Publication Guidelines for the Legal Research Journal

1. The Legal Research Journal welcomes original scientific research papers and studies in various fields of law, in both Arabic and English, submitted by researchers and academics affiliated with academic and research institutions. All submissions are subject to scholarly peer review in accordance with the following guidelines:
2. Originality and Academic Quality: Manuscripts must be original, novel, clearly written, and linguistically sound. They must adhere to sound scientific research methodology and generally accepted academic standards.
3. Scope of the Journal: The subject matter of the manuscript must fall within the Journal’s scope and be consistent with its academic objectives and areas of specialization.
4. Originality of Submission: A manuscript must not have been previously published, submitted for publication elsewhere, or be under review by another entity. It must not be derived from a book, academic research paper, master’s thesis, or doctoral dissertation, or from previously published research. Authors must not submit the manuscript to another publication until the Journal has issued its final editorial decision.
5. Similarity and AI Usage: The similarity index of a manuscript, as determined by Turnitin, must not exceed 25%. Authors must disclose any use of AI tools and remain responsible for the originality, accuracy, and academic integrity of their work.
6. Submission Procedure: Authors must create an account on the Journal’s website, complete the required forms, and upload the manuscript in both Word format (Microsoft Word 2016 or later) and PDF format.
7. Author Information: The first page of the manuscript must contain the full details of the author(s), including full name, academic degree, specific area of specialization, name of the affiliated academic institution, and email address.
8. Abstracts and Keywords: Each manuscript must include an abstract in both Arabic and English, with each abstract not exceeding 200 words. Five keywords must be provided in each language. The English abstract must not rely on machine translation.
9. Manuscript Length: Manuscripts should contain between 5000 and 10000 words. The Editorial Board may accept manuscripts outside this range where justified by compelling academic reasons.
10. Curriculum Vitae: Authors must submit a brief curriculum vitae with their first submission to the Journal.
11. Copyright and Publication Rights: The Journal retains the publication rights to accepted manuscripts. Republishing an accepted manuscript in any other publication is prohibited without the Journal’s prior formal written permission.
12. Withdrawal of Accepted Manuscripts: Authors may not withdraw their manuscripts or decline publication after the manuscripts have completed peer review and been accepted for publication.
13. Authors’ Responsibility: The opinions and ideas expressed in published manuscripts are those of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Journal or its Editorial Board.
14. Formatting Requirements: Manuscripts must comply with the Journal’s approved formatting template, available on its website.
15. Title Formatting: The manuscript title must be centered on the page, in Times New Roman, 16-point font, and bold.
16. Author Name and Affiliation: The name(s) of the author(s) must appear immediately below the title, together with the affiliated academic institution and email address, in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and bold.
17. Headings: Main and subheadings must be formatted in Times New Roman, 14-point font, and bold.
18. Body Text and Footnotes: The main text must be written in Times New Roman, 12-point font, while footnotes must be written in Times New Roman, 10-point font. Both must use single line spacing, with a 1 cm first-line indent.
19. Citation and Referencing Style: The Journal adopts the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style. Authors must ensure consistency between in-text citations and the reference list.
20. In-Text Citations: In-text citations must include the author’s surname, publication year, and the relevant page number where applicable. The first citation and subsequent citations must follow the same APA requirements.
21. References: All sources cited in the manuscript must be listed in the reference list at the end of the manuscript, arranged alphabetically. Arabic-language references must precede foreign-language references, in accordance with the following formats:

    First: Books

    Author’s surname, first name. (Year). Title of the book (edition, if applicable). Publisher.

    Second: Journal Articles and Scientific Research Papers

    Author’s surname, first name. (Year). Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume number(issue number), page range.

    Third: University Theses and Dissertations

    Author’s surname, first name. (Year). Title of the thesis or dissertation [Master’s thesis/Doctoral dissertation, University name]. Country.

    Fourth: Electronic Sources

    Author’s surname, first name. (Year or n.d.). Title of the electronic source. Website name. URL. Access date, where applicable.