Chinese
Journal of International Law
http://www.chinesejil.org/; Oxford Journals
site: http://chinesejil.oxfordjournals.org
Boards
of Editors; Main page; Send all submissions in Word files and all
editorial inquiries to: sienhoATchinesejil.org
On the SSCI since Jan. 2008,
the Chinese JIL is a peer-reviewed
journal, published 4 times a year from 2010. Please subscribe to e-table of
contents for updates (http://services.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/alerts/etoc?goAlpha=Alphabetically);
Invitations for manuscripts do not guarantee acceptance. All submissions go through the normal review
process. The first peer-review is
usually completed within 8-12 weeks.
The Chinese JIL Style Guide (online at: http://www.chinesejil.org/style.htm;
version 20100214); template: www.chinesejil.org/template.doc
(open this document, then in the “file” menu hit “save as” and you will be able
to save this document in a location in your computer)
Rule 1.
Overall policy. The Journal
attempts to present papers of the best quality.
We prefer papers with rigorous analyses.
Our overall style policy is: clarity, simplicity and consistency within
each individual article. These rules are
designed so that a reader can immediately understand the footnotes without
carrying with him or her a book of style such as the
US Bluebook to consult. We strongly
recommend strict compliance to promote overall efficiency. For a free sample issue online, go to: http://chinesejil.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol4/issue1/.
Rule
Rule 1b. Innovative ideas and analyses. Normally a good journal will attempt to publish papers with innovative
ideas and analyses. This is however not always possible and so our Journal will publish very good ideas,
very good analysis and very good source materials (such as survey on Chinese
practice in international law). However, those who pursue innovative ideas and
analyses, however, are invited to conduct a “pre-emption check” on your
proposed ideas and analyses to see whether they have been preempted by an
earlier publication (that is to say, already proposed in an earlier
publication). If so, yours will not be innovative anymore. We recommend two
databases for this “check”: the Peace Palace Library Catalogue (http://catalogue.ppl.nl/IMPLAND=Y/SRT=YOP/LNG=EN/)
which contains entries for articles as well as for books from around the world,
and WESTLAW (a full text database containing materials from the English
speaking world, perhaps primarily from the USA). This check should be on
materials already published in the particular journal for which your paper is
written and also on the general literature.
A good paper should take account of the general literature as well as
the materials already published in the journal for which your paper is
intended.
Rule 1b(1). Research teamwork. We disfavor publishing works by one member of a research team on a topic
and of content similar to that of an earlier or simultaneous publication by
another member of that research team. Substantial differences between the two
works are required to justify publication. An author whose submission may give
rise to this issue should notify the Editor-in-Chief in advance.
Rule
Rule
1d. “Best evidence” rule. Rule 1d(a). When giving sources for a position or a
quotation, the best evidence rule should be applied; that is to say, the point
or quotation should be directly supported by the sources given. The sources
should be the “primary” sources or first hand sources. Resort to second hand or third hand support
is prohibited where first hand sources are available. Example 1: The State of Eden proclaims that
it is an archipelagic state on March 13, 2008. (Footnote 1: 2777 Gazette of Eden (2008), 201 (A prohibited
footnote would be: Footnote 1: John Doe, The Legal Regime of Archipelagic
State, Chinese JIL (2008), 201)). Example 2: Mao Zedong said, “Don’t shoot
prisoners.” (Footnote 1: Mao Zedong, 2 Selected Works (1977), 322 (A prohibited
footnote would be: Footnote 1, Yang Dong, Chinese Revolutionaries, 9 Chinese
JIL (2010), 77)). Rule 1d(b). When
“primary” sources or first hand sources are not available or not readily
available, second hard support may be resorted but the footnotes should make
this clear by noting “as quoted in [second hand sources]” or “as reported in
[second hand sources]” (where appropriate). For example, Mao Zedong said,
“Among all the Chinese dishes, I liked Dongpo Pork
most.” (Footnote 1, As quoted in Edgar Snow, Red Star over China (1940), 39.)
Rule 1e.
Copyright and other rights. When submitting a manuscript, each author represents that the submission
is original, contains NO defamatory material and infringes NO existing
copyright, and gives the Journal the right of first refusal. The author shall inform the Editor-in-Chief
if the paper is simultaneously submitted to other journals, in which case the
Journal may decide not to review the manuscript.
Rule 2.
