Special Issues
Peer-Reviewed · Open Access · Law and Justice
Special Issues
Submitting a Special Issue Proposal
IJLJ welcomes proposals for Special Issues built around focused, timely, and academically relevant themes within the journal's scope of law, justice, legal studies, and related disciplines. A Special Issue might center on a specific area of law, an emerging legal issue, a comparative or interdisciplinary topic, developments in legislation or jurisprudence, or a pressing question concerning law and society — whatever best serves the journal's readers and scholarly mission.
All Special Issues, and every manuscript submitted to them, are held to the same standards that govern the rest of the journal: editorial review, peer review, publication ethics, confidentiality, and conflict-of-interest management.
What to Include in Your Proposal
A strong Special Issue proposal should cover:
Proposed Title
A working title for the issue.
Theme and Scope
A short description of the theme and why it matters academically, including its relevance to law, justice, legal systems, jurisprudence, or related fields.
Objectives
What the issue aims to achieve and the scholarly contribution it is expected to make to legal research, policy discussions, jurisprudence, or the understanding of justice and legal institutions.
Guest Editor(s)
Name, affiliation, academic or professional background, relevant subject expertise, and contact details.
Proposed Article Types
Original research articles, review articles, case studies, case comments, comparative legal analyses, doctrinal studies, or other relevant scholarly formats.
Expected Number of Contributions
A rough estimate of how many manuscripts you anticipate.
Proposed Timeline
An expected submission window, if known.
Above all, the proposal should make a clear case for why the theme is academically relevant and why it is a good fit for IJLJ.
What We Expect from Guest Editors
Guest Editors taking on a Special Issue are expected to:
✓Promote the issue through relevant academic and professional networks
✓Reach out to and invite strong scholarly contributions
✓Support the editorial and peer-review process from start to finish
✓Maintain confidentiality and editorial independence throughout
✓Disclose any conflicts of interest and manage them appropriately
✓Ensure submitted manuscripts meet IJLJ's academic and ethical standards
✓Follow the Guest Editor Guidelines and other applicable IJLJ policies
Editorial decisions should never be shaped by personal, professional, institutional, political, commercial, or financial interests unrelated to the scholarly and ethical assessment of the work.
How Proposals Are Evaluated
Every Special Issue proposal goes through editorial evaluation before approval. In reviewing it, IJLJ looks at the theme's academic relevance, its alignment with the journal's scope, the qualifications and expertise of the proposed Guest Editor(s), and whether the issue is practically feasible.
Submitting a proposal doesn't guarantee it will be approved.
Even once a Special Issue is approved, that approval applies to the issue as a whole — not to any individual manuscript. Every submission still goes through the journal's standard editorial screening and peer-review process on its own merits.
Submitting Your Proposal
Send your Special Issue proposal to the IJLJ Editorial Office using the contact details listed on the journal website. Please use “Special Issue Proposal” as your email subject line so it reaches the appropriate team.