Instructions Guidelines for Authors

Preparation of Manuscript

Authors should ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the editor and any reviewers.

Abstract: All manuscripts should be submitted together with an Abstract of about 250 words in length and up to five keywords. The purpose of the abstract is to identify the subject matter of the article and to summarize the distinctive contribution to the literature which the article makes. It enables the reader to use the electronic database to identify articles that are of interest to them.

Page Layout: Paragraphs start flush left after headings but are otherwise indented, with no extra space between them. The number of words in the text (separately if possible) and the footnotes should be stated.

Footnotes: Notes for the article should be numbered consecutively (after an initial unnumbered note attached to the author’s name by an asterisk) and should be placed as footnotes. The number in cross-references should be highlighted.

The purpose of footnotes is to provide reference to the principal sources on which the author relies to support his or her argument. Their function is not to provide a comprehensive list of what the author has read nor the materials which the reader could use to follow up the argument. Significant points should be included in the text and not in the footnotes. As a guide, the Journal would not expect footnotes to exceed 20% of the length of the text of the article as a whole. Where the author considers it necessary to have longer footnotes, it would be helpful if she or he could explain the reasons briefly when first submitting the article to the Journal. For good reasons, the Journal may publish an article with longer footnotes.

Headings: In articles, a maximum of four levels of heading is available, one for the title and three within the article:

1. Centred. Type in capitals:

CENTRED CAPITALS FOR THE TITLE OF ARTICLE

2. Centred. Type in capitals (precede by roman I, II, etc. if required):

I. SUBHEADING IN CAPITALS

3. Centred. Type with initial capitals for main words only and underline for italics (precede by A, B, etc. if required):

A. Subheading in Italics

4. Flush left. Type with initial capitals for the first word and proper names only and underline for italics (precede by Arabic numbering if required):

1. Subheading in italics

Quotations of more than 60 words (unless in footnotes) should be indented and set off from the text with quotation marks. Otherwise, double quotation marks should be used except for quotations within quotations which should use single marks. The note indicator should be placed after the quotation.

Style

Punctuation. All punctuation marks should be outside closing quotation marks except an exclamation mark, question mark, dash, or parenthesis belonging only to the quotation or a full point at the end of a grammatically complete sentence beginning with a capital letter. Full stops should be outside closing parentheses unless the parenthesis is a complete sentence beginning with a capital letter. Note indicators in the text normally follow punctuation marks.

Capitals. Capitals should be used when a specific reference is intended: the Bill, the Cabinet, the Crown, the Government (but government and industry), Parliament (but parliamentary). Unless the writer is referring to a court by name, “court” should not have capital.

Abbreviations. No full points should be used with abbreviations consisting of initials (ACAS, EC, USA). Otherwise full points are retained (ch., Dr., L.J., ed., Ltd., St., vol.), including “p.” for page and “s.” for section. The abbreviation for a public limited company is “plc”. Note also “percent.”, with full point.

Dates. Use the style “10 February 1989”; “1988-89”; “1990s”.

Numerals. Below 10 should be spelt out. Spelling. Except in quoted matter English spelling should be used (labour, not labor). Use -ise (not -ize); judgment (not judgement); ius (not jus; i.e. Latin i not j).

Italics. The following should be italicized; Case names. Latin (and other foreign) words and phrases except those in common use such as: bona fide, de facto, de jure, (obiter) dicta/dictum, habeas corpus, intra vires, mens rea, prima facie, ration decidendi, ultra vires. Ship names. The Latin abbreviations should be in roman but retain full points: cf., e.g., ibid., i.e., loc. cit., op. cit., per, viz. Note indicators. Wherever possible note indicators should be deferred to the end of the relevant sentence or clause of the text.

Referencing

Authors should use the OSCOLA (4th Edition) style of referencing. For guidance please refer to the followings:

Secondary Sources:

Books

Timothy Endicott, Administrative Law (OUP 2009).

Gareth Jones, Goff, and Jones: The Law of Restitution (1st supp, 7th edn, Sweet & Maxwell 2009).

If a book consists of more than one volume, the volume number follows the publication details, unless the publication details of the volumes vary, in which case it precedes them, and is separated from the title by a comma. Pinpoint to paragraphs rather than pages if the paragraphs are numbered.

Christian von Bar, The Common European Law of Torts, vol 2 (CH Beck 2000) para 76.

Andrew Burrows, Remedies for Torts and Breach of Contract (3rd edn, OUP 2004) 317.

Edited and Translated Books

If there is no author, cite the editor or translator as you would an author, adding in brackets after their name ‘(ed)’ or ‘(tr)’, or ‘(eds)’ or ‘(trs)’ if there is more than one.

