Submissions

Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to submit original scholarly manuscripts to the Oxford Law Review. All submissions are subject to an initial editorial assessment to determine their suitability for the Journal’s aims and scope. Manuscripts considered suitable may be sent for double-blind peer review before a final decision is made.

1. Originality and Submission

Submission of a manuscript confirms that:

• the work is original and has not been published previously;
• the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal;
• all listed authors have approved the submission and the final version; and
• all necessary permissions have been obtained for third-party material included in the manuscript.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted photographs, tables, figures, substantial extracts or other protected material where required.

2. Double-Blind Peer Review

Oxford Law Review follows a double-blind peer-review process. Authors should therefore remove their names, affiliations, acknowledgements, funding information and other identifying information from the manuscript and accompanying files. Self-citations should be presented carefully so as not to unnecessarily disclose the author's identity.

Author details, including the title, author name(s), institutional affiliation(s), corresponding author's email address and ORCID, where available, should be provided separately through the submission system.

3. Manuscript Length

Research articles should normally not exceed 10,000 words, including footnotes.

Research articles exceeding 10,000 words may nevertheless be considered where the additional length is justified by the subject matter, scope or scholarly contribution of the research.

4. Title, Abstract and Keywords

The title should be concise, specific and informative.

Each submission should include an abstract that clearly identifies the research question, principal argument, approach and contribution of the article.

Authors should provide 5–6 keywords to assist with indexing and scholarly discovery.

5. Manuscript Formatting

Manuscripts should preferably be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx) format.

Authors should:

• use clear and consistent formatting throughout;
• use Times New Roman font throughout the manuscript;
• use 11-point font for the main text;
• use 12-point font for all principal headings;
• use appropriate headings and subheadings;
• number pages consecutively;
• use italics consistently where appropriate;
• avoid unnecessary formatting and manual spacing; and
• ensure that tables and other elements are properly formatted and cited in the text.

6. Required Order and Contents of the Document File

The manuscript document should be prepared in the following order:

1. Title of the Article
   The full title of the article should appear at the beginning of the document.
2. Author Information
   Immediately below the title, the document should contain:
   • full name of the author(s);
   • institutional affiliation(s);
   • email address; and
   • telephone/mobile number, including the appropriate international country code.
3. Abstract
   The abstract should follow the author information and should clearly state the research question, principal argument, methodology or approach, and principal contribution or conclusion of the article.
4. Keywords
   The author should provide 5–6 relevant keywords immediately below the abstract.
5. Main Text
   The main body of the article should follow the keywords and should be organised into clearly numbered sections and, where necessary, subsections.
6. Conclusion
   The article should conclude with a clearly identified Conclusion section presenting the principal findings, arguments and implications of the research.
7. Reference List
   A complete Reference List should appear at the end of the document and should contain the full bibliographic details of all works cited in the manuscript.

Authors should ensure that all of the above information is provided before submission. Any missing, incomplete or incorrectly provided information may delay the editorial assessment, peer-review process and subsequent publication of the manuscript.

7. Headings and Subheadings

Authors should use a clear and consistent hierarchy of headings.

Principal sections should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals, for example:

1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Analysis
4. Conclusion

Subsections may be numbered using one decimal point only, for example:

1.1 Research Background
1.2 Research Questions
2.1 Methodological Approach
2.2 Scope of the Study

Further levels of subdivision should not be used. Accordingly, headings such as 1.1.1, 1.1.2 or 2.1.1 should be avoided.

All principal headings and subheadings should be presented in 12-point Times New Roman. The main body text should be presented in 11-point Times New Roman.

8. Headings and Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at their first appearance and used consistently thereafter. Authors should avoid unnecessary abbreviations and ensure that the terminology used throughout the manuscript remains clear and consistent.

9. In-Text Citations

Oxford Law Review uses an author–date in-text citation system. Sources should be cited within the body of the manuscript rather than by numbered references.

A citation should normally include the author's surname and year of publication. Page numbers should be included for direct quotations and, where appropriate, for specific passages or propositions.