Use of template and format. We ask everyone to use this template (www.chinesejil.org/template.doc;
open this document, then in the “file” menu hit “save as” and you will be able
to save this document in a location in your computer) with all the settings
undisturbed (these include: page setup; footnote style; text style). If you cannot download it, email: sienhoATchinesejil.org
for a copy. Please use “normal” or “base
text” style throughout the piece. The
footnote style includes a hanging indent feature. After the footnote number, please press
“space” once, and then press “tab” to ensure formatting. Many thanks for your cooperation. However, if, for some reason, you cannot use
this template, you may submit your paper in another format in the
beginning. Some general points on the
template and format:
(1) Fonts in main
body text. Use “Garamond 11 point”. Use italics for case names (in
(2) Font in header:
Garamond 9 point. No footer is used.
(3)
Fonts in footnotes. Use regular “Garamond 10.5 point”. Do
not use any special fonts such as italics or underlining for case names, titles
of articles, journals or books; simply use the regular font. This
applies to titles of articles in foreign languages. N.B., use italics only for
emphasis and for foreign phrases within an English title. If an entire title is
in French, the entire title should be in regular font. (This policy on font is
from Columbia LR, which is liberating. Scholars should not spend too much time
on attractions such as beautiful fonts.)
Rule
Rule 2b. Last name of a Chinese author when placed
first (in the main text, footnotes, header or footer).
As we know, Chinese people generally place their last names first, first
names last. In order to make this
apparent to those not familiar with Chinese names, this Journal attempts to
capitalize the entire last name of when it is placed first, for example, WANG Tieya. This rule
applies throughout a paper. When a
Chinese author uses the Western style and places his or her last name last, it
will be treated in the same way as a Western name, for example, Haopei Li.
Rule
3. Structure of the paper. We apply
this Mandatory Style to the title and section headings. The structure of a normal paper consists of
(1) Abstract and (2) the Body. We use
footnotes, NOT endnotes. The structure
of the paper should normally be as follows:
LIN Zexu
Abstract [this consists of the questions discussed and your answers,
no more than 130 words]: The
Utopia doctrine asserts that Utopia as an ideal can promote peace, stability
and human flourishing. A utopia is an
imagined civic polity consisting of 3 main elements: transparency; legitimacy;
and mass appeal. A utopian goal may help
to improve the world but may drive the world mad. To take full advantage of the doctrine,
conscientious policy-makers may want to take it easy and not engender
exaggerated sense of exuberance. [For a
real example from the Journal, hit: No case exists objections procedure; or
go to the OUP site
to see all.]
[The body of
text shall use this style:]
I. Introduction
II. The concept
of utopia
II.A. The basic
elements of the concept
II.B. The origin
of the concept
II.B.i. The first use of the term
III. The
practical implications in the international context
IV. Conclusion
Rule
(1) The main title
is centered.
(2) All headings are
“left-justified”, without any indentation.
(3) An
auto-biographical footnote should be numbered *; if possible, please give your
email address in this footnote, so that readers can contact you for discussion.
(4) Other footnotes
start with 1. No end notes are used.
(5) There is NO page
limit. Shorter pieces can be reviewed
more quickly. The Journal has published papers as long as 68 pages, and as short as
2 pages. The most important factor is quality. Rigor may require length. But reflect on the famed letter writer’s
apology to the recipient that “I am sorry I do not have time to write you a
shorter letter”.
Rule
3b. Date of your paper and subsequent
changes. In the auto-bio footnote,
please state the date on which the paper is completed (normally the date on
which the Journal and the author
agree that the paper is already for type-setting by the publisher). Because of the tremendous costs involved in
changing materials after type-setting, at the page-proofing stage, the authors
are not supposed to make substantial substantive changes. Rather, you are supposed to correct mistakes
only. Subsequent developments may be
briefly noted, or briefly discussed in the form of a post-script at the end of
this paper or in a footnote at the end of the paper. We request that the author notify the
Editor-in-Chief of any material substantive changes made at page-proofing
stage.
Rule
Rule 3d. Book reviews. Book
reviews shall not follow the structure given above, but must follow this style
guide as much as possible, otherwise. A book review should have no more than
3000 words. We recommend that a book
review try to present the contents of the book first, understand its “design”,
engage the arguments in it in the light of its genre and on its own terms in
the first instance and then present the reviewer’s own critique. A sample book
review can be found here: www.chinesejil.org/bai.pdf.
Rule 4.
