Guidance for Authors

The Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies welcomes contributions from academics and practitioners alike. Contributions should in some way address the application of international law to humanitarian crises, which includes armed conflicts and disasters.

The Journal publishes four types of papers:

  • Articles (8,000–10,000 words excluding footnotes). An article makes a significant and original contribution to scholarship by engaging in a detailed analysis of a topical international law issue;
  • Notes (3,000–5,000 words). A note offers a critical comment on a recent development, such as a significant case, or responds to an article;
  • Reviews (1,000–2,000 words). A review briefly and objectively presents an individual book, movie, series, comic or other artistic performance, and provides a critical analysis on its main findings and/or discusses its significance for the readers of the Journal;
  • Review essays (3,000–7,000 words). A review essay is a more extensive and argumentative contribution that discusses in detail the findings of one or more books or other works in the context of a common/overarching theme, taking into account how the reviewed item fits the existing scholarship on the topic.

Articles, notes and review essays are subject to a double-blind peer review process described below. Book reviews are dealt with internally by the reviews editor.

Please note that while the word counts mentioned above are exclusive of footnotes, the Journal discourages the use of discursive footnotes.

Ethical and Legal Conditions

Please note that submission of an article for publication in any of Brill’s journals implies that you have read and agreed to Brill’s Ethical and Legal Conditions.

The publication of a manuscript in a peer-reviewed work is expected to follow standards of ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: authors, editors, and reviewers. For more details, please refer to Brill’s Publication Ethics .

You are required to declare any competing interests, including any personal involvement or direct financial interest in a case or other matter being discussed. You are also required to disclose any financial support related to the manuscript.

Online Submission

The Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies only accepts online submissions. Authors should submit your manuscript via the Editorial Manager (EM) online submission system.

First-time users of EM need to register first. Go to the website and click on the ‘Register Now’ link in the login section. Enter the information requested, including a preferred username and password. If you forget your username and password, click on the ‘Send Login Details’ link in the login section, and enter the e-mail address that you used when registering. Your username and a link to create a new password will then be e-mailed to you.

Prior to submission, you are encouraged to read these ‘Instructions for Authors’. When submitting via the website, you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. A revised document is uploaded the same way as the initial submission. The system automatically generates an electronic (PDF) proof, which is then used for reviewing purposes. All correspondence, including the editors’ request for revision and final decision, is sent by e-mail.

Peer Review and Editorial Policy

Double-blinded Peer Review

The Journal uses a double-blind peer review system, which means that a manuscript’s author(s) do not know who the reviewers are, and the reviewers do not know the names of the author(s). When yousubmit your article via EM, you will be asked to submit a separate title page which includes the full titleof the manuscript as well as the names and complete contact details of all authors. This page will not beaccessible to the referees. All other files (manuscript, figures, tables, etc.) should not contain anyinformation identifying the author(s), their institutions, etc. The names of these files and the document properties should also be anonymised.

Contact Addresses

Revisions

If the editors believe a manuscript accepted for publication needs minor revisions – including minorshortening, correction of errors in punctuation, spelling and style – such changes may be made by theeditors. Manuscripts will not be sent back to you for review if the changes do not alter the meaning orsense of the original text, although you retain the ability to make minor corrections to the proofs.

Resubmission

You may be requested to resubmit a manuscript. (Re)submission of a manuscript does not automatically guarantee publication.

Submissions Originally Published in Another Language

If you wish to have a manuscript previously published in a foreign language considered by the Journal for first publication in English translation, you should state so at the time of submission. You may be asked to provide the relevant approval by the copyright holder, who may be the original publisher.

Timeliness

The Journal is committed to processing submissions as quickly as possible. The editors will normally make a decision as to whether to send a paper to referees within two weeks. Referees will be asked to report within four weeks. However, the time before a final decision can be made will depend on the availability of referees and the nature of their feedback. The editors aim to give a final decision within two months and, whenever possible, to give reasons if they do not accept a paper.

Submission Requirements

Language

Manuscripts should be written in English. Spelling (American or British) should be consistent throughout. The Oxford English Dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Macquarie Dictionary are acceptable sources for spelling.

Quotations may appear in a language other than English if there is no authentic text or official translation. Such quotations should be accompanied by a translation into English.

Gender-inclusive language should be used whenever possible. For example, use ‘person’ or ‘human’ rather than ‘man’ where appropriate. Use ‘he or she’ if needed, but consider plural where possible (for example,‘children receive their education’ instead of ‘a child receives his or her education’). The use of ‘they’ and ‘their’ as singular pronouns is perfectly acceptable (for example, ‘a child receives their education’).

File Format

Please upload manuscript files in Microsoft Word format (.doc, .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) and follow the Journal’s points of style and rules of citation, found below.

Manuscript Structure and Style

Files

To facilitate double-blind peer review, each submission should consist of two separate documents: a title page and an anonymised manuscript.

The title page document should contain the following:

  • the title of the paper;
  • the names, affiliations, contact details and, where available, ORCID identifiers, of all authors;
  • any acknowledgements and/or disclaimers;
  • a declaration of any competing interests that are not apparent from affiliations or acknowledgments.

