Author Guidelines

MALEO Law Journal (MLJ) (Print ISSN 2550-0260 | Online ISSN 2580-5835) welcomes the submission of original, unpublished, and high-quality manuscripts in the field of legal studies. The journal publishes scholarly works that contribute to the advancement of legal science through theoretical, doctrinal, empirical, comparative, and interdisciplinary approaches. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors are expected to comply with the following guidelines before submitting their manuscripts.

1. Types of Manuscripts

• Original Research Articles
• Review Articles
• Conceptual Papers
• Comparative Legal Studies
• Normative Legal Research
• Empirical Legal Research
• Socio-Legal Research
• Case Analyses
• Policy Analyses

2. Scope of the Journal

• Constitutional Law
• Administrative Law
• Criminal Law
• Civil Law
• Commercial and Business Law
• International Law
• Human Rights Law
• Environmental Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• Cyber Law
• Artificial Intelligence and Law
• Maritime Law
• Fisheries Law
• Health Law
• Islamic Law
• Customary Law
• Election Law
• Sustainable Development Law
• Comparative Law
• Legal Theory
• Other Contemporary Legal Issues

3. Language

Manuscripts must be written in clear, concise, and grammatically correct English. Authors whose native language is not English are strongly encouraged to use professional English editing services before submission.

4. Originality

• The manuscript must be original.
• It must not have been published previously.
• It must not be under review by another journal.
• It must be free from plagiarism.

All submissions are screened using plagiarism detection software. The maximum similarity index accepted is 20%, excluding references and legally accepted quotations.

5. Manuscript Length

Manuscripts should contain approximately 6,000–10,000 words, including references, tables, figures, appendices, and footnotes.

6. Manuscript Format

• Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx)
• A4 Paper
• Margins: 2.5 cm
• Times New Roman
• 12 pt
• Single Spacing
• Justified Alignment
• Continuous Page Numbering

7. Structure of the Manuscript

1. Title
2. Author(s)
3. Institutional Affiliation
4. ORCID ID (Recommended)
5. Corresponding Author Email
6. Abstract
7. Keywords
8. Introduction
9. Literature Review (if applicable)
10. Research Method
11. Results and Discussion
12. Conclusion
13. Acknowledgements
14. Funding Statement
15. Conflict of Interest Statement
16. References

8. Title

The manuscript title should be concise, informative, accurately reflect the content, and should not exceed 20 words.

9. Abstract

The abstract should contain the background, objectives, methodology, principal findings, and conclusion in one paragraph with a length of 200–250 words.

10. Keywords

Provide 3–7 keywords arranged alphabetically.

11. Citation Style

The journal adopts the APA 7th Edition citation style. Authors are encouraged to use reference management software such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote.

12. References

At least 80% of references should come from peer-reviewed journal articles, with most references published within the last 10 years. DOI information should be included whenever available.

13. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively, include descriptive captions, be cited in the text, and images should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.

14. Ethical Requirements

Authors are responsible for ensuring research integrity, accurate authorship, proper citation, and compliance with applicable ethical standards.

15. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Any use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools during manuscript preparation must be transparently disclosed. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

16. Submission Procedure

• Manuscript
• Cover Letter
• Declaration of Originality
• Copyright Agreement (if requested)

17. Peer Review Process

1. Initial Editorial Screening
2. Plagiarism Checking
3. Double-Blind Peer Review
4. Editorial Decision
5. Revision
6. Final Acceptance
7. Copyediting
8. Proofreading
9. Publication

18. Publication Ethics

MALEO Law Journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and upholds the highest standards of publication ethics, editorial independence, transparency, and research integrity.

19. Copyright and Open Access

The journal adopts a Diamond Open Access policy. All accepted articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License.

20. Contact