Quotations. We use double
quotes (single quotes within double quotes), like: “God said, ‘Let there be light.’” However, single quotes are used if they are
in the original text quoted.
Rule
Rule 4b.
Alteration in quotations. Any alteration to a quote (anything changed
or added to a quote by the author including adding paragraph or page numbers)
that is placed within a normal quotation or a block quotation must be indicated
by “[ ... ]”, not “( ... )”. For example, “This is not too nice. [
Rule 5.
Footnoting. Every quotation
must be footnoted. The authors are reminded of “Rule
Rule
Rule 5b. Sample citations in footnotes:
(1) UN Charter, art.
2(4).
(2) ILC Draft
Articles on State Responsibility, art. 48.
(3)
(4) VCLT, n.3 above,
art. 31.
(5) Sovereignty over
Mars (
(6) Tom S. Mor, Opinio Juris Is Not Necessary, in: Li Haopei
(ed.), Sources (1975), 10 (commenting on Johnny Musketeer).
(7) Tom S. Mor, Opinio Juris Is Probably Necessary, 101 Columbia LR (1995),
21, 104-05 (“no one is willing to say expressly that it is not necessary”).
(8) Tom S. Mor, Opinio Juris Is Now Necessary, 99 EJIL (2000), 999, 1011
n.888.
(9) Tom S. Mor, 5 Chronicles of Other People’s Opinion (1999), 249.
(10) GA Res 99999
(2993).
(11) Gug v. Hug, 888
(12) Mor, above n.5,
888. (Never use “loc. cit., 2.” or “op. cit.,
(13) Mor, below n.222,
and text thereto. (Never use “loc. cit., 2.” or “op. cit.,
(14) On natural law,
see below Part I.B.ii., and text to nn.33-39.
(15) Christine Gray,
The New Bush Doctrine, 1 Chinese JIL (2002), 444 (www.chinesejil.org/gray.pdf).
(16) Christa White, The Old Boy’s Doctrine: Complete Bankruptcy of
Prevention, 99 Chinese JIL (2100), 222.
(17) LIN Wenzhong, The Bush Doctrine, 99 Zhongguo Faxue [
(18) LIN Wenzhong, Zhongguo
Gaige [The Reforms in
Rule
(1) Volume numbers
always precede immediately the title of the book or journal: Shabtai Rosenne, 3 Law and
Practice (1997), 1400.
(2) Dates of
publication are always in parentheses (except when citing to ICJ Reports which
should be, as used by the ICJ itself, in this format, “ICJ Reports
(3) Page numbers:
always put a comma before a page number.
(4) Internal
references to different sections of the author’s own article must be made to
Parts, or Sections, or texts to footnotes (not to page numbers) in order to
avoid confusion in typesetting.
(5) Citations to web
documents should are as simply as possible, and placed in parentheses, and
without the hyperlink placed in it. E.g., Christine Gray, The New Bush
Doctrine, 1 Chinese JIL (2002), 444 (www.chinesejil.org/gray.pdf). [There is no need for http; “available at”,
etc.; the date of the visit is important is TIME is of the essence.] Please try to specify paragraph numbers when
page numbers are not available from an htm file.
(6) First name,
middle initial and last names in footnotes: (a) when citing to an author for
the first time, always try to give the first name and middle initials of any
individual (we are often surprised that people who have the same last names
also like to have the same first names); (b) when referenced to another
footnote, then just last name is sufficient.
(7) Book chapters:
use “in:” to indicate the book: Tom Mor, Opinio Juris, in:
Li Haopei (ed.), Sources (1975), 45.
(8) Between the main title and a subtitle, there should be a “:” (example
5(b)16).
(9) Journals and books published in Chinese should be specified in Chinese
pinyin and then followed by an English translation in brackets (examples
5(b)(17) and 5(b)(18)), but the titles of articles published in Chinese need
only be specified by their English translation.
This rule aims to avoid confusion resulting from using only the English
translation of titles of books and journals.
Rule
5d. Citations to paragraphs. Whenever an
original paper or document contains paragraph numbers, every citation to parts
of that paper or document must indicate the paragraph numbers.
Rule 6. Titles of individuals. You are required to make a distinction
between the capacities in which an individual expresses an opinion. This rule is necessary because such differing
capacities have differing impacts on the formation of international law.
