Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

Pakungwati Journal of Islamic Law and Society (PJILS)

Authors are invited to submit original and unpublished manuscripts that fall within the focus and scope of Pakungwati Journal of Islamic Law and Society (PJILS). Submitted manuscripts must demonstrate academic originality, methodological rigor, a clear contribution to scholarship, and engagement with relevant contemporary literature. Manuscripts must not have been published previously and must not be under consideration by another journal at the time of submission.

1. General Requirements

  • Manuscripts should preferably be written in English. Manuscripts in Indonesian or Arabic may also be considered.
  • Articles should normally contain approximately 6,000–8,000 words, including footnotes and references.
  • Manuscripts must be original, scholarly, and relevant to Islamic law, law and society, legal pluralism, justice, or related interdisciplinary fields.
  • The manuscript must not have been previously published or simultaneously submitted to another journal.
  • Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of quotations, references, legal materials, transliteration, and research data.
  • Where research involves human participants, authors should comply with appropriate research ethics standards and disclose ethical approval where applicable.

2. Manuscript Format

File Format Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)
Paper Size A4
Font Gentium Basic, 12 pt
Line Spacing 1.15 spacing
Margins 2.5 cm on all sides
Paragraph Alignment Justified

3. Structure of the Manuscript

Manuscripts should generally contain the following elements. Authors may adapt the internal structure where necessary according to the methodological approach and character of the research.

Title

The title should be concise, specific, informative, and accurately reflect the principal issue and contribution of the article.

Author Information

Provide the author’s full name, institutional affiliation, country, email address, and ORCID iD where available.

Abstract

The abstract should normally contain 150–250 words and state the research problem, purpose, method, principal findings, and scholarly contribution.

Keywords

Provide 4–6 keywords representing the principal concepts, field, or object of the study.

  1. Introduction – explains the background, research problem, relevant literature, research gap, novelty, and objectives.
  2. Research Method – explains the research design, approach, sources or data, collection procedures, and analytical method.
  3. Results and Discussion – presents the findings and develops a critical analysis in dialogue with relevant theories, legal sources, and previous scholarship. Appropriate thematic subheadings are encouraged.
  4. Conclusion – provides a concise answer to the research problem, highlights the article’s contribution, and may identify implications or directions for further research.
  5. References/Bibliography – lists sources cited in the manuscript in accordance with the prescribed citation style.

4. Citation and Referencing Style

PJILS follows the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, Notes and Bibliography system, using full notes in footnotes. References should therefore be provided in numbered footnotes, while a complete bibliography must appear at the end of the manuscript.

The first citation of a source should generally contain the full bibliographical information. Subsequent citations should use a shortened form consisting of the author’s surname, a shortened title, and the relevant page number. Authors should avoid the use of ibid. where possible and use shortened citations for clarity.

Examples of Footnotes and Bibliography

A. Book

First footnote:
1. Wael B. Hallaq, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 23–25.
Shortened footnote:
2. Hallaq, Introduction to Islamic Law, 47.
Bibliography:
Hallaq, Wael B. An Introduction to Islamic Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

B. Journal Article

First footnote:
3. John R. Bowen, “Legal Reasoning and Public Discourse in Indonesian Islam,” Social Research 70, no. 3 (2003): 893–922, 898.
Shortened footnote:
4. Bowen, “Legal Reasoning,” 905.
Bibliography:
Bowen, John R. “Legal Reasoning and Public Discourse in Indonesian Islam.” Social Research 70, no. 3 (2003): 893–922.

C. Chapter in an Edited Book

Footnote:
5. Michael G. Peletz, “Islam and the Cultural Politics of Legitimacy,” in Islamic Legitimacy in a Plural Asia, ed. Anthony Reid and Michael Gilsenan (London: Routledge, 2007), 31–52, 40.
Bibliography:
Peletz, Michael G. “Islam and the Cultural Politics of Legitimacy.” In Islamic Legitimacy in a Plural Asia, edited by Anthony Reid and Michael Gilsenan, 31–52. London: Routledge, 2007.

