Instruction for Authors

The International Journal of Cyber Law (IJCL) publishes original, high-quality, and interdisciplinary scholarly research that contributes to the advancement of legal knowledge, public policy, and related disciplines. Compliance with these Instructions for Authors is assessed during the initial editorial screening conducted by the assigned Section Editor. Manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements may be returned to the corresponding author for technical revision before peer review or may be declined without external review. Compliance with these Instructions does not guarantee acceptance for publication.

These Instructions for Authors prescribe the mandatory requirements governing the preparation and submission of manuscripts to the International Journal of Cyber Law (IJCL). They are intended to ensure consistency in manuscript preparation, facilitate an efficient editorial and peer-review process, and maintain the highest standards of academic quality and scholarly publishing. Authors are expected to read these Instructions carefully before submitting a manuscript. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the manuscript being returned for technical revision or declined prior to peer review.

A. Originality

Only original manuscripts shall be considered for publication. By submitting a manuscript to IJCL, the corresponding author confirms that the manuscript has not been published previously, is not under consideration by another journal or publisher, and has been approved by all listed authors. Manuscripts shall comply with the Journal’s Publication Ethics Policy, Plagiarism Policy, and all other applicable editorial policies.

B. Manuscript Length

Original research articles shall contain not fewer than 6,000 words and not more than 10,000 words, excluding the bibliography. Manuscripts exceeding this limit may be considered only at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief where the nature of the research justifies additional length.

C. Manuscript Formatting

Manuscripts shall be prepared using Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) and formatted in accordance with the Journal’s template. The manuscript shall be typed in Times New Roman, 14-point font, with single-line spacing, justified text alignment, and moderate page margins on all sides. No additional spacing shall be inserted before or after headings or paragraphs. All pages shall be numbered consecutively.

D. Submission Files

All manuscripts shall be submitted exclusively through the Journal’s Online Journal System (OJS), via the “Make a Submission” function. The Journal does not accept manuscripts submitted by email, post, or any channel other than the OJS platform. Authors who do not already hold an OJS account shall register prior to submission.

Authors shall upload two separate files through the Online Journal System (OJS).

The Title Page shall contain the title of the manuscript, the full name of each author, institutional affiliation, country, ORCID iD (where available), the corresponding author’s email address, acknowledgements (where applicable), funding statement, Author Contribution Statement, Ethical Statement, Disclosure Statement, and Data Availability Statement.

The Anonymous Manuscript shall contain no information capable of identifying the author(s) or their institution. Authors should remove personal identifiers from document properties via the file’s properties or “Inspect Document” function, disable tracked changes and remove all comments, and avoid self-citation in a manner that discloses authorship (e.g., “as I have argued elsewhere”).

E. Title

The title shall accurately reflect the subject matter and principal focus of the research. It shall be centered, presented in bold type, and contain no more than fifteen (15) words. Titles shall avoid abbreviations, citations, footnotes, and unnecessary punctuation.

F. Abstract

Each manuscript shall include a single-paragraph abstract of not more than 150 words. The abstract shall briefly state the purpose of the research, the methodology employed, the principal findings, and the contribution of the study. Citations, references, footnotes, abbreviations, and unexplained acronyms shall not be included in the abstract.

G. Keywords

Immediately following the abstract, authors shall provide five (5) to eight (8) keywords that accurately represent the principal themes of the manuscript. Keywords should facilitate indexing and retrieval and should avoid unnecessary repetition of words appearing in the title.

H. Manuscript Structure

Research manuscripts should be organized according to the IMRAD structure, consisting of:

Introduction, Methodology, Results or Analysis, Discussion, and Conclusion.

The Introduction should clearly present the background of the study, problem statement, literature review, research gap, research objectives, research question(s), and the significance of the research.

The Methodology should explain the research design, research methods, data sources, data collection procedures (where applicable), and analytical methods employed.

The Results or Analysis section should present the research findings in a logical, coherent, and systematic manner, supported where appropriate by tables or figures.

The Discussion should critically interpret the findings, compare them with existing scholarship, and explain their theoretical, practical, or policy implications.

The Conclusion should summarize the principal findings, highlight the contribution of the research, acknowledge any limitations where appropriate, and provide recommendations or directions for future research.

I. Headings Structure

Authors shall use only the heading structure prescribed in the Journal Template. Main headings shall be numbered using Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV), first-level subheadings shall be identified using capital letters (A, B, C), and second-level subheadings shall be numbered using Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3). Additional heading levels shall not be used. The abstract shall not be included within the heading numbering system.

J. Tables and Figures

Tables, figures, graphs, charts, photographs, and other illustrations shall be placed within the relevant section of the manuscript and numbered consecutively. Each table or figure shall include a concise title and, where applicable, an appropriate source citation. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any copyrighted material.

Figures, photographs, and illustrations shall be submitted in a high-resolution format (minimum 300 DPI) suitable for print and digital reproduction.

Tables and figures shall each be numbered in a separate consecutive sequence (e.g., Table 1, Table 2; Figure 1, Figure 2).

