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SLCU, Christ University’s International Relations and Foreign Policy Committee, invites guest contributions to its blog (UnderArticle38). Offers for contributions are welcome from academics (including researchers and Ph.D. students), practitioners (lawyers, NGO employees, and civil servants) and students.

Blog posts could cover any area of International Law, but must (a) explain the legal background clearly and succinctly, and (b) offer insight into or analysis of the issues being covered. We discourage submissions that merely outline the ratio of a decision or provide a summary without providing any analysis of the reasons cited by the court or its significance to the international community.

Contributions are welcome in any area, but would be especially welcome in areas so far covered in less detail by the blog.

If you wish to publish your views on our blog, please send them to irfpc.submissions.slcu@gmail.com

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Length of the Posts: We are flexible with the length of the posts that we publish. Generally, the blog posts should be in the range of 1000-1800 words. Longer posts will be published in parts.

Content: Articles that have contemporary relevance are preferred. However, you may cross-examine an old issue or take up something that is not sufficiently articulated in other fora.

Structure and Style: We encourage our contributors to write well-organised pieces with decent articulation. Contributions should be coherent and easy to understand. Please avoid excessive use of jargon. The rest of the editorial team will work with you to improve the quality of your contribution.

References: We expect our contributors to cite other writers, articles, or books if they are borrowing any content, as is the case in any academic writing. Being an online platform, we expect our contributors to use hyperlinks instead of footnotes. Though sources that cannot be accessed online may be cited in the main text. We provide a plagiarism relaxation of up to 20% in the guidelines.

Excerpt: Blog posts should be accompanied by a short summary detailing the core issue(s) dealt with in their content: preferably 40-60 words.

Anonymity & Bio: The submission should not mention any information about the author. Alternatively, we would like you to send us a short biography of yours (in a separate document). Your biography shall be published along with your post.

Images: All submissions must include at least one high-resolution image , preferably in landscape orientation, to serve as the blog preview. The image should be relevant and either self-created or labelled for non-commercial reuse with modification. Accepted formats are JPEG or PNG, and files should be named as AuthorName_Title_Image. Submissions without a suitable image may be supplemented with an image chosen by the editorial team.

Timing: Submissions may be sent to us at any time, year-round.

Response Time: To discuss the topics, issues or themes you want to write on, . Our response time varies from a couple of hours to a couple of days. Likewise, the decision of the editorial board regarding the publication of your submission is usually communicated in 7 to 14 days.

SUBMISSION FORMAT

Topic – Centre aligned – 14 Font size – BOLD font
Heading – 12 Font size – BOLD font – Times New Roman - shall be numbered in Roman numbers, for example: I, II, III…
Sub-heading – 12 Font size – Italic – underlined – Times New Roman - shall be numbered in roman numbers, for example: I.I, I.II, II.I, II.II…
Main Body – 12 Font size – Times New Roman – Justified alignment
Line Spacing – 1.5

(The heading and sub-headings shall be left-aligned)

(The English that shall be used is British English)

CONTRIBUTOR’S AGREEMENT

By submitting a post to the blog, the Contributor guarantees that the post is a product of their work and is unpublished. Contributors also permit the UnderArticle38 to use their post, with full attribution but without further consent, on a non-commercial basis in online and offline publications.

Upon the acknowledgement of the submission of the blog, the author will not be allowed to withdraw their manuscript after 10 days of the acknowledgement.