D. Website or Online Source

Footnote:
6. Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, “Constitutional Court Decisions,” accessed August 20, 2026, https://www.mkri.id/.
Bibliography:
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia. “Constitutional Court Decisions.” Accessed August 20, 2026. https://www.mkri.id/.

5. Citation of Legal Sources

Statutes, regulations, court decisions, fatwas, treaties, and other legal documents should be cited accurately and consistently. Authors should provide sufficient information to enable readers to identify and retrieve the source. Where relevant, citations should include the jurisdiction, official title, number, year, article or provision, court, case number, and date of decision.

Examples:

Republic of Indonesia, Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, art. 2(1).

Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, Decision No. 46/PUU-VIII/2010, February 17, 2012.

Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia, Supreme Court Circular No. 2 of 2023.

6. Arabic Terms and Transliteration

Arabic terms that have not become common English words should generally be italicized and transliterated consistently. Authors should use a recognized academic transliteration system throughout the manuscript. Diacritical marks are encouraged for specialist Arabic terminology where their use improves accuracy, particularly in discussions of classical Islamic legal texts.

Frequently used terms such as fiqh, fatwa, sharia, ijtihad, and ulama may be written without full diacritics if used consistently. Quotations from the Qur’an or Arabic texts should provide an English translation where appropriate.

7. Tables, Figures, and Illustrations

  • Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively.
  • Each table or figure must have a clear and descriptive title.
  • The source must be stated below the table or figure where applicable.
  • Tables should remain editable and should not be submitted solely as image files.
  • Authors are responsible for securing permission to reproduce copyrighted material.

8. Quality and Currency of References

Authors are expected to engage critically with authoritative and relevant scholarship. Manuscripts should demonstrate awareness of recent academic debates and should make substantial use of peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly books, primary legal sources, and other reliable academic materials. Where the subject permits, authors are encouraged to include recent literature published within the last five to ten years while retaining important classical and foundational sources.

Important: References should not be added merely to increase citation numbers. Every source included in the bibliography must be relevant to the manuscript, and all listed references should be cited in the text or footnotes.

9. Research Integrity and Publication Ethics

Authors must adhere to principles of academic integrity and publication ethics. Plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, duplicate publication, improper authorship attribution, citation manipulation, and other forms of research misconduct are prohibited. All manuscripts may be screened for similarity before entering or during the peer-review process.

  • All listed authors must have made a meaningful scholarly contribution to the manuscript.
  • Sources and ideas originating from other works must be properly acknowledged.
  • Any potential conflict of interest should be disclosed.
  • Funding sources should be acknowledged where applicable.
  • Authors should disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools where such use materially contributed to manuscript preparation, in accordance with the journal’s editorial policy.

10. Submission Procedure

Manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the PJILS Online Journal System (OJS). Authors should register as an author, complete all required manuscript metadata, upload the manuscript file, and provide all requested supplementary information.

To facilitate anonymous peer review, authors should remove identifying information from the manuscript file where required. Author names, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID iDs, acknowledgments, and other identifying information should be entered through the journal submission metadata or provided in a separate title page according to the submission instructions.

11. Submission Checklist

Before submitting, authors should ensure that:

  • The manuscript is original and is not under consideration elsewhere.
  • The manuscript falls within the focus and scope of PJILS.
  • The manuscript follows the journal template and formatting requirements.
  • The abstract and keywords are complete.
  • Footnotes follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, full-note system.
  • All cited sources are included in the bibliography.
  • DOIs or stable URLs are provided where available.
  • Tables and figures are properly numbered and referenced.
  • Author-identifying information has been removed from the anonymized manuscript where required.
  • The manuscript has been carefully proofread for language, grammar, consistency, and citation accuracy.

Manuscripts that do not substantially comply with these guidelines may be returned to the authors for technical revision before being considered for peer review. The Editorial Board reserves the right to make minor editorial and stylistic changes necessary to ensure consistency with the journal’s publication standards.