American Journal of Comparative Law

NOTICE TO SUBMITTERS OF JOURNAL POLICIES

The American Journal of Comparative Law receives hundreds of submissions per year and accepts only six to eight percent for publication. Authors are welcome to submit as often as they wish; some preference is given to those who have not published recently in the Journal (within the last three years).

Please be aware that due to the high number of submissions we receive, it should not take more than a year (and occasionally more) from acceptance of a paper publication in the print edition of the journal. Individual articles are posted online, as they become available, before the full issue is published.

Please read the following policies carefully before submitting to maximize the chance of your article being accepted. These policies are also available at our website, this also contains the full instructions to authors and details regarding permissions, archiving, copyright and ethics so please familiarise yourself with these Author Guidelines

Submission

Submissions should be made online via Scholastica at [https://american-journal-of-comparative-law.scholasticahq.com]. Each manuscript must be accompanied by a statement that it has not been published elsewhere and that it is not under review for publication elsewhere.

Peer Review Process

Articles should be between 10,000 and 20,000 words in length (including footnotes and endnotes).
The Journal rarely publishes papers of more than 20,000 words or less than 10,000.

If an article is accepted for publication in the Journal, it will be the author’s responsibility to ensure that all citations are in footnotes and conform in all respects to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 20th Edition. Guidelines for foreign citations can be found in Table 2 of the Bluebook.

All submissions must be exclusive to the American Journal of Comparative Law. If you have submitted this article to any other English-language journal, you will be required to withdraw these other submissions to receive consideration.

All submitted articles are subject to peer review. Please expect the review process to take around 10 weeks, depending on how quickly a reviewer can be found.

Please ensure that no identifying information is included in your article. This includes any mention of your name, institution, or special characteristics connected to you as an author. (e.g., “This work was carried out by student researchers at XYZ School of Law” if you are on faculty at XYZ.)

When you submit your article on Scholastica, you will be asked to indicate people who have seen or commented upon previous drafts of your article (or with whom you have discussed your article with in detail) This is to help ensure blind peer-review.

If your article has been posted to an institutional repository, website or SSRN, or other online source, please remove the article from that location to ensure blind peer-review.

We cannot accommodate requests for expedited review, nor can we advise a submitter on the appropriateness of their articles for our journal. The articles we receive are not reviewed in-house, but by scholars at many different institutions.

For further information on the Journal’s review process or a manuscript’s progress, please contact the Managing Editor at ajcl.editorialoffice@paeditorial.co.uk. If you have already submitted a manuscript, please communicate with the Managing Editor via the “Discussions” tool on your Scholastica submission page.

Language:
Manuscripts must be submitted in English (American spelling). Quotations from non-English language sources are acceptable within the body of your article and footnotes, but you should translate these into English for the benefit of our readers.

If English is not your first language, before submitting your manuscript, consider having it professionally edited for proper language, style, and grammar. This is not a mandatory step, but will ensure the academic content of your paper is fully understood by the journal’s editors and reviewers. Such editing does not guarantee that your manuscript will be accepted for publication. Oxford Journals maintains a list of language editing services here. There are other language editing companies that offer similar services. The costs of language editing services are the responsibility of the author.

Style and Formatting:
Articles must be in a Microsoft Word-compatible format (.doc or .docx preferred) with one inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced text, and single-spaced footnotes. PDF’s are not accepted.

Do not include your name or any acknowledgements within your article to ensure your anonymity for peer reviews. This should be included in your separate information sheets (see below).

Prior to submission, please use Microsoft Word’s Document Inspector feature to remove personal information that may compromise your identity. (“File” Tab -> “Check for Issues” -> “Inspect Document” -> check box for “Document Properties and Personal Information” -> “Remove All”).

We do not publish Table of Contents in articles.

Do not include Roman numerals (I, II, etc.) in the headings of your introduction and conclusion. This is to ensure consistency with internal citations.

To ensure articles are accessible, please submit alt text for images, graphs, and tables included in your paper. For detailed instructions on how to draft alt text visit the instructions to author at: [https://academic.oup.com/ajcl/pages/Author_Guidelines?login=false#:~:text=Figure accessibility and alt text]

Editing and general advice;
We are not a student-run journal and do not have a large staff to edit your article. Editing remains the primary responsibility of the author.

Information Sheets:
In a separate document with your submission, please include:

1. Your name;
2. An author’s footnote, including a brief bio and acknowledgements;
3. Your contact information (e-mail, mailing address including Country, phone, and/or fax number)
4. An abstract of no more than 300 words
5. Five to ten keywords; and
6. A “category” that best fits your article from the list below. Only one category may be selected from this list.

*Comparative/Transnational Law
*Comparative/Transational Legal Theory
*Comparative/Transnational Legal History
*Legal Traditions/Legal Culture
*Private International Law/Conflict of Laws
*Religious Law
*“Foreign” Law (e.g. Brazilian, Korean etc)
*International, Supranational Law
*Unification of Law

This document will not be seen or provided to the peer reviewer, but is for use of the Editors-in-Chief and Journal staff.