Examples:

The concept of legal pluralism challenges the assumption that law is necessarily produced by a single sovereign authority (Griffiths 1986).

According to Hart (1994), the validity of a legal system depends upon the existence and operation of a rule of recognition.

Legal interpretation may involve both textual and contextual considerations (Dworkin 1986, 313–15).

Jackson (2009, 45) argues that constitutional interpretation must be understood within its broader historical context.

For multiple sources:

The relationship between law and social change has been examined from several theoretical perspectives (Cotterrell 2006; Tamanaha 2004; Twining 2009).

For two authors:

Comparative legal scholarship has increasingly examined the interaction between legal traditions (Merryman and Pérez-Perdomo 2007).

For three or more authors, the first author's surname may be followed by et al.:

Recent empirical studies have demonstrated considerable variation between legal systems (Smith et al. 2023).

For a direct quotation:

As Hart observes, “the union of primary and secondary rules” provides a distinctive account of a legal system (Hart 1994, 79).

Citations should be placed as close as reasonably possible to the proposition, quotation or material to which they relate.

10. Footnotes

Footnotes may be used for supplementary explanations, qualifications or additional discussion. They should not ordinarily be used merely to provide the complete bibliographic details of a source.

Where a source is cited, the appropriate author–date in-text citation should be used rather than a numbered citation system.

11. Reference List

A Reference List must be provided at the end of the manuscript.

The Reference List should contain the full bibliographic details of all works cited in the text and should be arranged alphabetically by the author's surname.

Authors should ensure that every source cited in the manuscript appears in the Reference List and that every work included in the Reference List is cited in the manuscript.

Where available, stable URLs may be provided for online sources. DOI information may be included where applicable and required by the relevant source or citation format.

12. Tables and Figures

Tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals and cited in the manuscript in numerical order. Each table should have a clear and descriptive caption. Previously published material must be appropriately acknowledged and, where necessary, accompanied by permission for reproduction.

13. Declarations and Ethical Requirements

Where applicable, authors should disclose relevant funding, competing interests, author contributions and ethical approvals.

Research involving human participants or other activities requiring ethical approval should obtain approval from the appropriate ethics body in accordance with applicable legal and institutional requirements.

14. Artificial Intelligence

Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of their manuscripts. Any substantive use of generative artificial intelligence or other AI tools in developing the research or manuscript should be disclosed where required by the Journal.

AI tools may not be listed as authors. Human authors remain responsible for the final submitted work, including the accuracy of citations, quotations, legal authorities, factual assertions and references.

15. Final Submission Checklist

Before submitting, authors should ensure that:

• the manuscript falls within the Journal's aims and scope;
• the work is original and is not under consideration elsewhere;
• the manuscript normally does not exceed 10,000 words;
• the manuscript has been appropriately anonymised for double-blind peer review where required;
• the article title is provided;
• complete author information is provided as required;
• the abstract is included;
• 5–6 keywords are provided;
• the manuscript uses Times New Roman, 11-point font for the main text;
• headings use 12-point font;
• headings are numbered consistently using the prescribed numbering system;
• no heading extends beyond one decimal level;
• the article contains a clearly identified Conclusion section;
• all substantive claims, quotations and material derived from external sources are appropriately cited using author–date in-text citations;
• the in-text citations correspond to entries in the Reference List;
• a complete Reference List is provided at the end of the manuscript;
• necessary permissions have been obtained for third-party material;
• tables and figures are appropriately numbered and cited; and
• all applicable ethical and disclosure requirements have been satisfied.

Important: Authors are strongly advised to review the manuscript against these requirements before submission. Any missing author information, incomplete manuscript component, incorrect formatting or missing bibliographic information may delay the editorial assessment, peer-review process or publication of the manuscript.

Citation format at a glance:

In-text: (Author Year) or (Author Year, page)
Narrative: Author (Year)
Reference List: Full bibliographic details, arranged alphabetically by author surname.