Author Guidelines

1. General Requirements

Manuscripts submitted to Customary Law Review must be original, not previously published, and not under consideration by another journal. Manuscripts are written in English and prepared using the journal's official template, which can be downloaded from the Templates page. Submissions that do not follow the template will be returned to the authors before review.

The journal accepts research articles, conceptual papers, and theoretical studies within its Focus and Scope. Manuscripts should be between [8,800 and 12,000] words, including references and notes.

2. Submission

Manuscripts are submitted online through the journal's OJS platform. Authors must register an account before submitting. During submission, the corresponding author should upload two files:

  • The main manuscript with all author names, affiliations, and identifying information removed to allow double-blind review.
  • A title page containing the article title, full names of all authors, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID iDs, and the corresponding author's details.

Supplementary materials, such as interview protocols, coded data, or copies of customary documents, may be uploaded as separate files.

3. Manuscript Structure

Research articles should follow this structure:

  • Title: concise and informative, no more than 20 words.
  • Abstract: 200–250 words, stating the problem, purpose, method, main findings, and contribution. No citations in the abstract.
  • Keywords: four to six keywords, in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons.
  • Introduction: the background, the research gap supported by recent literature, the research question, and the contribution of the study.
  • Method: the research design, data sources, data collection, and analytical approach. For fieldwork with communities, state how consent was obtained.
  • Result: the findings, organized into subsections that reflect the analytical framework.
  • Discussion: interpretation of the findings in relation to previous studies and theory.
  • Conclusion: the answer to the research question, limitations of the study, and directions for further research.
  • Declarations (see section 6).
  • References

Conceptual and theoretical papers may adapt this structure, provided the argument is clearly organized with appropriate headings.

4. Citation and References

Customary Law Review uses the APA Style, 7th edition. Authors are strongly encouraged to use a reference manager such as Mendeley or Zotero. All cited works must appear in the reference list and vice versa.

References must be real and verifiable. Journal articles should include the DOI wherever one exists. Legal instruments, court decisions, customary charters, and community agreements should be cited with enough detail for readers to locate them. Classical Arabic works should include the author, title, editor (muḥaqqiq), publisher, place and year of publication, and volume and page numbers.

At least [80%] of references should come from primary sources and journal articles published in the last ten years, except for classical and foundational texts.

5. Transliteration and Non-English Terms

Arabic terms and titles are transliterated following the [ALA-LC Romanization Tables] and set in italics, for example uṣūl al-fiqh, ʿurf, and maṣlaḥah. Terms from Indonesian, regional languages, and other non-English languages are also italicized and explained at their first occurrence, for example tanah ulayat (communal customary land). Words that have entered common English usage, such as adat when used as a general term, may be italicized consistently at the author's discretion.

6. Declarations

Every manuscript must include the following statements before the reference list:

  • Author Contributions: the role of each author according to the CRediT taxonomy.
  • Funding: the name of the funding body and grant number, or a statement that the research received no specific funding.
  • Conflicts of Interest: a declaration of any competing interests, or a statement that there are none.
  • Data Availability: where the data supporting the findings can be accessed, or why they cannot be shared (for example, to protect community confidentiality).
  • Declaration of Generative AI Use: the name of any AI tool used, the purpose of its use, and a statement that the authors reviewed the output and take full responsibility for the content. If no AI tool was used, this should be stated.

7. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures are numbered consecutively, given a descriptive title, and cited in the text. Figures must be clear and legible at print size with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Sources for tables and figures that are not the authors' own work must be stated below each item.

8. Ethics

Authors are required to follow the journal's Publication Ethics policy. Research that involves indigenous or local communities must respect free, prior and informed consent and must not publish sacred or restricted knowledge without the community's permission.