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JOURNAL About the Journal Editorial Policy

Editorial Policy

 

  1. General Provisions

    1. The Journal of Constitutional Law (hereinafter “Journal”) is issued at least twice a year;

    2. The topic of the Journal is constitutional law;

    3. Specific issue of the Journal can be general, as well as of specific subject (certain human rights, certain constitutional law issues), it is also possible to create special issue of the Journal based on the decision of the Editorial Board.

    4. The Journal of Constitutional Law is an open access publication, which envisages, that its content is freely accessible to users without any fee or registration. Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, or otherwise legally use the Journal and papers published in it without prior consent of the publisher or the author(s), pursuant to the conditions of the Creative Commons licence (see Copyright Notice).

    5. Journal is loyal to the editorial best practices, it recognises and aspires to the publishing principles and best practices. It shares and aspires to the values and guiding practices of international recognition, such as BOAI and COPE.

 

  1. Types of works that can be published in the Journal

    1. Following types of works can be published in the Journal:

      1. Academic Paper;

      2. Article;

      3. Student paper;

      4. Case Review;

      5. Book Review;

      6. Case Note of the Constitutional Court of Georgia;

      7. Honorary Paper.

 

  1. Selection procedures for papers

       1.Selection of papers for the Journal is conducted by following means:

  1. Open call for papers;

  2. Directly providing a paper to the Editorial Board or Editor;

  3. Through recommendation of Editorial Board or Adivsory Board member(s);

  4. Special Rule (publishing honorary paper).


 

  1. Call for papers selection procedure

    1. The Board of Journal decides upon announcing call for papers upon the proposal of the Editor;

    2. Call for papers is announced through the web page and official social pages of the Constitutional Court of Georgia. It is possible to spread information by the partners, through internet and other means;

    3. Relevant stages and timeline is decided by the Editorial Board pursuant to the Editor’s proposal;

    4. One or several papers can be selected through the call;

    5. Contributors shall provide papers conforming with the relevant rules;

    6. Contributors shall also provide electronically or in written form an agreement, confirming the originality of the paper and consent of granting exclusive license in case of publishing.

 

  1. Direct submission of the papers

    1. Papers can be submitted directly to the Editorial Board or the Editor of the Journal, both through e-mail and physically;

    2. Papers submitted directly shall be one of the types provided by this policy and should conform with relevant rules;

    3. Prior to submitting papers, contributors shall confirm the originality and the consent for granting exclusive license, in case of publishing.

 

  1. Recommendations for selecting papers

    1. A member of the Editorial Board or Advisors Council is authorised to recommend a paper from a third party to the Editorial Board or the Editor;

    2. Recommendation can be both written or electronic and should include abstract and peer-review;

    3. Decision on publishing a recommended paper is made pursuant to general rules.

 

  1. Special rule for selecting papers

    1. A member of the Advisory Council is authorised to submit a paper of his/her authorship to the Editor (Honorary Paper);

    2. The rules of types of the works and formatting of the paper is not applicable to honorary papers;

    3. A paper written by a member of the Advisory Council should fulfill only the following criteria:

      1. a paper should be in the field of the constitutional law;

      2. a paper should be either in Georgian or in English;

      3. a paper should have no less than 1000 words in English and no less than 750 words in Georgian;

      4. a paper should be free of plagiarism, any internationally recognized referencing standard should be followed consistently;

      5. a paper should be original or provide reference to the original place and time of first publishing;

      6. author of the paper allows the Editor to format and visually edit the paper.

 

  1. Rules for the papers

    1. An Academic Paper should fulfill the following criteria:

      1. An Academic paper is a work written based on a methodology of research, where academic writing standards are followed;

      2. The size of the paper shall be:

        1. in English: no less than 9000 words, no more than 12000 words (including footnotes);

        2. in Georgian: no less than 7000 words, no more than 10000 words (including footnotes);

      3. an academic paper shall have a defined methodology and should consistently follow it;

      4. paper should have logical structure, set out titles;

      5. an author of academic paper may be requested to provide a peer-review from a person holding academic title (PhD or PhD candidate);

      6. Formatting rules for the paper:

        1. font - Sylfaen (English papers can also use Times New Roman), paper should be in UTF-8 unicode;

        2. font size - in Georgian - 11, in English - 12. While publishing the Journal retains the right to amend the font size;

        3. titles - set out using Headings system, with different font. Each title should have respective level. Formatting of the titles will be set by the Editor (visual editing);

        4. footnotes - same font as the main paper, size - decreased by 2.

