The Journal is issued in cooperation with the publishing house Universitetsforlaget, which presents its own webpage for the Journal. You'll find it here:
About the Journal
Guidelines for authors
Norsk
Nordic Journal of Human Rights is a multi-disciplinary journal presenting essays and comments on human rights issues.We emphasise good professional articles, critical essays, literary essays and book reviews.
The Journal aspires to maintain an advanced level on its contents, and all contributions are evaluated and commented by at least one external consultant in addition to the editorial staff.
Nordic Journal of Human Rights addresses readers that take an interest in, or are involved with the field of human rights.
Subscription:
All orders, either for singular issues or subscriptions, should be directed through this web page.
General:
Nordic Journal of Human Rights is issued by The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights in cooperation with the publishing house Universitetsforlaget.
Editor:
Njål Høstmælingen (as of. issue 3/07)
njaal.hostmaelingen at nchr.uio.no, replacing "at" med "@"
Editorial assistant :
Erlend M. Leonhardsen
e.m.leonhardsenatstudent.jus.uio.no, replacing "at" med "@"
Tlf. 22842063/40454063
Contact, Universitetsforlaget:
Kirsten Solheim
kirsten.solheimatuniversitetsforlaget.no, replacing "at" med "@"
Tlf. 24147500
Sehesteds gt 3, p.b. 508 sentrum, 0105 OSLO.
Compiled by the editorial staff January 2003
The object of these guidelines is to make the periodical as professional as possible. The periodical places importance on consistency and user friendliness for readers, as well as proper crediting for authors. The guidelines also aim at facilitating research and communication between authors, editorial staff and the publisher.
The editorial staff encourages authors to refer to and use the guidelines actively in preparation of manuscripts, in order to ensure that the latter comply fully with the guidelines before submission to the editorial staff. In the event guidelines are not observed, the editorial staff will routinely request that authors themselves make the necessary revisions in the manuscript before publication. Disregard of the guideline stipulations may lead to delays in the processing of the manuscript or refusal to publish it.
The guidelines are neither exhaustive nor final. Authors will note immediately that this guide does not provide answers to all relevant questions. In such cases, the author should offer proposals for standardization and formatting, in consultation with the editorial staff. The editorial staff will be grateful for suggestions to supplement and improve the guidelines.
The guidelines comprise four main categories: Paragraph B lists the various forms of submissions accepted by the Nordic Journal of Human Rights. The purpose of these descriptions is to give authors a general idea of the periodical's preferences in terms of content for the various types of submissions. Paragraph C presents an explanation of the periodical’s processing stages when working with submissions. Paragraph D contains guidelines for the manuscript’s style and formatting. Paragraph E is the periodical’s stylesheet for references and annotations.
The periodical accepts submissions in the form of research articles, contributions to the Tendencies column, essays and book reviews. These are explained further here.
An article must be of sufficient academic quality and have a high degree of language accuracy. The purpose of an academic article is to contribute to the development of the human rights field in a scientific fashion. It should present new insights on the issue of human rights. An academic article may be critical of current doctrines in the area of human rights.
The periodical does not normally publish general articles that lack the scientific originality that is necessary to further develop the field of human rights.
An academic article should not normally be longer or shorter than approximately 6000 words (including footnotes and headings). When a submission exceeds this constraint, the editorial staff usually request that the author make cuts in the manuscript text. On agreement, however, the editorial staff may opt to print longer articles.
The editorial staff prefers short contributions on current human rights issues. Contributions can be about political, academic or other aspects of the field of human rights. The purpose of the discussion column is to provide a forum that can address current issues and exchanges of ideas that are not otherwise covered in the printed articles alone.
A submission to the discussion column should not normally be longer than 1500 words (including footnotes and headings). It may benefit by being even shorter. A contribution to the discussion column should make use of footnotes only to a limited extent.
Whenever a contribution is not a response or challenge to debate, but rather a description of one or more trends of development in the field of human rights, the submission should not be much longer than 3000 words.
A critical essay is a professional commentary on one or more scientific works in the field of human rights, containing at the same time a significant amount of the essayist’s own reflection on the theme. The purpose of a critical essay is to describe and communicate general trends and achievements in human rights research.
The editorial staff appreciates suggestions of book titles that may be suitable for review in critical essays. The staff will also contact potential reviewers. The reviewer will receive a complimentary critic’s copy of the book in question directly from the publishing company.
