The Inter-American and European Human Rights Journal welcomes the submission of unsolicited articles, essays, case notes, and comments for consideration by the Editorial Board with a view to publication.
Manuscripts should be original. This means that a manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and that it contains work not previously published in English, Spanish or in any other language. Articles originally published in another language might, in certain exceptional circumstances, be accepted for publication. The author should indicate if this is the case. It is up to the Editors to decide upon acceptance.
Manuscripts must be written in English (UK spelling) or Spanish and will be published in the language in which they were submitted. Authors whose first language is not English or Spanish are strongly encouraged to have their manuscripts reviewed by a native speaker prior to submission. This measure helps ensure that the academic content of the paper is clearly and accurately conveyed to editors and reviewers.
The Editors will make an initial screening of all manuscripts received. Selected manuscripts will be reviewed by at least two members of the Editorial Board on the basis of anonymity. The Editors reserve the right to send manuscripts for external review at their discretion. The final decision is made by the Editors, who reserve the right to refuse any manuscript, or, in case manuscripts are accepted, to add certain corrections or shorten them. Any changes affecting the substance of the text will only be made in agreement with the author.
All manuscripts must conform to the following guidelines:
Manuscripts Font, Type, Length
Manuscripts should be typed in Word format (.doc) in Times New Roman, point-size 12 (footnotes point-size 10) and double-spaced. Please, avoid too many codes. Pages should be numbered sequentially, including appendices, at the bottom (left) of the page.
Please ensure that you:
Use the third person, not first person (i.e. do not use ‘I’ or ‘we’)
Total word count of manuscript (word counts include footnotes)
- Articles: Manuscripts should average between 8,000 and 10,000 words in length, including footnotes. A summary in the original language of no more than 250 words should be included with the manuscript, as well as a summary in the other language.
- Case Notes: Focused discussion of significant decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, constitutional courts, or apex courts engaging with regional human rights. 3,000–3,500 words.
- Review Essays / Book Reviews: Critical engagement with one or more recent books. 1,500–3,000 words. Reviews should go beyond summaries and locate the work within current debates.
- Short Comments: Timely interventions on current developments, treaty reforms, or legislative/soft-law proposals. 1,500–3,000 words.
Authors must include the total word count of the manuscript at the end of the keywords section.
Ethical Responsibilities
Authors must disclose the following:
- Details of any funding received for the study.
- A statement confirming institutional ethical approval for studies involving human participants or sensitive data.
- If applicable, a copy of the ethics approval should also be included in the manuscript file, with any identifying information anonymised.
- A declaration of interests by all authors, if applicable.
- Acknowledgements, where relevant.
Abstract
An unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words should be included with all manuscript submissions and counts towards the total word limit. The Abstract should be comprehensible to readers before they have read the main text, and reference citations must be avoided. The abstract must be at the top of the anonymised manuscript file. Text abstracts must be written in English and Spanish.
Keywords: Authors should provide up to 5 keywords, separated by commas.
Two separate documents
Manuscripts are subject to double-anonymous peer review. Therefore, please prepare two separate documents as outlined below, both double-spaced:
Document 1
- An anonymised manuscript with any information or citations that reveal the identity of the author(s) removed, for example, names of authors, acknowledgements, the name of the institutional ethics information, funding information; and
Document 2
A separate page including the below information:
- The title of the paper (maximum 50 words). The title page should list the full names of all authors. The academic or professional affiliations, ORCIDs, and e-mail address of each author should be provided in a brief autobiographical footnote after the name of each author.
Information and citations that reveal the identity of the author(s) should be reinserted in the manuscript if accepted for publication.
Layout
- Headings and Subheadings: In order to clearly present the publications, it is useful to use a consistent system of headings. We would ask authors to use only three grades of headings. The following hierarchy should be used (please do not use CAPITALS in headings):
- Part One 1.1. First Subheading 1.1.1. Second Subheading All nouns, verbs and adjectives on the first three levels should begin with Capital letters.
- Numbers & dates: Spell out one to nine; use numerals from 10; date format in English submissions: 23 December 1999. Use commas as thousands separators. Avoid eliding page ranges (126–129).
- Quotations: Quotations of fewer than 40 words are to be included in the main text, between single quotation marks. Longer quotations should begin on a new line, without quotation marks, and be indented from the left to indicate that it is to be set as a separate block of text. The original capitalisation, spelling, etc. of the quotation should be preserved. Place any changes made to a quoted text between square brackets. If you wish to add specific emphasis to part of the quoted text, the use of italics should do this, and ‘(emphasis added)’ should be added to the source note. A footnote with a reference to the source should always follow quotations.
- Italics: Italicise case names; titles of books and periodicals; Words or phrases in languages other than English which are not in common use.
- Abbreviations: Abbreviations should be spelt out on first use with the abbreviation given immediately following in parentheses, e.g. ‘World Health Organisation (WHO)’.
- Names & capitalisation: When writing in English, use English forms for place names (e.g., The Hague). Reserve capitals for formal names of institutions and specific instruments (e.g., Article 6(3)(a) ECHR), otherwise use lower case (e.g., the tribunal).
- Bibliography: The bibliography should only contain sources cited in the text, and all sources cited in the text should be listed in the bibliography. Authors are asked to pay particular attention to the accuracy and correct presentation of references. In the case of material with multiple authors, please list all authors up to a maximum of six. Where there is more than one item by the same author(s) in a particular year, the year should be given as 2006a, 2006b, and so on. In the case of press articles, monographs, conference reports and similar material, give hyperlinks where possible, including the date when the item was last accessed.
Tables, Figures, and Illustrations
Number tables and figures consecutively and refer to them in the text (e.g., “Table 1”). Provide clear captions in the main document; submit figures as separate files named Fig1.pdf, Fig2.pdf, etc.
Rules of Citations (OSCOLA-based, Footnotes Only)
Use footnotes only; no end bibliography. Place footnote numbers after punctuation. For full rules on citation and cross-references, follow OSCOLA (4th ed., 2012).
Data, Transparency & Research Materials
Where feasible, authors should provide links or references to public judgments, pleadings, and primary materials. For empirical work, include a brief note on methods and (where ethics permits) an access statement for underlying data.
Plagiarism and Originality
The Journal has a zero-tolerance policy against plagiarism and the unauthorised use of ideas. Authors must ensure that all submissions are their own original work and that any use of the work or ideas of others is clearly acknowledged through appropriate citation and quotation practices. This includes avoiding:
- Direct plagiarism: copying text without quotation marks and reference;
- Mosaic or paraphrased plagiarism: closely following the structure or wording of another work without proper attribution.
If an author submits a manuscript that substantially overlaps with work previously published or concurrently submitted by the same author(s), this information must be disclosed at the time of submission. Manuscripts may be subject to similarity checks. Where plagiarism or undisclosed duplicate publication is identified, the Editors reserve the right to reject the submission.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools
Any use of AI tools in research and writing must be fully disclosed.
Copyright & Open Access
Upon acceptance, authors will be asked to sign a copyright transfer or license-to-publish agreement. The journal supports lawful sharing of preprints and encourages compliance with funder mandates; details will be provided at acceptance.
After Acceptance
Authors will be asked to verify citations and ensure full conformity with these Instructions before publication. Proofs must be returned promptly with only essential corrections.
Contact
For queries regarding scope, fit, and format, please contact the Editorial Office at iaehrj@ugent.be