Jeremy Horder (ed), Oxford Essays in Jurisprudence: Fourth Series (OUP 2000).

Peter Birks and Grant McLeod (TRS), The Institutes of Justinian (Duckworth 1987).

If the work has an author, but an editor or translator is also acknowledged on the front cover, cite the author in the usual way and attribute the editor or translator at the beginning of the publication information, within the brackets.

HLA Hart, Punishment and Responsibility: Essays in the Philosophy of Law (John Gardner ed, 2nd edn, OUP 2008).

K Zweigert and H Kötz, An Introduction to Comparative Law (Tony Weir tr, 3rd edn, OUP 1998).

Contribution to Edited Books

When citing a chapter or essay in an edited book, cite the author and the title of the contribution, in a similar format to that used when citing an article, and then give the editor’s name, the title of the book in italics, and the publication information. It is not necessary to give the pages of the contribution.

Justine Pila, ‘The Value of Authorship in the Digital Environment’ in William H Dutton and Paul W Jeffreys (eds), Worldwide Research: Reshaping the Sciences and Humanities in the Century of Information (MIT Press 2010)

John Cartwright, ‘The Fiction of the “Reasonable Man”’ in AG Castermans and others (eds), Ex Libris Hans Nieuwenhuis (Kluwer 2009)

ARTICLES

Hard copy journals. When citing articles, give the author’s name first, followed by a comma. Then give the title of the article, in roman within single quotation marks. After the title, give the publication information in the following order:

year of publication, in square brackets if it identifies the volume, in round brackets if there is a separate volume number.
the volume number if there is one (include an issue number only if the page numbers begin again for each issue within a volume, in which case put the issue number in brackets immediately after the volume number);
the name of the journal in roman, in full, with no full stops; and the first page of the article.

author, | ‘title’ | [year] | journal name | first page of article

[OR]

Paul Craig, ‘Theory, “Pure Theory” and Values in Public Law’ [2005] PL 440.

Alison L Young, ‘In Defence of Due Deference’ (2009) 72 Monthly Law Review 554.

Put a comma after the first page of the article if there is a pinpoint.

JAG Griffith, ‘The Common Law and the Political Constitution’ (2001) 117 Law Quarterly Review 42, 64.

Jeremy Waldron, ‘The Core of the Case against Judicial Review’ (2006) 115 Yale Law Journal 1346, 1372.

Working Papers

Working papers may be available online on institution websites and on sites such as the Social Science Research Network (www.ssrn.com). They should be cited in a similar fashion to electronic journal articles. Because the content of working papers is subject to change, the date of access is particularly important. If a working paper is subsequently published in a journal, cite that in preference to the working paper.

John M Finnis, ‘On Public Reason’ (2006) Oxford Legal Studies Research Paper 1/2007, 8 <http://ssrn.com/abstract=955815> accessed 18 November 2009

Other Secondary Sources

Thesis

When citing an unpublished thesis, give the author, the title, and then in brackets the type of thesis, university, and year of completion.

Javan Herberg, ‘Injunctive Relief for Wrongful Termination of Employment (DPhil thesis, University of Oxford 1989)

Websites and Blogs

Follow the general principles for secondary sources when citing websites and blogs. If there is no author identified, and it is appropriate to cite an anonymous source, begin the citation with the title in the usual way. If there is no date of publication on the website, give only the date of access.

Sarah Cole, ‘Virtual Friend Fires Employee’ (Naked Law, 1 May 2009) <www.nakedlaw.com/2009/05/index.html> accessed 19 November 2009

Legislation

Cite legislation from other jurisdictions as it is cited in its own jurisdiction, but without any full stops in abbreviations. Give the jurisdiction if necessary.

The Specific Relief Act 1877 (Pakistan).

1976 Standard Terms Act (Gesetzüber Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen) (FRG)

Newspaper Articles

When citing newspaper articles, give the author’s name, the title, and the name of the newspaper in italics and then in brackets the city of publication and the date. Some newspapers have ‘The’ in the title and some do not. If known, give the number of the page on which the article was published, after the brackets. If the newspaper is divided into sections, and the page numbering begins afresh in each section, put the section name in roman before the page number, with a space but no comma between the two. If the reference is to an editorial, cite the author as ‘Editorial’. If the article is sourced from the web and there is no page number available, provide the web address and date of access.

Jane Croft, ‘Supreme Court Warns on Quality’ Financial Times (London, 1 July 2010) 3

Ian Loader, ‘The Great Victim of this Get Tough Hyperactivity is Labour’ The Guardian (London, 19 June 2008) <www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/19/justice.ukcrime> accessed 19 November 2009.