Call for Papers
Digital Transformation and Law in Asia
The Asian Journal of Law and Society invites contributions for a special issue on the topic of “Digital Transformation and Law in Asia.” The special issue aims to provide a platform for scholars and early career researchers to engage with the socio-legal implications of digital transformation, with a particular focus on the metaverse, artificial intelligence, and other related topics in the Asian context.
We welcome original research articles that examine the legal and social dynamics of digital transformation in Asia. The scope of the special issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:
Legal and ethical challenges of AI and machine learning
Metaverse and virtual reality
Intellectual property and digital transformation
Cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection in the digital age
Digital governance and regulation
Socio-legal implications of emerging technologies, such as blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT) and ChatGPT
Submission guidelines:
Authors are invited to submit an abstract of 400 words by September 30, 2023. Abstracts should be submitted via email to the Administrative Editor (email: editors@asianjls.org). The abstract should include the author’s name, affiliation, and email address. Manuscripts must not have been previously published, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent by November 30, 2023. Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit a full manuscript before February 29, 2024. All submitted manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review. Final decisions on manuscripts will be communicated to authors by May 31, 2024.
Editor-in-Chief
Professor Weidong Ji
China Institute for Socio-Legal Studies, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
For further information, please contact the Administrative Editor of the Asian Journal of Law and Society（email: editors@asianjls.org）. We look forward to receiving your submissions.
《亚洲法与社会杂志》（Asian Journal of Law and Society）是由上海交通大学中国法与社会研究院（CISLS）及其前身法社会学研究中心（LSC）为凯原法学院与剑桥大学出版社合作出版的全英文学术期刊。目前订购数超过8500户，其中超过6000是机构订户。仅在剑桥出版社的期刊平台，仅在2018年，这份新兴期刊的全文下载数就达到10000次以上。据最近获得的权威信息，本刊在SCOPUS引文数据库排行榜已经上升到第二方阵，也已经被纳入ESCI (Emerging Scholars Citation Index)引文数据库，并有望在近期达到SSCI (Social Sciences Citation Index) 数据库的收录标准。
Asian Journal of Law and Society
Author Instructions
Aims and Scope
The Asian Journal of Law and Society welcomes scholarly and practitioner submissions that critically examine socio-legal questions in the Asian context from jurisprudential and/or social scientific perspectives. The Journal is committed to exploring the complex interrelationships between law and society in Asia through interdisciplinary approaches that draw on the insights of anthropology, sociology, political science, and economics, among other fields. Our geographical focus extends from East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia to Central Asia. We invite original research articles that employ qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic, or mixed methods research designs, and that contribute to advancing the scholarly understanding of socio-legal issues in the region and beyond.
Manuscript Submission Guidelines
AsianJLS welcomes article submissions varying in length from 5,000 to 7,500 words (short articles, including footnotes) up to 10,000 to 25,000 words (long articles, including footnotes). We encourage authors to submit articles that are concise yet comprehensive, and that present original and significant contributions to the broader field of law and society in Asia.
We only accept manuscript submissions via ScholarOne Manuscripts. Authors must submit their manuscript at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/asianjls. The submission should include a separate title page that contains the author’s complete contact information, a bibliographical note with affiliation details and acknowledgements, an abstract of 100-150 words, and five to six keywords.
All submissions must be formatted in a single Word document using Times New Roman font in 12 pt, with 1.5 spacing for text, footnotes in sequential number (10 pt), and references (12 pt). Authors are required to include a comprehensive references list at the end of the article.
AsianJLS employs a single submission policy for all manuscript submissions. We will not consider simultaneous submissions, or submissions that have already been published or are under consideration for publication elsewhere.
All articles submitted to AsianJLS are subject to a double-blind peer-review process. The identities of both the author(s) and the reviewer(s) are kept anonymous throughout the review process. Authors are required to submit an anonymized manuscript that does not reveal their identity.
Language
We expect that articles submitted to AsianJLS are written clearly in English and meet the standards required for publication in an academic journal. Authors for whom English is not their first language are encouraged to have their articles proofread by a professional proofreader or a native English speaker with publishing experience.
Headings
Authors should limit the use of headings to no more than four levels, excluding the introduction and concluding remarks, which follow the same heading level as the first-level heading, except for the numbering.
Paragraphs
Authors should leave a line space following first and second level headings before the start of the text. The first paragraph of each new section should be flush left, without any indentation. Subsequent paragraphs should be left-indented by 0.25 inches or 0.5 cm, to create a clear visual distinction between paragraphs.
Spelling
Authors are expected to use British English spelling and vocabulary throughout their manuscript. Please note that for words with the suffix “-ise,” authors should use the “-ize.” Direct quotes or references that use American English spelling or vocabulary should be preserved as originally written.
Numbers and Dates
Authors should spell out numbers up to and including ten, and use figures for numbers 11 and above. Figures should be used for percentages, as well as other forms of measurement. Dates should be written using figures, such as 22 March 2013 or the 1990s.
Quotation Marks
Where applicable, concepts, terms, and short phrases (40 words or less) should be enclosed in double quotation marks. Single quotation marks should be used within a quotation. Punctuation should be placed inside the quotation marks, except in cases where a single quotation mark is followed by a double quotation mark, in which case the punctuation should go in between. For quotations exceeding 40 words, authors should indent them in a separate paragraph without quotation marks. The indentation should be 10-point font and the left and right margins should be increased by 0.25 inches or 0.5 cm to distinguish them from the main text.
Foreign Words
Uncommon foreign words or phrases should be italicized to distinguish them from the surrounding text.
Punctuation
For enumerations, please precede the final item with a comma and the serial comma.
Abbreviations
They should be followed by a period, for example, e.g., except for commonly used abbreviations such as ASEAN, EU, IMF, UN, US, WTO, and others that are generally recognized without periods.
Tables and Figures
Tables, figures, and charts should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and placed after the references list. The author is responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any copyrighted materials.
Reference Style
When referencing sources, please use the Harvard-style system. This involves citing the author’s surname and date within the text, along with a page reference when applicable. A comprehensive, alphabetically-ordered list of references should also be included at the end of the article. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that all citations are correct. Use the format, for example, 345-6 for two consecutive pages, and 456-78 for more than two consecutive pages, avoiding the repetition of the last number unless it differs by a thousand or more (e.g., 1390-94).
Examples
Books:
Pirie, F. (2013). The Anthropology of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sweet, A. S. & F. Grisel. (2017). The Evolution of International Arbitration: Judicialization, Governance, Legitimacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Book chapters:
Fu, H. & R. Cullen. (2010). “From Mediatory to Adjudicatory Justice: The Limits of Civil Justice Reform in China.” In M. Y. K. Woo & M. E, Gallagher, eds., Chinese Justice: Civil Dispute Resolution in Contemporary China, 25–57. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Journal Articles:
Moore, S. F. (1973). “Law and Social Change: The Semi-Autonomous Social Field as an Appropriate Subject of Study.” Law & Society Review, 7(4): 719–746.
Newspaper Articles:
Li, J. (2005). “World Bio Safety Standard Adopted.” China Daily, 20 May.
Thesis or dissertation:
Rashid, A. (1987). “The Islamization of Laws in Pakistan with Special Reference to the Status of Women.” PhD diss., School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Web pages:
Azoulay, A. (2018). “Towards an Ethics of Artificial Intelligence,” https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/towards-ethics-artificial intelligence (accessed 2 April 2023).
Last revised: 2 April 2023