The Jimma University Journal of Law invites the submission of unsolicited articles, notes, book reviews and case comments on Ethiopian or international laws. The submissions should be made based on the following breif guidelines.

                                 GENERAL GUIDLINES

I. Authors must know that submission of a manuscript implies that it reports unpublished work and that neither itself, nor parts of it, have been published or are under consideration for publication elsewhere.

II. By submitting a manuscript to the Journal, the authors guarantee that they have the appropriate authority from their employers and/or funding agencies to publish the work.

III. Comprehensive and accurate citation of the relevant literature is essential. We require citation of the primary literature wherever appropriate.

IV. Manuscripts must be written in clear and concise English and be intelligible to a broad readership. Prior to submission, authors may benefit from having their manuscript reviewed for clarity by colleagues and/or by using one of the many English language-editing services that are available.

V. Submitted manuscripts should have at least the title page, abstract, discussions and conclusions.

 

                              SPECIFIC GUIDLINES

1. Timing Your Submissions to the Journal and Other Publications

1.1. Anyone who wants to submit articles, notes, book reviews or case comments should wait for the announcements to be made by the Journal editorial board or should at least communicated with the managing editor or the editor in chief.
1.2. Exclusive Submission
We consider each manuscript we receive using an extensive review process, which can take several weeks. The possible problem faced by some authors might be the uncomfortable pressure of having to make a decision about an offer from another journal before we are able to complete our review process. The best way to avoid this situation is to allow the Journal time to review your piece. We encourage you to submit your piece to us exclusively for four(4) months. Authors submitting to us on an exclusive basis should use the prompts on the submission email showing the exact months or weeks. If you have received an offer of publication from another journal, please request expedited review of your submission via your author submissions account and our editors will be immediately notified of your deadline.

2. Requirements for the Content of Submissions
2.1. Length
We are committed to publishing work that is concise and readable. Our length guidelines are as follows:
2.1.1. For Articles, we strongly encourage submissions of fewer than 12,000 words, including footnotes (roughly 25 Journal pages).
2.1.2. For Essays, we strongly encourage submissions of fewer than 7,500 words, including footnotes (roughly 15 Journal pages).

2.1.3. For Book Reviews, we strongly encourage submissions of fewer than 5,000 words, including footnotes (roughly 10 Journal pages).
2.1.4.Title page

The title should be short and informative, and should not contain any abbreviations

2.1.5. Introduction

The Introduction should be succinct and without subheadings. It should provide only the necessary background information, rather than comprise a comprehensive review of the field. Citation of the primary literature is required where appropriate.

2.1.5. Abstract
Please include a short abstract with your submission. Abstract should be a single paragraph not exceeding 175 words. The Abstract should be comprehensible to readers before they have read the paper, and abbreviations should be avoided where possible (as for the title). Reference citations within the abstract are not permitted. The abstract should describe all key novel findings of the study.) Up to five keywords, which may or may not appear in the title, should be given in alphabetical order, below the abstract, each separated by a slash (/). 

For submissions that exceeded these word counts, length will be a factor that weighs significantly against acceptance of the manuscript.

2.2. Anonymity
We review manuscripts anonymously, without regard to the author’s name, prior publications, or pending publication offers. We therefore ask that you remove all identifying information (including your name, affiliation, and acknowledgments) from the manuscript and the file name. Please also redact any identifying information in headers and footnotes. Do ensure, however, that the title of the manuscript appears on the first page.
2.3. Data
We strongly recommend submitting data sets with any empirical submissions, and we may request these files before deciding whether to extend an offer of publication. We are able to consider the piece more quickly if the files are provided at the time of submission.

III. Conflicts of Interests
Once a submission is accepted by the Journal, the author will be required to disclose all potential conflicts of interest in the first footnote of the published version. Authors must identify any organizations that provided funding for the research or writing of the manuscript, as well as any personal or family financial interests that might be pertinent. Authors must also disclose their involvement in any litigation that is referenced in or relevant to the article, note, book review or case comments. The Journal’s publication offers are all contingent upon authors’ compliance with this conflict-of-interest policy.