    2. An Article should fulfill the following criteria:

      1. An Article is a work written based on a methodology of research, where academic writing standards are followed;

      2. The size of an Article shall be:

        1. in English: no less than 4000 words, no more than 7000 words (including footnotes);

        2. in Georgian: no less than 3000 words, no more than 5000 words (including footnotes);

      3. an article shall have a defined methodology and should consistently follow it;

      4. an article should have logical structure, set out titles;

      5. an author of an article may be requested to provide a peer-review from a person holding academic title (PhD or PhD candidate);

      6. Formatting rules for the work:

        1. font - Sylfaen (English papers can also use Times New Roman), paper should be in UTF-8 unicode;

        2. font size - in Georgian - 11, in English - 12. While publishing the Journal retains the right to amend the font size;

        3. titles - set out using Headings system, with different font. Each title should have respective level. Formatting of the titles will be set by the Editor (visual editing);

        4. footnotes - same font as the main paper, size - decreased by 2.

    3. A Student Paper should fulfill the following criteria:

      1. A Student Paper is a work written based on a methodology of research or without it, where where academic writing standards are followed, author of such paper can be a student at any level of higher education;

      2. The size of a student paper shall be:

        1. in English: no less than 3000 words, no more than 5000 words (including footnotes);

        2. in Georgian: no less than 2500 words, no more than 4000 words (including footnotes);

      3. a paper based on a methodology, which was consistently followed, shall have a priority;

      4. a student paper should have logical structure, set out titles;

      5. an author of such paper may be requested to provide a peer-review from either a person holding academic title (PhD or PhD candidate) or from a supervisor of the paper (professor, associate professor, assistant professor or an invited specialist);

      6. Formatting rules for the paper:

        1. font - Sylfaen (English papers can also use Times New Roman), paper should be in UTF-8 unicode;

        2. font size - in Georgian - 11, in English - 12. While publishing the Journal retains the right to amend the font size;

        3. titles - set out using Headings system, with different font. Each title should have respective level. Formatting of the titles will be set by the Editor (visual editing);

        4. footnotes - same font as the main paper, size - decreased by 2.

    4. A Case Review should fulfill the following criteria:

      1. A case review is made around the judgment of the Constitutional Court of Georgia or of other court(s), which could have significance over the constitutional law;

      2. The size of a case review shall be:

        1. in English: no less than 1000 words, no more than 1500 words (including footnotes);

        2. in Georgian: no less than 700 words, no more than 1200 words (including footnotes);

      3. a case review shall deliver the short content of the case and the position of the author, how the constitutional law was affected by the case;

      4. a case review should have logical structure, set out titles;

      5. Formatting rules for the review:

        1. font - Sylfaen (English papers can also use Times New Roman), paper should be in UTF-8 unicode;

        2. font size - in Georgian - 11, in English - 12. While publishing the Journal retains the right to amend the font size;

        3. titles - set out using Headings system, with different font. Each title should have respective level. Formatting of the titles will be set by the Editor (visual editing);

        4. footnotes - same font as the main paper, size - decreased by 2.

    5. A Book Review should fulfill the following criteria:

      1. A book review shall provide a review structure of a significant literature (book, scientific work), its short summary and its importance for the constitutional law;

      2. The size of a book review shall be:

        1. in English: no more than 1000 words (including footnotes);

        2. in Georgian: no more than 700 words (including footnotes);

      3. a book review should have logical structure, set out titles;

      4. Formatting rules for the review:

        1. font - Sylfaen (English papers can also use Times New Roman), paper should be in UTF-8 unicode;

        2. font size - in Georgian - 11, in English - 12. While publishing the Journal retains the right to amend the font size;

        3. titles - set out using Headings system, with different font. Each title should have respective level. Formatting of the titles will be set by the Editor (visual editing);

    6. footnotes - same font as the main paper, size - decreased by 2.

