Submissions
The African Journal of Legal Studies (“AJLS”) welcomes unsolicited articles, notes and book reviews related to human rights and the rule of law in Africa. The focus of the AJLS is on the interplay between law, public policy and social change in Africa. Although manuscripts are published in two major issues each year (Spring and Fall), to ensure timely commentary on major legal developments with significant implications for Africa, AJLS hopes to periodically publish one or two shorter articles in a monthly supplement.
To encourage a diversity of perspectives and collaboration between scholars and practitioners from Francophone and Anglophone regions, the journal hopes to be in a position to receive articles in both English and French in the future. To the extent possible, abstracts of all articles published will be made available in both languages. For now, authors are asked to submit manuscripts in English, preferably by e-mail as an attachment to ajls@africalawinstitute.org or by computer disk mailed to the address provided on this website.
Format
Articles should normally range between 8,000 and 11,000 words and should be prefaced by an abstract of not more than 200 words highlighting the central arguments, findings and conclusions of the submission. Book reviews and Notes should in general not exceed 2,000 words. All authors are required to submit a short bibliographic note (no more than 100 words) outlining educational qualifications, institutional affiliation, current research interests, and where applicable, major publications and conference presentations.
All manuscripts should be in the Times New Roman 12 point font, doubled-spaced, with footnotes numbered consecutively. The document must be formatted with one-inch margins throughout. Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of their footnotes as our editors cannot undertake to verify them. Given the online format of this publication, diagrams, figures and other types of graphical inserts are discouraged, or where necessary, should be kept to a minimum.
The journal staff uses and prefers Microsoft Word. However, submissions crafted in most word processing programs such as Corel WordPerfect are also accepted. If you are unsure about the software program that you are using, we kindly ask that you contact the Editor at ajlseditor@africalawinstitute.org before submitting your manuscript.
Citation
To ensure consistency, all articles submitted by authors must now conform to the Oxford Standard Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). Produced by the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford, OSCOLA is a system of citation and style guide for use in legal writing, covering, inter alia, abbreviation, punctuation, cross-referencing, headings, etc. OSCOLA is available online for FREE in two versions: the complete Big OSCOLA (103 pages) and the abbreviated Little OSCOLA (32 pages). Both can be downloaded in Portable Document Format from http://denning.law.ox.ac.uk/published/oscola.shtml.
Manuscript Evaluation
To maintain the highest scholarly standards possible, all articles received by the AJLS are reviewed by the Editor, at least one associate editor, a member of the consultative board and, where possible, an external expert in the subject area of the manuscript. Manuscripts accepted for publication will be formatted in the journal’s style and published in Portable Document Format at www.africalawinstitute.org/ajls. The full text of each issue of the journal is also available on CIAO Net, HeinOnline, Lexis-Nexis, ProQuest, QuickLaw and Westlaw as well as on a good number of internet sites, including various university library websites.
Copyright Policy
Copyright of all manuscripts accepted for publication is held by The Africa Law Institute (on behalf of AJLS). However, in exceptional circumstances, authors may publish the work elsewhere provided that the journal is acknowledged as the original publisher. Please contact the Editor to enquire about your situation.