The Law Teacher - Editorial Policy
The Law Teacher is a fully-refereed journal concerned with legal education at all academic levels. Whilst it is the journal of the UK-based Association of Law Teachers, both the Association and the journal are international in outlook and contributions from any jurisdiction are welcome in any section of the journal.
Subject-matter
The Law Teacher will reflect the interest in legal education at all levels and in any jurisdiction held by members of the Association of Law Teachers and its other subscribers. The normal structure of each issue provides for four discrete sections:
1. Articles
Articles should generally address issues of legal education rather than substantive law as such. What falls within the concept of ‘legal education’ will be broadly interpreted, and could include any issues which will be of interest to law teachers. The journal is particularly interested in reporting pedagogical developments, properly grounded in theory and effectively researched and analysed and the results of empirical research into matters of concern to law teachers.
Articles will typically be of a length of some 5,000 words, although considerable flexibility will be permitted.
2. Policy and Education Developments
Policy and Education Developments will include shorter pieces focused on policy and education issues likely to be of interest to the readership of the journal. In general, authors should provide an informed overview of their topic, providing the reader with an understanding of the relevance of the issue to legal education. Authors are encouraged to draw upon their own practice and experience where relevant and to explore the implications for legal education suggested by their analysis of the topic.
3. Recent Legal Developments
Recent Legal Developments will address changes in substantive and adjectival law, with a particular focus on areas likely to be of interest to a wide range of law teachers. Thus, a concentration on ‘core’ areas may be expected, but this will not be the exclusive focus. Articles for this section will typically be 2-3,000 words in length, although some flexibility will be permitted.
4. Book Reviews
Book Reviews will focus on books and other materials of interest to those teaching the law and address their practical value in working with students on different types of course. Reviewers are encouraged to introduce a comparative element to their reviews where competing texts are considered.
Peer Review
The Law Teacher operates a policy of peer review in respect of pieces submitted for the
‘Articles’ and ‘Recent Legal Developments’ sections of the journal. The normal process involves articles initially being read by the General Editor and, if potentially appropriate for the journal, anonymised and sent out to experts in the field who are asked to review them for publishability.
Two reviewers are normally sought and will remain anonymous. Where potentially publishable, reviewers are asked to make recommendations for amendment or improvement of the draft work. The Editor will take a final decision as to publication on the basis of reviewers’ recommendations. Where significant change or development of an article is proposed, the revised version may be submitted to reviewers again before a final decision on publication is taken.
An exception to the practice of peer review may arise where a specific article has been commissioned or where it is the published version of a formal lecture organised by the Association of Law Teachers, such as the Annual Lord Upjohn Lecture.
Preparation of Manuscripts
Potential authors are invited to follow the following guidelines.
If uncertain, contact the appropriate editor with an abstract of the proposed piece for publication, to establish that it is appropriate for the journal.
Submit typescripts prepared in MS Word or a compatible program, printed double-spaced on one side of an A4 sheet with generous margins. Pages should be numbered consecutively.
The typescript must also be submitted as an email attachment. Please virus-check attachments before submission. Submission on a CD-Rom is also acceptable.
Title, names of author(s) and address for correspondence should appear on a separate sheet, together with a note of the total number of words. Please provide an abstract of up to 200 words. This may be used on the Law Teacher website.
Authorship should be identified immediately below the title. Please give authors’ institutional affiliation as the first footnote, denoted by an asterisk.
Up to three weights of sub-headings may be used. Examples of how sub-headings are presented may be seen in the journal.
Tables and figures should be presented in electronic form if possible. Otherwise, they should be drawn precisely and boldly to permit photographic reproduction. Shading densities should be between 20% and 70%.
Citation of sources should be placed in footnotes using the facility provided by MS Word and indicated by superscript Arabic numerals placed in the text. References should be full and accurate at the first mention. Thereafter, abbreviations may be used with supra referring back to the original note where the full reference is given (e.g.:supra n. 16).
Books should be cited as follows: W. Twining, Blackstone’s Tower (London, Sweet & Maxwell, 1994).
Chapters published in edited volumes should be cited as follows:
Granfield, R, “The Politics of Decontextualised Knowledge: Bringing Context into Ethics Instruction in Law School”, in Economides, K, (ed), Ethical Challenges to Legal Education and Conduct, (Oxford, Hart, 1998).
Articles published in periodicals should be cited as follows: P. Harris and S. Beinart, “A Survey of Law Schools in the United Kingdom , 2004” (2005) 39 Law Teacher 299.
References to statutes and cases should follow the style of Halsbury’s Laws of England, 4th edition.
References to websites should indicate the date of most recent access.
Authors undertake responsibility for the accuracy of references.
As a condition of publication, authors assign copyright to the Association of Law Teachers. This enables the Association to respond consistently and efficiently to requests from third parties to reproduce articles. Authors may still use their own copyright materials in other publications provided that the Law Teacher is acknowledged as the original place of publication and the editor is notified in advance.