    7. A Case Note (of a judgment/decision of the Constitutional Court of Georgia) should fulfill the following criteria:

      1. A case note is not a scholarly work, it provides short version of the judgment of the court, it does not contain the analysis or assessment of the case, note is an informative article;

      2. a case not is prepared by the Constitutional Court of Georgia;The size of a case note shall be:

        1. in English: no more than 1500 words (including footnotes);

        2. in Georgian: no more than 1000 words (including footnotes);

      3. a book review should have logical structure, set out titles;

      4. Formatting rules for the review:

        1. font - Sylfaen (English papers can also use Times New Roman), paper should be in UTF-8 unicode;

        2. font size - in Georgian - 11, in English - 12. While publishing the Journal retains the right to amend the font size;

        3. titles - set out using Headings system, with different font. Each title should have respective level. Formatting of the titles will be set by the Editor (visual editing);

        4. footnotes - same font as the main paper, size - decreased by 2.

    8. All types of works will be edited visually, fonts, font colours, page margins, line spacing, paragraph spacing and other formatting issues may change.

    9. Works provided for publishing shall be in Georgian and/or English.

 

  1. Decision of publishing papers

    1. Editor of the Journal is responsible for selecting papers and proposing them to the Editorial Board for final decision;

    2. Selected authors will be notified through e-mail;

    3. Selected authors (in case of academic paper, articles, student papers) either prior or after selection are obliged to provide no later than 3 working days from being asked an abstract and at least four main tag words, which will allow classification of papers;

    4. Authors may be requested prior or after selection to provide an open peer-review from a person holding the status requested by the Editor (academic status, teacher of a higher institution, PhD or a PhD candidate). The Journal may also secure an open peer-review with its own resources, where the identities of author and referee are disclosed to one another at any point during the peer review or publication process (as amended by the Decision of the Editorial Board, 30.10.2020).

 

  1. Content requirements for the papers

    1. All papers submitted to the Editor or Editorial Board should be original work or provide the time and place of first publishing, also, the right of an author to re-publish the work or publish with editions shall be confirmed;

    2. Papers should be topical, focused on problematic or relevant issue of the constitutional law;

    3. Papers should aim at engaging in the existing discussion within the field or provoke a new one, papers should be strongly argued and viewpoints should be reasoned;

    4. In case of using methodology, it should be consistently followed.

 

  1. Prohibition of Plagiarism

1. Plagiarism is unacceptable in the Journal of Constitutional Law, author/authors should ensure the information has exact and correct reference to the sources;

2. All papers submitted for publishing will be run in the plagiarism detecting tool Turnitin:

  1. Detected similarities are individually assessed and accuracy is adjudicated by the Editor;

  2. In case there is a similarity in the paper, the author is informed of the detections and is requested to provide explanation or edition, for which no more than 5 (five) working days is given to the author;

  3. In the event the program detects more than 10% of accurate similarities, the author is informed of the detection of similarities and is requested to provide an explanation within no longer than 3 (three) days. If the author refuses to provide his/her position, the paper will not be considered for publication. If the position provided by the author indicates towards the honest error or the reason of similarities is lack of experience, the Board of Editors is authorised to give the author reasonable time, no longer than 5 (five) working days, to correct errors;

3. In case the Editor's/Board of Editors' requests are not fulfilled, the paper is not considered for publication. In the event of unreasoned refusal for explanation or editions, the Editor/Board of Editors retain the right to reject publishing of the author/authors in the future;

4. In case plagiarism is detected in the published paper by a third party, the person who detected is entitled to address the Editorial Board or the Editor (via e-mail: jcl@constcourt.ge) and demand examining of the issue, as well as the report from the plagiarism detection tool on similarities. If the plagiarism is confirmed, the following issue of the Journal shall state this information and an Editor and/or Editorial Board retain the right to reject the publication of the work(s) of the author/authors who have plagiarised. 

 

  1. Referencing and quotation standards

  1. Any paper submitted for publishing shall have relevant sources indicated properly;

  2. It is permitted to use only one type of referencing rule, it is prohibited to mix several referencing standards within one work;

  3. Referencing shall be made using arabic numbering system in the footnotes. Footnotes shall follow the closing punctuation mark (full stop, exclamation mark, question mark). Using footnote before closing punctuation mark is allowed for defining a word or a notion;

  4. Papers submitted in English mostly shall follow the referencing rules provided in the fourth edition of Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). According to the decision of the editorial board, it is possible to use a different standard for the citation in the special edition. 

