics guidelines are prepared and presented with an aim to promote good practices among all stakeholders.

 1. Responsibilities of Stakeholders

 Authors:

The authors should make sure that:

• Original manuscripts not so far published or being submitted for publication elsewhere be submitted for publication consideration. A declaration to this effect is submitted to the Editor by all the author(s) before publication. Material presented in the seminars / conferences etc., need to be explicitly stated in the manuscript while submitting for publication.
• It is common in academic publishing that the contributions are from joint authors. In such submissions:
  • Corresponding author(s) and preferred citation style should be clearly identified and their contact details (phone, email and address) are to be provided.
  • Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution from conception of ideas to final version of the publication.
  • Information of all contributors to the manuscript should be provided. The contribution of those who are not eligible for authorship credit and persons / organizations funding the study / research should be listed in the acknowledgement with their approval.
• Contributions, such as case / research studies company specific data / practices, are to be accompanied with Release Letters from the organisations and / or funding agencies that funded the contributions. 

Editor(s):

Editing in Academic journal includes, inter alia, promoting responsible practices as well as transparency and integrity among all stakeholders. The primary responsibilities include provision of relevant information regarding submissions, undertaking steps for checking plagiarism, timely peer review and shortlisting of the material available for publication in transparent manner. Editor needs to disclose following information on the website (www.niapune.org.in):

• Type of manuscript (Articles /Research Paper / Case studies etc.) to be submitted for publication considerations and guidelines for such submissions, including requirements for submissions of funded manuscripts.
• Process followed for review of the submissions received for publications, including the submissions from authors having possible conflict of interest in the publication.
• Research misconduct, dual / multiple publication, plagiarism etc., and queries / dispute, if any, regarding authorship before publication, the manner of initiating corrective actions.  

Publisher:

• Copyright related statements, procedure followed for relinquishing copyright by author(s) and information regarding the possible inclusion of the contents in open access electronic sources / indexing services.
• Publication of errors or corrections in the material published, if noticed / brought to the notice, under a separate paper / column.
• Research misconduct, dual / multiple publication, plagiarism etc., and queries / dispute, if any, regarding authorship after publication, the manner of initiating corrective actions.
• Process to be followed for obtaining the permissions for reprint / translations of the manuscripts originally published. 

Peer Reviewers:

• Timely submission of the material after review.
• Material accepted for review to be treated in confidence until it is published.
• Intimation of information related to dual / multiple publication, originality of material etc., during the review process or after the publication to the publisher. 

2. Conflict of Interest

Conflict of Interest, if any, among stakeholders is to be addressed as follows: 

• Declaration of the interests and affiliations, wherever required, in the publication process by all the stakeholders of the publication.
• When editor(s)/members of Editorial Board is/are the contributor(s) to the journal, the editorial decisions involving their manuscript will be handled by the Advisory Committee.
• Submissions from employees of the publisher is treated like any other submission received for publication consideration and are subjected to the similar review and selection process followed for processing submissions received from non-employee contributors.
• In case of conflict of interests with the material being asked for a review, the peer reviewers are to decline the invitation stating the reasons / disclose the facts.

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Bimaquest is published thrice a year in the month of January, May and September. Following are the rates for subscribing and purchasing copies of Bimaquest.

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