Author Guidelines
Guideline for authors
- The papers are accepted in MS Word only (.doc / .docx / .rtf). Signed statements are accepted in .pdf or graphic formats (.gif, .jpeg).
- Choose one of the authors who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication.Make sure that the contacts are valid.
Preparation of the manuscript
Types of manuscripts: Articles – between 5000 to 10,000 words, preferably no less than 7,500. This works out at approximately 15-25 pages of A4 text in 12 point font, (excluding footnotes). These should be scholarly, with citations and references – exploring (with conclusions) a topic of significant interest. Articles of more than 20,000 words will be considered, but anything more than 30,000 words is unlikely to be acceptable without good reasons.
Expert Commentaries – we would like to expand our Journal with an infrequent section, where significant new cases are reported – and commented on. Those should highlight the issues and boundaries of the judgements or other decisions – such as international investment arbitration awards. Such articles should be between 2,500 and 5000 words long, 12 point font – and ideally no less than 3,500 words.
Book Reviews – important new books can be reviewed, with knowledgeable commentary placing them in the context of the other literature in the field and the new contributions which they make. Such reviews should be between 1,500 and 4000 words long, 12 point font, - and ideally no less than 2,000 words long.
Text structure. The paper contains the following parts: abstract (230+ words), keywords (5-7 words), main text and references.
Abstract. The abstract should describe briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone.
An abstract should:
- Have the length of 230-250 words
- Include the following sections: Background / Objective / Design / Results / Conclusion
For examples refer to Elsevier articles: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666314005157
Main text should include the following sections:
1) Introduction (literature review),
2) Methods (goals and tasks of research, research design and procedure, description of the sample and the methods used),
3) Results (description of results, including tables, figures etc),
4) Discussion (discussion of results),
5) Conclusion (summary of results, suggestions for future research),
6) Limitations (possible issues in generalization of results, e.g. sample size, limited access to data etc).
Tables. Make sure that the tables are numbered according to their sequence in the text. Place footnotes to tables below the table body and indicate them with superscript lowercase letters. Try to avoid using tables with plenty of numerical data. Make sure that all the tables and illustrations are discussed in the text.
Figures. Use uniform lettering and sizing of your original artwork. Resolution should be minimum 300 dpi. Note that the journal is printed in black and white. Make sure that the illustrations are numbered according to their sequence in the text. The names of the files should have the subscription the way it would appear in the text.
For example: 1_coping_with_job_stress_model.jpg
Acknowledgements should be placed in a separate section at the end of the article before the references. Conflicts of interests, if any, should be disclosed.
References are formatted according to the APA (7th ed.) standards.
Transilaration should be formatted using Library of Congress transliteration system (ALA-LC). Try to avoid spaces between initials. Please, add DOI to each reference (if any), using this format: https://doi.org/ ….
For references’ formatting we recommend you to use special service (www.mendeley.com, www.citethisforme.com, www.endnote.com)
A references list should include:
- Not less than 30 items – for research or theoretical articles
- Not less than 60 items – for systemic review
- Not less than 30% of the references should be published within 5 years from the current moment
- Not less than 40% of the references should be publications from international sources
In-text references must be included following the use of a quote or paraphrase taken from another piece of work and contain the author(s)’s or editor(s)’s surname, year of publication and page number(s), e.g. (Przhilenskiy, 2020).
A reference list is the detailed list of references that are cited in your work. This list includes information about the sources like the author, date of publication, title of the source and more. The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication.
Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last names of the first author of each work.
Journal names and book titles should be italicized.
Transliteration of Russian names and titles should be presented with the BSI standard.
Please always include DOIs as full DOI links in your reference list (g., “https://doi.org/abc”) (if applicable).
An example is:
Przhilenskiy V.I. (2020). Social technologies and principles of criminal justice in the conditions of its digitalization. Lex Russica, 73(4), 84-91. https://doi.org/10.17803/1729-5920.2020.161.4.000-000. (In Russ.).
Submission Process
All manuscripts should be submitted via email to together with a scanned copy of the submission form below. Please do not send a hard copy of your submission. Each author / co-author must complete and sign their own form for our record purposes.
A submitted manuscript will be considered for publication even if the author does not conform to the required style. However, once the manuscript is accepted, an author will be asked to revise it in line with principles highlighted above.
Database and Copyright matters
Authors are required to agree to the Journal, and the University holding their personal information and details on their internal computer databases. Such information will not be shared with other individuals or organisations – but may be used by the Journal and University to further correspond with the Author on matters related to the work of legal academics and practitioners.
Authors retain full copyright in their material, but agree and grant Kutafin University Law Journal the right of first publication with a simultaneous grant of licence under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence (allowing others to share and reference the work provided there is an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in Lex Genetica).
Authors can make separate, additional arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (such as posting it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), provided there is an acknowledgement of it being first published in Kutafin University Law Journal.
We are pleased to see our Author’s posting their work online (for example on their personal websites) prior to and during the submission process. If you would like to do this, please let us know. In particular, we think it can give additional opportunities for the Author to receive critical and useful comments, as well as enabling wider citation and use by other authors.
Proofs
We will send you a proof copy of your submission. Proofs will be sent via e-mail (as provided with the submission) to the author for checking. We do ask you to check and return this within 5 working days. Corrections should be returned by means of a “tracked changes” revision of the original submission word file, via e-mail (with a filename extension such as Rev01). If we do not hear back from you within a reasonable time, Lex Genetica reserves the right to postpone publication of the submission.
To the Chief Editor, Lex Genetica
Dear Sir,
I send you the following submission, for consideration for publication
From: (full name)…………………………………….
Address……………………………………………......
Name of Submission…………………………………..
I confirm, by my signature, the following:
- This article or text has not been published – or submitted for publication – elsewhere
- I agree to Lex Genetica, and Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) retaining my personal information and details in electronic format in their internal databases and systems, all in accordance with Russian law.
- I agree to abide by, and agree to, the information provided in the Author’s Guidelines of Lex Genetica as appearing on their official website
Signed:
……………………………………….
Name…………………………………
Date…………………………………..
