Instructions for Contributors

Asian Journal of Law and Society

Submissions

The Asian Journal of Law and Society welcomes the submission of research articles from
scholars and practitioners on socio-legal questions in an Asian context. Interdisciplinary
approaches are particularly encouraged which address law and society issues across Asia. In
this respect, the geographical focus of the Journal stretches from East Asia, South Asia and
South East Asia to Central Asia.
The Asian Journal of Law and Society will consider the submission of articles varying
in length from 5,000 to 7,500 words (short articles – including footnotes) up to 10,000 to
25,000 words (long articles – including footnotes). Review essays up to 10,000 words are also
welcome as well as book reviews between 1,000 and 1,500 words.
The Asian Journal of Law and Society adopts a single submission policy.
All articles are double-blind peer-reviewed.
Please visit http://journals.cambridge.org/openaccess for information on our open
access policies, compliance with major funding bodies, and guidelines on depositing your
manuscript in an institutional repository.
Authors should submit their anonymized manuscript using the ScholarOne system
(http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/asianjls). Please add on a separate page before the title page
of the same document the full contact details of the author, a bibliographical note of the
author containing affiliation details (including country) and acknowledgements, an abstract
of 100-150 words and five to six keywords. A references list should be included at the end of
the article. Please submit in a single Word (.doc) document (Times New Roman) – 1.5
spacing for text (12 pt), footnotes (sequential numbering – 10 pt) and references (12 pt).
All submissions should respect the style sheet of the Asian Journal of Law and Society.

Language

Articles should be written clearly in English and to a publishable standard. Authors for whom
English is not their first language are encouraged to have their articles proof-read by a
professional proof-reader or a native English speaker with publishing experience.

Style

Headings: All words in the subheadings are capitalized. No more than four levels of headings
should be used (excluding introduction and concluding remarks whose additional level of
heading follows the First-Level Heading except for the number):

I. First-Level Heading and Preceded by Capitalized Roman Numerals – Centred

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 A. Second-Level Heading Italicized and Preceded by Capital Letters – Centred

1. Third-Level Heading Italicized and Preceded by Arabic Numerals – Flush Left

a) Fourth-Level Heading Italicized and Preceded by Lower-Case Letters – Flush Left

Paragraphs: A line space should follow first and second level headings before the start of the
text. The first paragraph of each new section should be flush left. Subsequent paragraphs
should be left-indented by 0.25” or 0.5 cm.

Spelling: Use British English and Anglicize American English (except for references and
quotations).

Numbers and Dates: Spell out up to ten – from 11, use figures. Page references: pp. 345-6 but
pp. 456-78 (i.e. do not repeat the last number that is identical, except in the thousands, e.g.
1390-94). Use figures for when followed by “%” and other forms of measurement. For dates,
e.g. 1990s, 22 March 2013, etc.

Quotation Marks: Concepts, terms, and short phrases (less than or equal to 40 words) should
use double quotation marks. Use single quotation marks within a quotation. Punctuation
should be inside the quotation marks, with the exception when a single quotation mark is
followed by a double quotation mark, then the punctuation goes in between. Indent quotations
of more than 40 words (without double quotation marks) within a separate paragraph using
the following style: 10 pt, left-indented and right-indented by 0.25” or 0.5 cm.

Punctuation: For enumerations, please precede the final item with a comma and the serial
comma.

Foreign Words: Italicize uncommon foreign words or phrases.

Abbreviations: Use a full stop after abbreviations, for example, e.g., except for familiar
abbreviations such as ASEAN, EU, IMF, UN, US, WTO, etc.

Capitalization: Capitalize place names, (geographical parts of) regions, organizations,

government agencies, heads of states, important historical events, popular movements, titles
of legislation, e.g. New Delhi, Northeast Asia, Political Bureau, President Obama, Second
World War, May Fourth movement, etc.

Lists: Lists should be in 12 point Times New Roman, left-indented by 0.25” or 0.5 cm. For
numbered lists the format should be as follows:
1. Point 1
2. Point 2
And for bulleted lists:
 Point 1
 Point 2

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Tables and Figures

Tables, figures, and other charts should be numbered sequentially and with Arabic numbers
and should be included after the references list. It is the author’s responsibility to seek
permission to reproduce any materials subject to copyright.

Charges apply for all colour figures that appear in the print version of the journal. At the time
of submission, contributors should clearly state whether their figures should appear in colour
in the online version only, or whether they should appear in colour online and in the print
version. There is no charge for including colour figures in the online version of the Journal
but it must be clear that colour is needed to enhance the meaning of the figure, rather than
simply being for aesthetic purposes. If you request colour figures in the printed version, you
will be contacted by CCC-Rightslink who are acting on our behalf to collect Author Charges.
Please follow their instructions in order to avoid any delay in the publication of your article.

Footnotes and References

Citations should follow the format below and take the form of a brief footnote and more
detailed citation in the references list at the end of the article. It is the author’s responsibility
to ensure that all citations are correct.

Footnote References
Book Dezalay, Yves, & Bryant G. Garth (2010) Asian Legal
Dezalay & Garth
Revivals: Lawyers in the Shadow of Empire, Chicago:
(2010), p. xx.
The University of Chicago Press.

Book chapter Burgess (2006), p. Burgess, Patrick (2006) “A New Approach to Restorative
xx. Justice: East Timor’s Community Reconciliation
Processes,” in N. Roht-Arriaza & J. Mariezcurrena, eds.,
Transitional Justice in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond
Truth versus Justice, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 176-205.
Journal Gillespie (2011), p. Gillespie, John (2011) “Exploring the Limits of the
article xx. Judicialization of Urban Land Disputes in Vietnam.” 45
Law & Society Rev. 241-76.

Newspaper Li (2005). Li, Jing (2005) “World Bio Safety Standard Adopted,”
article China Daily, 20 May.

Thesis or Rashid (1987), p. Rashid, Abdur (1987) “The Islamization of Laws in

dissertation xx. Pakistan with Special Reference to the Status of
Women.” PhD diss., School of Oriental and African
Studies, University of London.
Bhargava (2012) Bhargava, Rajeev (2012) “How Should We Handle
Conference Religious Diversity: The Indian Way” Presented at
paper The Governance of Religious Diversity in China, India,
and Canada: An International Symposium, University of

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 Victoria, 22-24 November 2012.

Website Worldbank.org Worldbank.org (2013) “Poverty Reduction Strategies,”

(2013) http://go.worldbank.org/FXXJK3VEW0 (accessed 7
February 2013).

Note:
- Separate multiple references in the footnote section with semi-colons.
- Insert (a, b, etc.) after the year of publication when an author has published different
works in that same year – e.g.: Dezalay (2010a); Dezalay (2010b), etc.
- For repeated citations, use “Author, supra note x, p. xx.” for subsequent citations and
“ibid., p. xx.” for repetition in the immediate preceding footnote. Capitalize “Ibid., p.
xx.” when appearing as the first word in the footnote.
- Leave archival references in the footnote section.

Last updated 16th October 2020

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