A critical essay should not normally be longer than 3000 words (including footnotes and headings). Use of footnotes should be moderate; the book itself should remain the object of focus.
A critical essay is personal in form. The editorial staff will therefore allow the author a high degree of independence in terms of the language and style of the contribution.
A book review is a scientifically critical evaluation of a newly published non-fictional work. The reviewer is required to give an unbiased evaluation of the content, structure and form of the book in light of the reviewer’s own insight on the subject. A book review must contain the reviewer’s own professional assessment and commentary and should thus refrain from reproducing the main substance of the book.
The editorial staff will appreciate suggestions for books that deserve to be reviewed. The staff will also contact potential reviewers. The reviewer will receive a complimentary critic’s copy of the book in question directly from the publishing company.
Book reviews should not normally be longer than 1500 words (including footnotes and headings). Use of footnotes should be minimal; the book to be reviewed should remain the object of focus.
After submission, all manuscripts are processed in various stages. The author is advised continually on comments, appraisals and suggestions for changes in the manuscript during the processing period.
External appraisals: Professional articles, critical essays and contributions to the Tendenser column are routinely sent to external consultants for assessment and comments. Professional articles are evaluated by two consultants; critical essays and contributions to Tendenser may be assessed by one external consultant.
The consultant is asked to evaluate the manuscripts’ content and level of professional quality. The consultant receives each manuscript in anonymous form. The author is also unable to recognize the consultant’s identity. The consultant’s opinion is conveyed to the author via the editorial staff.
Editorial appraisals: Manuscripts also undergo internal processing within the editorial staff. The editorial staff reserves the right to offer comments on the technical, stylistic and expository quality of the manuscript.
The editorial staff will not, however, censor opinions. The editorial staff acknowledges that there may be many diverse professional and personal perceptions on the issue of human rights. Nevertheless, the editorial staff reserves the right to offer unbiased, justified and constructive comments whenever it is deemed necessary and whenever the staff has sufficient competency to do so. The author is free to draw consequences from such comments.
Cleaning up language: The manuscript will be read by the language consultant of Universitetsforlaget. The language consultant will offer comments of a linguistic/stylistic nature on both Scandinavian and English-language submissions. The comments will be sent to the author directly or conveyed electronically by the editorial staff. Authors are encouraged to comply with the suggestions of the language consultant.
Nordic Journal of Human Rights is a Nordic periodical. It addresses first and foremost readers in the Nordic countries.
The bulk of submissions accepted must be written in one of the three main Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian or Swedish). Authors who are fluent in Danish, Norwegian or Swedish should, as a rule, write their contributions in one of these three languages.
To a certain extent, the editorial staff may consider contributions written in English, primarily those of authors who are not fluent in one of the three principal Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian or Swedish). This will include to a great extent Finnish and Icelandic authors.
Authors who are fluent in one of the three Scandinavian languages, but who wish to write in English, must secure the approval of the editorial staff beforehand. The editorial staff reserves the right to refuse publication of English submissions if the total number of English contributions in any one edition of the Nordic periodical exceeds a reasonable maximum.
The periodical does not publish contributions in any language other than the three principle Scandinavian languages and English.
The content of the periodical must be inclusive for a Nordic readership. This entails avoiding contributions that address a readership in only one of the Nordic countries. Contributions must also avoid addressing issues in a specific Nordic country without providing readers from the other Nordic countries (who are not necessarily acquainted with the situation in the specific country under discussion) sufficient background information. Authors are encouraged to actively elucidate for the Nordic readership whenever expressions, abbreviations or allusions are used that may not be readily understandable and clear to all Nordic readers.
The Nordic dimension, however, does not imply that theme and content of submissions must be limited to Nordic issues. The field of human rights is universal. Foreign and international affairs are obviously central themes for the periodical.
The manuscript must be sent to the editorial staff in electronic form (E-mail or floppy disk). It should be created with the word-processing programme Word for Windows. If other word processing programmes or systems are used, the manuscript should be sent as an rtf-file (“Rich Text Format”) so that the editorial staff can easily convert the document.
Script type and font size in the main body of the text and headings should be set at 12 points Times New Roman. Headings may be set in bold font style. Please do not use pre-formatted paragraphing. Footnote texts should be set in 10 point Times New Roman.