Rule
Rule
6b. For official persons, specify titles. When a view was put forward by an individual
in his or her official capacity, the official title must be indicated. For example, (1) In
Rule 7. Cases. Follow official citations except that if the
case is from a national court, add the name of the State before the name of the
Court before the date, e.g., (UK H.L. 2002). It is preferable to have the full
case name at least once in your article. When
a case name appears in the main text, it should be italicized. In the
footnotes, however, it should be in regular font.
Rule
Rule 8. Official documents. Follow
the official citations used in these documents. Use: “GA Res” for General
Assembly resolution; “SC Res” for Security Council resolution.
Rule 9. Abbreviations. Try to follow
the official abbreviations if available.
Do not use periods in the abbreviations of titles and organizations, but
use periods in the abbreviations of Latin phrases. For example, use “e.g.” for
“for example”; but use “UN” (not U.N.) for “United Nations”. Some commonly used abbreviations follow:
(1) “ICJ” for
“International Court of Justice”;
(2) “ICC” for
“International Criminal Court”;
(3) “ITLOS” for
“International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea”;
(4) “ICTY” for
“International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
(5) “ICTR” for
“International Criminal Tribunal for
(6) “ILC” for
“International Law Commission”;
(7) “ILA” for
“International Law Association”.
Rule
Rule
9b. Abbreviations
within a paper. Abbreviations in a
language system other than English should be listed in the auto-bio footnote
(E.g., In this paper, the following abbreviations are used: AFP for “Agence
France Presse”; AJDA for “Actualités
juridiques de droit administratif”; EFEO for “Ecole
française d’Extrême
Orient”; MSH for “Maison des Sciences humaines”; PUF for “Presses universitaires
de France”; RIDP for “Revue internationale de droit public”; RSC for “Revue de sciences criminelles et de droit pénal comparé”; RUDH for “Revue universelle des droits de l’homme”).
Rule 10. Journal titles. When
abbreviating journal titles, keep the unique components of a title but
abbreviate the other words in it. For example, use “Chinese JIL” for “Chinese
Journal of International Law”; “Cambridge LJ” for “Cambridge Law Journal”;
“Harvard JIL” for “Harvard Journal of International Law”; “Revue Belge DI” for “Revue Belge de droit international”; “Max Planck YUNL” for “Max Planck
Yearbook of United Nations Law”; etc. This rule is intended to make it possible
for a reader to spot the title of journals without referring to list of
abbreviations, etc.
Rule
(1) “LR” for “Law
Review”;
(2) “JIL” for
“Journal of International Law”;
(3) “JTL” for
“Journal of Transactional Law”;
(4) “JILP” for
“Journal of International Law and Policy”;
(5) “CL” for
“Comparative Law”;
(6) “YIL” for
“Yearbook of International Law” or “Year Book of International Law”;
(7) “JLS” for
“Journal of Legal Studies”.
Rule
10b.
As exceptions to this Rule 10 on journal titles, you may (but need not) use the
following:
(1) “AFDI” for “Annuaire français de Droit international”;
(2) “AJIL” for
“American Journal of International Law”;
(3) “BYIL” or
“BYBIL” for “British Year Book of International Law”;
(4) “Chinese JIL”
for “Chinese Journal of International Law” ( Please note that the Chinese JIL
does not use “CJIL” as its abbreviation);
(5) “EJIL” for
“European Journal of International Law”;
(6) “FMPRC” for “the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of
(7) “EPIL” for
“Encyclopedia of Public International Law”;
(8) “Hague Lectures”
or “Recueil des Cours”
or “RCADI” for “Recueil
des Cours de l’Académie de
(9) “ILM” for
“International Legal Materials”;
(10) “ICLQ” for
“International and Comparative Law Quarterly”;
(11) “ILR” for
“International Law Reports”;
(12) “UNYB” for “United
Nations Yearbook”;
(13) “ICJYB” for
“International Court of Justice Yearbook”;
(14) “ICTYJR” for
“ICTY Judicial Reports”;
(15) “ILCYB” for
“Yearbook of the International Law Commission”;
(16)
“NJW” for “Neue
Juristische Wochenschrift”;
(17) “RGDIP” for “Revue
générale de droit
international public”;
(18) “UNJYB” for
“United Nations Juridical Yearbook”;
(19) “YIHL” for
“Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law”.
Rule
11. Unregulated situations. Apply a rule that governs the situation that
is closest to an unregulated situation.
Comments are invited to: sienhoATchinesejil.org.
[End.]
This style guide has been prepared by
Sienho Yee for the Chinese Journal of
International Law.