Author Guidelines

Pakungwati Law Review

Author Guidelines

Essential guidance for preparing and submitting a clear, rigorous, and publication-ready manuscript.

Before You Submit

Pakungwati Law Review (PLR) welcomes submissions from scholars, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working across doctrinal, comparative, empirical, socio-legal, historical, philosophical, and interdisciplinary approaches to law. Authors should read these guidelines carefully and ensure that their manuscripts comply with all requirements before submission.

Editorial note for this draft

Items shown in square brackets are placeholders. The editorial team should replace them with PLR's confirmed policies before this page is published.

1 Types of Submission

Research Articles
Original, full-length research articles, normally [6,000–10,000 words], including footnotes.
Case Notes / Commentaries
Critical analyses of judicial decisions or legal developments, normally [2,000–4,000 words].
Book Reviews
Critical reviews of recent legal scholarship, normally [1,000–2,000 words].

2 Manuscript Preparation

  • The manuscript must be original, unpublished, and not under review by another journal.
  • Submit the manuscript as a Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx), double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman, with 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins.
  • Provide a concise and informative title, an abstract of 150–250 words, and 4–6 keywords.
  • Organize research articles into clearly identified sections, normally including Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, and Bibliography.
  • Anonymize the manuscript for double-blind review by removing names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and identifying file properties or self-references.
  • Enter each author's name, institutional affiliation, country, email address, and ORCID (if available) separately on the title page or in the submission metadata.

3 Citation and Reference Style

Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition

PLR uses the Notes and Bibliography system (full-note style). Citations must appear as numbered footnotes, and all cited sources must be included in an alphabetized bibliography. Parenthetical author–date citations should not be used.

  • The first citation of a source must contain complete publication details.
  • Subsequent citations must use the shortened form: author's surname, shortened title, and page number.
  • Footnote numbers should appear in superscript after punctuation.
  • Where available, include a DOI in URL format (for example, https://doi.org/...).
  • Authors are encouraged to use reference-management software such as Zotero or Mendeley.

Illustrative Footnote Formats

Source Type First Full Note Shortened Note
Book 1. First Name Last Name, Title of Book (City: Publisher, Year), page. 2. Last Name, Short Title, page.
Journal Article 3. First Name Last Name, “Article Title,” Journal Name volume, no. issue (year): page, DOI/URL. 4. Last Name, “Short Title,” page.
Court Decision 5. Case Name, decision/case number (Court, date/year), page. 6. Short Case Name, page.
Legislation 7. Title of Act, No. __ of Year, art./sec. __ (Country). 8. Short Title of Act, art./sec. __.
Webpage 9. First Name Last Name, “Page Title,” Website Name, date, URL. 10. Last Name, “Short Title.”

Note: These examples are templates rather than real citations. Authors should consult the Chicago Manual of Style for complex, archival, translated, or non-English sources.

4 Submission Checklist

✓ Original and unpublished manuscript
✓ Anonymous main document
✓ Complete author metadata and ORCID
✓ Abstract of 150–250 words
✓ Four to six keywords
✓ Chicago 17 full-note footnotes
✓ Alphabetized bibliography
✓ Consistent British or American spelling

5. Peer Review Process

Submissions are initially screened for relevance, originality, scholarly quality, and compliance with these guidelines. Manuscripts passing editorial screening undergo double-blind peer review by at least [two reviewers]. Authors will receive an editorial decision within approximately [8–12 weeks].

6. Publication Ethics

Authors must properly acknowledge all sources, disclose funding and conflicts of interest, and obtain any required ethical approval. Plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabrication, falsification, and inappropriate authorship are prohibited. Submissions may be screened with similarity-detection software.

7. How to Submit

Submit the manuscript through the PLR online submission system at [OJS submission URL]. For submission-related questions, contact the editorial office at [contact email]. Authors should retain a copy of all submitted files and correspondence.