The manuscript should have an aligned left margin (such as this guide has), but not an aligned right margin.
A new paragraph is indicated by a double line feed (as in this guide).
All submitted manuscripts (with the exception of book reviews, see below) are given a main title. Use of subheadings should be avoided whenever possible. All sections must be given a section heading. Headings should be short and informative. The periodical uses the following sectional organization:
Uppermost sectional levels are assigned the prefixes A, B, C, etc
The second sectional levels are assigned the prefixes I, II, III, etc.
The third sectional level is indicated only by a heading, without prefix.
The periodical does not use more than three sectional subdivisions.
Book reviews are not given a title. Instead, the book’s identifying data are set in bold font in accordance with the following model: Author/editor: Title of the work (edition, place of publication: publisher, and year of publication) ISBN-number, number of pages + unnumbered pages. Thus:
Agrippa Postumus (ed.): En samling teorier om min tidlige bortgang (2nd ed., Roma: Capitol Publishing 2002), ISBN 2-352-456-X, 678+xii pp.
Critical essays are given a title, but they must also provide the book’s identifying data according to the same format as a book review (see above). The data is inserted directly beneath the title.
As of volume 21 (the 2003 volume), the periodical will accept only footnotes as forms of reference. Notes and abbreviations of the source (in parentheses) within the main body of the text and with complete alphabetized bibliographical references after the main body of the text will not be accepted. Whenever a source has been referenced one time, it will suffice for later references to refer to the source in abbreviated form within the main body of the text. In a subsequent footnote, reference is made to the previous footnote in which the source was identified.
Footnotes are meant to provide the reader with necessary information about the sources to which the text refers. Footnotes should not be used for digressions or to provide additional information about subjects that are not treated in the main body of the text. Authors benefit more by integrating such items in the main body of the text, rather than appending them in unnecessary footnotes. Extensive use of footnotes should be avoided. Use of footnotes should be moderate in submissions to Tendenser, critical essays and book reviews.
We distinguish between the dash (–) symbol and the hyphen (-).
It is common practice to punctuate abbreviations, thus: ”e.g.”; not ”eg”. It is also common practice to punctuate abbreviations of names, (thus: "Franklin D. Roosevelt") and dates (thus: ”5 January 2002”). For acronyms, however, punctuation is omitted (thus: "UN", "ICCPR"; not: "U.N.", "I.C.C.P.R.").
Quotations that are especially highlighted are set in 12 point Times New Roman script. They should be indented one tab position in from the left margin. Avoid using quotation marks (duckfoot quotes); these are to be used for quotations that are an integral part of the body of the text (see below). Thus:
This is a quote. This is a quote. This is a quote. This is a quote. This is a quote. This is a quote. This is a quote.
Quotations that are not especially highlighted are integrated in the main text, with quotation marks before and after the cited text, thus: “This is a quote”. An omission of words or sentences in a quote is indicated by three consecutive full stops, without enclosing them in parentheses. Thus: ”In this ... manner”, and not: ”In this (...) manner”, or thus: ”In this [...] manner”.
Abbreviations must be - or must be made to be – understandable for the reader. If there is a commonly used abbreviation in the relevant language, it should be used. Any single country’s abbreviations must be made sufficiently informative for a Nordic readership, or at a minimum, elucidated with sufficient information for Nordic readers. The text must spell out what is being abbreviated before the abbreviation is introduced. Thus: ”Nordic Journal of Human Rights (M&R)”. Once the abbreviation is introduced, only the abbreviation should to be used (and not the expression it abbreviates) in the remainder of the manuscript.
Footnote numbers are set after the full stop at the end of a sentence or comma in mid-sentence, not before the full stop or comma (thus: "... after his death.[1]"; not thus: "... after his death[2].“ And thus: "... after his death,[3]" and not thus: "... after his death 4").
So-called 8-point paragraphing (indented blocks of text in smaller type) are not accepted. It is better for such texts to be integrated in the main body.
Certain information in non-Scandinavian literature sources should be translated, when a Scandinavian language is the medium of the article. This applies to place of publication (thus: "Haag", not "The Hague"), editor (thus: "red.", not "ed.", or "Hrsg.") and the edition of the work ("2. utg.", not "2nd ed."). The name of the publishers is kept in the original version (”Carl Heymanns Verlag”; not “Carl Heymanns forlag.”) Lesser known American places of publication must have a suffix for the state (thus: "Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publishers 2002").