K. References

All manuscripts shall comply with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), Seventh Edition, for both in-text citations and the reference list.

References shall consist primarily of scholarly books and peer-reviewed journal articles. Authors are strongly encouraged to cite recent, relevant, and authoritative literature that reflects the current state of scholarship. References shall be arranged alphabetically by the surname of the first author and, where necessary, chronologically for multiple works by the same author. Where more than one work by the same author has been published in the same year, the references shall be distinguished by the letters “a,” “b,” “c,” and so forth following the year of publication.

Every source cited in the manuscript shall appear in the reference list, and every reference included in the bibliography shall be cited within the text. References shall not be included in the abstract.

Authors shall use recognized reference management software, preferably Zotero, to ensure the accuracy and consistency of citations.

Every journal article, book chapter, dataset, report, or other electronic source included in the reference list must contain a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or a stable Uniform Resource Locator (URL), where available. References that contain neither a DOI nor a stable URL may be returned to the author for correction or may not be considered by the Journal.

L. Author Contribution Statement

Every submission shall include an Author Contribution Statement identifying the specific contribution made by each listed author. The corresponding author is the individual responsible for communication with the Journal throughout the editorial and peer-review process, for ensuring that all listed authors have approved the final manuscript, and for responding on behalf of all authors to any queries arising after publication.

Please clarify this author’s role in the research by updating the CRediT roles of this author. Where authors do not meet the authorship criteria, please include their contribution in a separately headed “Acknowledgements” section.

Contributions shall be identified under one or more of the following categories:

Conceptualization of the study;
Research design;
Data collection;
Legal analysis;
Drafting of the manuscript;
Critical revision of the manuscript; and
Final approval of the version submitted.

Example 1 – Single Author

Author Contribution Statement:

The author was solely responsible for the conceptualization of the study, research design, legal analysis, drafting of the manuscript, critical revision, and approval of the final version submitted for publication.

Example 2 – Two Authors

Author Contribution Statement:

Author A was responsible for the conceptualization of the study, research design, legal analysis, drafting of the manuscript, and final approval. Author B contributed to data collection, critical revision of the manuscript, and final approval.

Example 3 – Three or More Authors

Contribution	Author(s)
Conceptualization of the study	Author A
Research design	Author A and Author B
Data collection	Author B
Legal analysis	Author A
Drafting of the manuscript	Author A
Critical revision	Author A and Author B
Final approval of the version submitted	All authors

M. Ethical Statement

Every submission shall include an Ethical Statement appropriate to the nature of the research.

Example 1 – Doctrinal Legal Research

Ethical Statement:

This study employed doctrinal legal research based exclusively on publicly available legislation, judicial decisions, policy documents, and scholarly literature. Ethical approval was therefore not required.

Example 2 – Empirical Research

Ethical Statement:

Ethical approval for this research was granted by ________________________________________ (name of institution) under Approval No. ________________________. All participants provided informed consent before participating in the study.

Example 3 – Secondary Data Research

Ethical Statement:

This study relied exclusively on publicly available secondary data and documentary sources. No human participants or confidential personal information were involved. Accordingly, ethical approval was not required.

Example 4 – Interview-Based Research

Ethical Statement:

Ethical approval was obtained from ________________________________________ (name of ethics committee or institution) under Approval No. ________________________. Written informed consent was obtained from all interview participants prior to data collection.

N. Disclosure Statement

Every submission shall include a Disclosure Statement declaring any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

Example 1 – No Conflict of Interest

Disclosure Statement:

The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial conflicts of interest in relation to this research.

Example 2 – Research Funding

Disclosure Statement:

The authors declare that the funding received for this research did not influence the design, methodology, analysis, interpretation, or publication of the study.

Example 3 – Institutional Affiliation

Disclosure Statement:

Author(s) ________________________________________ is/are employed by ________________________________________ (name of institution, organization, company, or agency). The author(s) confirm that this affiliation did not influence the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or conclusions of the study.

Example 4 – Professional Consultancy

Disclosure Statement:

Author(s) ________________________________________ has/have previously provided consultancy or professional services to ________________________________________. The author(s) declare that this relationship had no influence on the research reported in this manuscript.

O. Funding Statement

Every submission shall include a Funding Statement identifying all financial support received for the research and publication of the manuscript.

Example 1 – No External Funding

Funding Statement:

This research received no external funding.

Example 2 – Research Grant

Funding Statement:

This research was financially supported by ________________________________________ (name of funding agency, university, institution, or organization) under Grant or Project No. ________________________.

Example 3 – Institutional Research Funding

Funding Statement:

This research was supported by ________________________________________ (name of university, research Centre, or institution) through its research funding program under Project No. ________________________.

Example 4 – International Funding

Funding Statement:

This research was funded by ________________________________________ (name of international organization, donor, or funding body) under Grant Agreement No. ________________________.

P. Data Availability Statement

Every submission shall include a Data Availability Statement appropriate to the research methodology adopted.

Example 1 – Doctrinal Legal Research