The anonymised manuscript document should contain the following:

  • the title of the paper;
  • an abstract of no more than 200 words;
  • between 5 and 10 keywords;
  • the manuscript text.

The anonymised manuscript document should not contain any of the authors’ names, affiliations, contact details or acknowledgements, or language that would clearly identify the authors (for example, ‘as I have argued elsewhere …’).

Headings and Subheadings

The use of headings and subheadings is encouraged. Capitalise all significant words in headings. Distinguish headings clearly from the main text and number them as follows:

1 Top Level Heading
1.1 First Level Subheading
1.1.1 Second Level Subheading

Paragraphs

Separate paragraphs clearly from each other. Do not indent the beginning of the paragraphs.

Style

For general matters of style, refer to New Hart’s Rules or the New Oxford Style Manual. Note in particular the following:

  • Use single, rather than double, inverted commas for short quotations in the main text. Use double inverted commas for quotations within quotations. Indent longer quotations without inverted commas. Place punctuation outside the closing quotation mark when the sentence is incomplete; otherwise, where the full stop belongs to the quotation, place it inside.
  • Introduce acronyms on first appearance – for example, International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (IMT). Do not use full stops in acronyms – UN, US, WHO, ECHR, OCHA, ILC.
  • Use italics for short foreign phrases or individual words (Cour de Cassation, lex specialis), names of cases (Nicaragua judgment, Prosecutor v Tadić), and the titles of books and periodicals (Routledge Handbook of the Law of Armed Conflict, Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies). Do not italicise the titles of legal instruments.
  • Use italics for words or phrases that you wish to emphasise. When adding an emphasis in a quoted passage, indicate that in the corresponding footnote with (emphasis added).
  • Capitalise all significant words in titles of legal instruments, books and articles (Additional Protocol I, Oxford Handbook of International Law in Armed Conflict), and when referring to specific rules, acts, organs and office-holders (Common Article 3, the Rome Statute, Security Council Resolution 1455, Appeals Chamber of the ICTY, Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide). Capitalise the word ‘State’ when referring to a sovereign State.
  • Write dates as follows: 1 January 2011, 1992–1997, 1970s.

Footnotes

Use footnotes primarily for references; avoid discursive footnotes. Do not attach footnotes to the title of the paper. Provide all affiliations, acknowledgments and disclaimers in the separate title page document.

References

Provide all references in footnotes and format them according to the Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) and its complementary Citing International Law Sources Section. We have produced an OSCOLA Cheat Sheet that provides a summary of the OSCOLA style. Format any citation for a source not covered by OSCOLA as you see fit and highlight it for the benefit of the editors.

Figures

All figures are published in greyscale, not in colour. Please supply all figures in black and white. Figures should be of high quality. For photographs, a minimum resolution of 300 dpi is required; for linework, we require a minimum resolution of 600 dpi at the dimensions at which the image is to be reproduced. The image itself should be clear and legible. Each figure should have a caption; credit lines and permissions should be included in the figure captions.

Publication

Proofs

Upon acceptance, a PDF of the article proofs will be emailed to you. You are responsible for checking these proofs carefully for factual and typographic errors. You are strongly urged to make use of the Comment & Markup toolbar to note any corrections directly on the proofs. At this stage in the production process, only minor corrections are allowed. Alterations to the original manuscript at this stage will result in considerable delay in publication and, therefore, are not accepted. Please return proofs promptly.

Advance access

Articles are published online as soon as possible after they have been accepted for publication, in advance of their appearance in a printed issue of the Journal. Such Advance Access versions of articles can be cited by a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI). When an article appears in an issue of the Journal, it is removed from the Advance Access page.

E-Offprints

The publisher will provide you a PDF file of your article for your personal use. Brill is a RoMEO yellow publisher. You retain the right to self-archive the submitted (pre-peer-review) version of the article at any time. The submitted version of an article is the author’s version that has not been peer-reviewed, nor had any value added to it by Brill (such as formatting or copy editing). You retain the right to self-archive the accepted (peer-reviewed) version after an embargo period of 24 months. The accepted version means the version which has been accepted for publication and contains all revisions made after peer reviewing and copy editing, but has not yet been typeset in the publisher’s lay-out. The publisher’s lay-out must not be used in any repository or on any website. Please refer to Brill’s Rights and Permissions policy for further details.

Consent to Publish

Transfer of Copyright

By submitting a manuscript, you agree that the copyright for the article is transferred to the publisher if and when the article is accepted for publication. For that purpose, you need to sign the Consent to Publish, which will be sent to you with the first proofs of the manuscript.

Open Access

Should you wish to publish the article in Open Access, you can choose the Brill Open option. This allows for non-exclusive Open Access publication under a Creative Commons license in exchange for an Article Publication Charge (APC), upon signing a special Brill Open Consent to Publish Form. Please refer to the Brill Open page for further details.

Version 3.7 (29 May 2022)