Certain additional information must accompany the submitted manuscript:
Abstract and keywords: All professional articles must be accompanied by an abstract in English, a short summary of the article’s content (thesis, development and conclusion). They should also be accompanied by approximately six keywords in English, which the author thinks essentially conveys some core elements of the article. Such keywords are used for the inclusion of the articles in searchable library databases worldwide. The abstract should not exceed 100 words. It should provide an outline of the article’s thesis, development and conclusion.
Critical essays, book reviews and contributions to the Tendenser column need not be accompanied by an abstract.
Information about the author: All manuscripts must be accompanied by an informational sketch on the author, not to exceed 50 words. Information about the author is to be set in as an asterisk note (*) after the author’s name in the beginning of the article.
Information about the author must include the author’s name, year of birth, educational background and current professional position. The informational sketch should follow this model: Author’s name (b. year of birth), highest educational degree achieved (educational institution in parentheses), current professional position and place of employment. In addition, the sketch may include information about previous work or employment, as well as the author’s field of interest. If the author wishes, the sketch may also include the author’s contact information, preferably e-mail address or postal address. Thus:
Agrippa Postumus (b. 1950), cand. med. (Oslo), University fellow, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo. E-mail: agrippa.postumus@nchr.uio.no.
Source references must be standardized. All references must be made easily accessible to the reader. They must give sufficient information so that the source may be easily found. Less detailed references and abbreviated forms of sources are placed in the main body of the text. Detailed references are to be placed in footnote texts.
Monographs: References to monographs (in footnotes) follow this model: Author’s name: Title of the work (edition place of publication: publisher year of publication) page numbers cited. Thus (note italicized title):
Agrippa Postumus : Why I was the victim of a conspiracy (3rd ed., Roma: Capitol Publishing 2002) 456—457
English language works often contain capital letters in title words. The original title is to be used as a model.
Anthologies: Name of the editor of the anthology (ed.): Title of the anthology (edition, place of publication: publisher year of publication). Thus:
Agrippa Postumus (ed.): A collection of theories about my early demise (3rd ed., Roma: Capitol Publishing 2002) 456—457
Single contributions to an anthology: Author of a chapter in a work: ”Chapter’s title in quotation marks”, in Editor’s name (ed.): Title of the anthology (place of publication: publisher year of publication) page number for the beginning page of the chapter, as well as page numbers for the cite. Thus:
Lucius Caesar: ”My personal reflections concerning Agrippa Postumus’ fate”, in Agrippa Postumus (ed.): A collection of theories about my early demise (3rd ed., Roma: Capitol Publishing 2002) 236—237
Articles in periodicals: Author’s name: “Article’s full title” (year of publication) periodical’s volume number Periodical’s full title page number for the beginning page of the article, as well as page numbers for cited pages. Thus:
Lucius Caesar: “My personal reflections concerning Agrippa Postumus’ tragic fate” (2002) 45 Periodical for Roman conspiracy theories 323, 328—329
Individual issue numbers for periodicals should not be included unless the periodical does not have running pagination for the entire calendar year.
Newspaper articles: “Title of article” (author of article), Name of newspaper, date of publication. Thus:
"Tiberius Caesar: - Agrippa Postumus' death a mystery to me" (Claudius Scribonius), Roma Dagblad, 3 January 2002
Newspaper article written by persons who do not belong to the newspaper staff: Author of the article: “Title of article” (type of article), Name of newspaper, date of publication. Thus:
Gaius Caesar: "Was Agrippa Postumus the victim of a conspiracy?" (chronicle), Roma Dagblad, 3 January 2002
Electronically published material: "Title" (<http://web page>) (date when the web page was visited). Thus:
”Agrippa Postumus lives!” (<http://www.agrippapostumus.net/lever.html.>) (visited 3 January 2002).
Conventions and other dispositive statements under international law (declarations, resolutions of international public bodies, etc.) should be identified first of all by an easily understandable, commonly used designation. If the source has a prevalent and commonly used name in the relevant Scandinavian language, then it is this name (and not an abbreviation or full official title) that should be cited in the main body of the text. Thus: ”The European Convention on Human Rights”.
