Editorial policy

Aimed at professionals active in the legal information community this topical journal provides invaluable information for all those involved in the provision of legal information in the academic and professional environments. Published quarterly, and with an extensive current awareness section, a regular international developments column and coverage of management issues, Legal Information Management is the international journal for legal information professionals everywhere.

We are happy to accept articles on the wide range of topics which might be of interest to BIALL members and those operating in allied fields. We attempt to have themes within each issue but not to the exclusion of other material. We look to the BIALL membership and those practising in legal information or associated fields to write on any matter which concerns them or of which they have experience.

Submissions

Submission of an article will be taken to imply that it is unpublished and not being considered for publication elsewhere. Upon acceptance of a paper, the author will be asked to sign a copyright licence (on certain conditions) to allow Cambridge University Press to mount the journal on Cambridge Core.

Contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material in which they do not hold copyright and for ensuring that the appropriate acknowledgments are included in the manuscript.

Manuscript preparation

Articles

The recommended minimum length for articles is about 2,500 words but we are happy to accept longer articles. It would be helpful if the article is divided into sections with the section headings appearing on separate lines.

The title page of the article should include the following information:

Contributor’s name

Contributor’s address

Brief abstract which should not be more than 100 words

Brief biography

Competing interest statements for all authors

Number of words

Details of address are needed so that we can send out the copyright licence form and a complimentary copy of the journal when it is published.

Competing interests 

All authors must include a competing interest declaration in their title page. This declaration will be subject to editorial review and may be published in the article. Competing interests are situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the content or publication of an author’s work. They may include, but are not limited to, financial, professional, contractual or personal relationships or situations. If the manuscript has multiple authors, the author submitting must include competing interest declarations relevant to all contributing authors. 

Example wording for a declaration is as follows: “Competing interests: Author A is employed at organisation B. Author C is on the Board of company E and is a member of organisation F. Author G has received grants from company H.” If no competing interests exist, the declaration should state “Competing interests: The author(s) declare none”.

Authors, particularly those whose first language is not English, may wish to have their English-language manuscripts checked by a native speaker before submission. This is optional, but may help to ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the editor and any reviewers. We list a number of third-party services specialising in language editing and/or translation, and suggest that authors contact as appropriate: www.cambridge.org/core/services/authors/language-services

Please note that the use of any of these services is voluntary, and at the author's own expense. Use of these services does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication, nor does it restrict the author to submitting to a Cambridge Core published journal.

Photographs

The journal is delighted to feature photographs of authors or of other subject matter relevant to the article in question. Please email digital versions of the photo to the editors.

Please indicate if there is any copyright in the photograph other than your own. Please supply a caption for every photograph.

Where the article includes illustrations, graphics, screen shots etc it would be helpful if these could be supplied in a separate electronic file.

Charges apply for all colour figures that appear in the print version of the journal. At the time of submission, contributors should clearly state whether their figures should appear in colour in the online version only, or whether they should appear in colour online and in the print version. There is no charge for including colour figures in the online version of the Journal but it must be clear that colour is needed to enhance the meaning of the figure, rather than simply being for aesthetic purposes. If you request colour figures in the printed version, you will be contacted by CCC-Rightslink who are acting on our behalf to collect Author Charges. Please follow their instructions in order to avoid any delay in the publication of your article.

Conference reports and book and product reviews

Conference and other reports and book and product reviews are normally shorter. However it is perfectly acceptable for longer conference reports, where issues raised are discussed in depth, to be submitted. In the case of book and product reviews about 1,000 words is the maximum.

Conference and other reports should be sent to the Editor.

Text conventions

Footnotes

Please use numbered foonotes in the text, with full details appearing at the end of the article. References to published literature can be cited in the text using the author-date style, for example Clinch (1998) followed by a,b… when two or more references to work by one author are given in the same year.

Examples are given as follows:

Clinch, Peter. (2001) FLAG project: survey results. Legal Information Management 1(2), 45-48

Gordon-Till, Jonathan. (1998a) Cameo on the world wide web. Managing Information 5(7), 53-55

Gordon-Till, Jonathan. (1998b) Discover: people information. Managing Information 5(10), 27-30

Harding, J. (1999) "Why Scotland? A major investor’s perspective" in Essential Scotland. Edinburgh, Agenda Publishing, 1999. 178-179

Moys, Elizabeth. (2001) Moys classification and thesaurus for legal materials. 4th ed. Munich, K.G. Saur.

Style

Quotations

If more than 60 words, they should be indented and set off from the text without quotation marks. Otherwise double quotation marks should be used except for quotations within quotations which should use single marks.

Underlining

Please do not underline, except where special emphasis is required.

Punctuation

All punctuation marks should be outside closing quotation marks.

Capitals

Please use sparingly.

Abbreviations

No full points should be used with abbreviations consisting of initials (ACAS, USA) except in references to judges, law reports, journals (C.L.J., C.A.).

Dates

Use the style: 2 July 1999; 1998-89; 1990s

Numerals

Numbers below ten should be spelt out.

Spelling

Please use English spelling: organisation not organization; labour not labor.

Italics

The following should be italicised:

Case names: Edwards v Brown; book titles where quoted in the text: Halsbury’s Laws of England.

Proofs

Proofs will not normally be sent to contributors. However where there are problems with length or the Editor feels that considerable amendments are necessary, then authors may be contacted for editing advice. Authors may request copies of first proofs.

Complimentary copies

Authors will receive a PDF version of their article.

Open Access

Please visit www.cambridge.org/core/services/open-access-policies for information on our open access policies, compliance with major funding bodies, and guidelines on depositing your manuscript in an institutional repository.

Contact

In case of uncertainty or doubt, or where you are unsure about the viability of an article or topic, feel free to contact Mike Breslin or Jas Breslin at limeditor@biall.org.uk

Note: Full journal text is made available on: Westlaw

Last updated 17th May 2023