  5. Referencing in Georgian set out by this rule [not translated]

  6. Quotation rules are defined in a following manner:

    1. Quote within the text or a footnote shall be placed in double quotation marks:

      1. In Georgian quotation marks shall be low („) before the quote and high after the quote (“), for instance „ააა“;

      2. In English both before and after the quote high quotation marks are placed, for instance: “aaa”;

    2. When one quote is a part of another, single quotation makrs are placed. For instance:

      1. In Georgian: „ააა ‘ბბბ’ ააა“;

      2. In English: “aaa ‘bbb’ aaa”;

    3. If an author adds his/her own words to the quote, such words shall be separated by square brackets. For instance “aaa [bbb] aaa”;

    4. If an author emphasises a part within the quote by changing format (using bold, italics or underline), at the end of the quote following words: [emphasis added] shall be written;

    5. If an author deletes a part from the quote, in place of deleted text elipses is placed in the square brackets: “aaa [...] aaa”.

  7. According to the decision of the editorial board, it is possible to use a different standard forthe citation in the special edition.

  1. Copyright Notice

    1. Contributors grant an exclusive license to the Journal, which also includes the right to reproduce in both paper and electronic format, translation, visual reproduction. Contributors retain the right to the material reworked form in other publications provided that the journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and is notified in writing and in advance.

    2. Non-material rights to the works remain with the author;

    3. Prior to publishing author is obligated to approve the grant of exclusive rights, for which he/she may be requested to make relevant statement or sign relevant license.

    4. Works are published under - creative commons License, specifically Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 2.0 License, which entails the right to use for any purposes with the condition of attribution;

    5. The issue of creative commons license is indicated in the Journal both in print and electronically. Following visual note:is also made in the Journal:   and the availability of detailed license conditions are also indicated on the following url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode.

    6. Pursuant to CC BY 2.0 License, any person is allowed to share, distribute, reproduce Journal or its part, including for commercial purposes, in which instance it is obligatory to fully indicate the source and relevant link and indicate if changes were made and what the changes were. CC BY 2.0 License does not entail distribution of author's’ personal, non-material rights.
       

  1. Fee of Publishing

Contributors are not requested any fee for publishing the papers in the Journal of Constitutional Law.
 
 

  1. Ethics and Compliance

    1. Journal recognises and aspires to the ethics rules. Journal shall ensure exclusion of conflict of interest during editing process. In case the conflict of interest may arise between the author and the editor(s), both are entitled to declare potential conflict, the Editorial Board shall make the final decision.

    2. Authors are required to respect the rules of ethics, which envisages proper referencing, correct usage of sources, exclusion of falsification and fabrication, proper indication of contributions, respect to personal data and other issues;

    3. Journal welcomes and promotes discussions regarding the papers in academic or social media. It is possible to provide feedback to the Journal through the e-mail: jcl@constcourt.ge. Authors are entitled to request the Journal to correct discrepancies in the published paper, which is indicated in the next publication and on the web-page;

    4. In the event a misconduct is detected in the paper(s) published in the Journal, any person is entitled to notify the Editor of the Journal or the Editorial Board (through the e-mail: jcl@constcourt.ge) and request investigation and relevant reaction. The address should include the details regarding the misconduct (author(s), title, details of misconduct, argumentation). Editor is obligated to consider such address within reasonable time and respond to the allegation. The author(s) are notified regarding the allegation and are given possibility to provide their own explanation. In the event an allegation is found to be true, the Board of Editors decides on the reaction;

    5. Editor is entitled to react on the allegations of misconduct in the event the allegation is made on the social media or other sources the same way he/she would in the event of allegation sent through the e-mail;

    6. Journal is entitled to consider retracting the paper, correcting he paper or issuing an expression of concern, in case of discrepencies. Each of these reactions are used based on the magnitude of discrepency or misconduct and the Editorial Board makes the decision. Following print publication shall reflect the relevant decision with argumentation, while the web-page of relevant paper shall include such information in online publication.

 

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