Further information is given in the footnote text. This information includes the official title for the source, the date the source was adopted by resolution, as well as an indication of where the source document was officially published. (For conventions, this will normally entail reference to the UNTS-series or comparable publication series, such as ETS, OAS Treaty Series, etc.). Whenever possible, the date when the source went into effect should be noted in parentheses. If the source has an official Scandinavian title, it may be used. The authentic version (in English) may also be given, as follows:
The European Council’s Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms, 4 November 1950, 213 UNTS 221 (effective 3 September 1953)
For other forms of internationally legal declarations of intent, for example resolutions of international organizations, the author should strive for a similar level of accuracy as that used for conventions. Information about decision-making bodies, the resolution’s title or number, session number, document number and year, as well as the date of resolution should be given. As an example, reference to resolutions of the UN General Assembly can be cited in the following manner:
GA Res. 832, UN GAOR, 9th Session, Supp No. 21, UN Doc A/2890 (1954)
Decisions of international supervisory bodies:
A sample of a few types of decisions are listed below. Reference to other decisions should follow a similar pattern:
The European Court of Human Rights : The plaintiff’s name and defendant state is set in italics in the main body of the text (thus: ”Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome”) No further information should be included in the main body of the text unless it is necessary for clarification. In the footnote text, the following model is to be observed: Eur. Ct. HR Plaintiff’s name against defendant state, Series A or Reports-reference, year (information about plenary or general assembly proceedings ) (information about dissent, if any), section number in the decision, if needed. If the decision has not yet been published, this must be stated. The date of the decision, in such cases, replaces reference to publication. Thus:
Eur. Ct. HR Agrippa Postumus vs. The Roman Empire, Series A 161 (1989) (plenary) (dissent 10—3)
Eur. Ct. HR Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, Reports 1998-II (general assembly) (dissent 10—7) § 15
Eur. Ct. HR Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, 31.12.2002 (not yet published)
The European Commission on Human Rights: The plaintiff’s name and defendant state is set in italics in the main body of the text (just as for ECHR decisions). In the footnote text, the following model is to be observed: Eur. Comm. HR Case number, Plaintiff’s name vs. defendant state, form of the decision ("admissibility decision") or Commission report ("report"), date of decision, where the decision is published (volume, publication series, page numbers)/a statement that the decision is not yet published, when applicable. Thus:
Eur Comm. HR Case no. Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, admissibility decision 13 March 1978, 67 DR 78 (whenever the decision is published in Decisions and Reports)
Eur. Comm. HR Case no. 1234/78, Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, Commission report, 26 March 1978 (unpublished) (in the event the decision is not published)
Eur. Comm. HR Case no. 1234/56, Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, admissibility decision 13 March 1958, 13 CD 22 (whenever the decision is published in Collection of Decisions)
Eur. Comm. HR Case no. 1234/55, Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, admissibility decision 13 March 1955, 2 YB 22 (whenever the decision is published in Yearbook of the European Commission of Human Rights)
Committee on Human Rights in Geneva: The plaintiff’s name and defendant state is included in the main body of the text (just as for Eur. Ct. HR decisions). Further information is given in the footnote text. HR Comm. Case number, Plaintiff’s name vs. Defendant state, form of decision, date of decision, where the decision is published. Thus:
HR Comm. Case no. 360/1989, Agrippa Postumus vs. Rome, admissibility decision 14 July 1989, (1989) UN Doc. Supp. No. 40 (A/44/40) 307
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Both parties in a case are listed in the main body of the text (just as for Eur. Ct. HR decisions), and when applicable, the official name the decision was given by the court. In the footnote text, the following additional information is included: IA Ct. HR Case number, Plaintiff’s name vs. Defendant state, date of decision, where the decision is published. (information about dissent, when applicable). Thus:
IA Ct. HR Case no. 11.762/97, Agrippa Postumus vs. Venezuela, 6 February 2001, Series C 38
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: The plaintiff’s name and defendant state are included in the main body of the text (just as for Eur. Ct. HR decisions). In the footnote text, the following additional information is included: IA Comm. HR Case number, Plaintiff’s name vs. Defendant state, form of decision, where the decision is published. Thus:
IA Comm. HR Case no. 10.169, Agrippa Postumus vs. Venezuela, admissibility decision 22 February 1991, Report no. 10/91, (1990-91) Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 423, § 20