Author Guidelines

Manuscript Preparation and Submission Guidelines

The Jurisocial Journal of International Law welcomes original scholarly contributions addressing significant issues in international law and related interdisciplinary fields. Authors are requested to follow the guidelines below to facilitate efficient editorial assessment and peer review.

Section A: Formatting Requirements

File Format

Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Files should be editable and should not be password-protected, locked, or otherwise restricted.

Length

As a general guideline, manuscripts should normally be between 6,000 and 10,000 words, including footnotes but excluding the reference list, unless otherwise agreed with the editorial team.

Submissions outside this range may be considered where the subject matter or nature of the contribution reasonably warrants a different length.

Page Layout and Numbering

Manuscripts should be prepared on A4-sized pages with consistent margins and formatting. All pages should be numbered consecutively.

Headings and Subheadings

Authors should use a clear and logical heading structure. Ordinarily, manuscripts should not exceed three levels of headings and subheadings. Heading levels should be consistently formatted throughout the manuscript.

Font and Formatting

Unless otherwise specified, manuscripts should be prepared using Times New Roman, 12-point font, with clear and consistent formatting throughout the main text.

Headings should be appropriately distinguished from the main text using consistent formatting and hierarchy.

Language

Manuscripts must be submitted in English and should be written in clear, coherent, and academically appropriate language. Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts have been adequately proofread before submission.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be used sparingly. A term should normally be written in full at its first appearance, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Standard legal and international-law abbreviations may be used where appropriate.

Legal Authorities and Citations

Authors should ensure that legislation, treaties, conventions, judicial decisions, institutional documents, international instruments, and other legal authorities are accurately identified and cited.

Where appropriate, authors should provide sufficient information to enable readers to locate the cited legal authority or source.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout the manuscript and should be used consistently for citations and explanatory material.

Authors should ensure that footnotes are complete, accurate, and correspond to the sources cited in the manuscript.

Tables, Figures, and Other Illustrations

Tables, figures, charts, and other illustrations should be numbered consecutively and referred to in the text.

Each table or figure should have a clear title or caption and should be placed as close as practicable to its first reference in the manuscript.

Authors are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions for copyrighted third-party material included in tables, figures, photographs, or other illustrations.

Section B: Manuscript Organization

The precise organization of a manuscript may vary according to its subject and methodology. However, research articles should generally contain the following elements.

Title

The title should be concise, informative, and accurately reflect the subject and scope of the article. Authors should avoid unnecessary abbreviations and overly general titles.

Author Information

For the purposes of the initial submission, authors should provide:

  • Full name of each author;

  • Institutional affiliation;

  • Country of affiliation;

  • ORCID iD, where available; and

  • Email address of the corresponding author.

Because the journal follows a double-blind peer-review process, identifying information should be provided in a separate title page or submission metadata and should not appear in the anonymized manuscript submitted for peer review.

Abstract

Each research article should include a concise abstract of approximately 150–250 words.

The abstract should clearly communicate the principal subject or research problem, objective, methodology or analytical approach where applicable, major findings or arguments, and principal conclusion or contribution.

The abstract should be understandable independently of the main text and should not contain unnecessary citations or unexplained abbreviations.

Keywords

Authors should provide 5–8 keywords or key phrases that accurately represent the principal themes, concepts, legal issues, jurisdictions, or subject areas addressed in the article.

Keywords should be selected to improve the discoverability and indexing of the article.

Introduction

The introduction should establish the background and context of the research and clearly identify the principal research problem, question, or issue addressed by the article.

Where appropriate, the introduction should explain:

  • The significance of the research;

  • The purpose and objectives of the study;

  • The principal research question or questions;

  • The relevant legal or scholarly context;

  • The contribution of the article; and

  • The structure of the article.

Literature Review and Research Gap

Where appropriate, the manuscript should engage critically with relevant existing scholarship and identify the principal research gap, unresolved issue, doctrinal uncertainty, or scholarly debate to which the article contributes.

Authors should demonstrate familiarity with relevant contemporary and foundational literature and should accurately acknowledge the contributions of previous scholars.

For doctrinal or conceptual articles where a conventional literature review is not appropriate, authors may adapt this section to reflect the nature of the research.

Research Methodology and Analytical Framework

Where applicable, authors should clearly explain the methodology and analytical approach used in the research.

Depending on the nature of the article, this may include:

  • Doctrinal legal research;

  • Comparative legal analysis;

  • Socio-legal research;

  • Empirical research;

  • Qualitative or quantitative methods;

  • Case-study analysis;

  • Historical or contextual analysis; or

  • Interdisciplinary approaches.

Authors should provide sufficient information to enable readers to understand how the research was conducted and how the conclusions were reached.

Main Analysis / Findings and Discussion

The principal body of the article should present the author's analysis, arguments, findings, and discussion in a clear and logically organized manner.

Authors should distinguish, where appropriate, between established legal or empirical facts, interpretation, analysis, and normative arguments.

Legal authorities, scholarly sources, empirical evidence, and other supporting materials should be appropriately cited.

Where tables, figures, empirical findings, or other data are used, they should be clearly explained and interpreted rather than merely reproduced.

Conclusion

The conclusion should provide a concise synthesis of the principal findings, arguments, or conclusions of the research.

Where appropriate, authors may identify implications, recommendations, limitations, or areas requiring further research. The conclusion should not introduce substantial new arguments or evidence that have not been addressed in the main body of the article.

References / Bibliography

Authors must provide complete and accurate references for all sources cited in the manuscript.

The journal encourages the use of appropriate reference-management software such as EndNote, Zotero, or Mendeley, although use of such software is not mandatory.

Citation and reference style should be applied consistently throughout the manuscript in accordance with the journal's stated citation requirements. Where the journal specifies APA 7th Edition, authors should follow the current APA 7th Edition requirements consistently.

For legal authorities, authors should ensure that citations are sufficiently detailed to allow readers to identify and locate the relevant legislation, treaty, judicial decision, institutional document, or other authority.

Additional Submission Requirements

Authors should ensure that the submitted manuscript:

  • Is original and has not been published previously in substantially the same form;

  • Is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal;

  • Complies with the journal's publication-ethics and research-integrity requirements;

  • Contains appropriate citations and acknowledgments;

  • Includes a disclosure of funding, where applicable;

  • Includes a conflict-of-interest statement;

  • Identifies any relevant ethical approval or research-ethics considerations, where applicable; and

  • Has been carefully checked for language, formatting, citations, and references before submission.

Manuscripts that do not substantially comply with these requirements may be returned to the authors for correction before entering the peer-review process.

The Jurisocial Journal of International Law reserves the right to update these guidelines periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, international legal research, citation practices, indexing requirements, and publication-ethics standards.