Journal of Korean Law

1. Research Ethics

Observing publication ethics: JKL requires all authors to observe standard ethical policies and standards for scholarly publication. Potential authors are requested to carefully review the Journal of Korean Law Ethical Rules for more information on publication ethics.

JKL does not accept any manuscripts containing plagiarized material, fabrications, manipulated data sources and analysis, inappropriate authorship attributions, undisclosed financial or non-financial conflicts of interest with the potential to undermine research ethics, or simultaneous submission of manuscripts to more than one journal.

Authorship contributions: JKL insists that potential contributing authors specifically disclose how each author has contributed to publishing the manuscript. These contributions include the conceptualization and design of the research framework, data analysis, relevant literature reviews, and framing of the introduction, conclusion, and research implications.

Funding acknowledgments: All manuscripts must disclose all sources of funding for the research.

2. Submission Contents:

All submissions should include (1) a cover letter, (2) an abstract, and (3) the main text with notes, references, and appendices (the manuscript).

1. Cover Letter. The cover letter must contain the full title of the manuscript, as well as the following information:

Five to ten key words of the manuscript. The author(s) should choose them to maximize the likelihood that scholars would find the article using substantively relevant search terms.
Each contributing author’s full name and institutional affiliation(s)
Information of the corresponding author (name, address, phone, email)
Acknowledgements on funding information including the source of funds.
A paragraph containing the following oath: “This manuscript has not been published or presented elsewhere in part or in entirety and is not under consideration by another journal. I have read and understood your journal’s Submission Guide and Ethical Rules, and I believe that neither the manuscript nor the study violates any of these. There are no conflicts of interest to declare.”

2. Abstract. The abstract should be 200 words or less, written in concise prose and describe the purpose, research methods, relevant data source(s), and key findings and implications of the study. The abstract should highlight the significance of the research within the generally prevailing academic discourse in the given topic.

The abstract should not include the name(s) of the author(s) or any other information that could be used by the manuscript reviewers to identify the author(s). However, if necessary, such identifying information can be added to the abstract if and when the manuscript has been accepted for publication by the double-blind peer review editorial process.
Five to ten keywords should be listed at the bottom of the abstract to be used as index terms.

3. Blinded Manuscript. The manuscript should not include the cover letter, name(s) or affiliation(s) of the author(s), or any other identifying information. It should be in final form, including references and any appropriate appendices that would help the peer reviewers evaluate the substantive merit of the manuscript.

4. Length Limitations. JKL strongly prefers articles between 15,000 and 20,000 words in length including text, footnotes, and appendices. Only in rare cases will we unconditionally accept articles over 20,000 words.

3. Submission Protocol:

Please transmit all manuscripts electronically through JKL’s submission website (http://jkl.snu.ac.kr/SubmissionGuide) or email their manuscripts to jkl@snu.ac.kr. Barring exceptional circumstances, JKL is unable to accept manuscripts in hard copy. JKL will accept manuscripts only in Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) format. Please refrain from using other software such as Hancom Office or from converting the manuscript into a personal data file (PDF) format.
Any other questions regarding submission and editorial matters should be sent to the JKL Editorial Board. The Editorial Board can be reached at:
- Seoul National University Asia Pacific Law Institute; 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.
- Or via e-mail at << jkl@snu.ac.kr >>.
Each manuscript will undergo a double-blind peer review process. The identities of the referees will not be revealed under any circumstances. Please note that we will not answer any inquiries regarding such matters.
JKL will not review manuscripts that are currently under review for publication or that have been previously published by another journal. JKL publishes only original research and scientific analysis, hence authors should not submit articles that have already been published or content that might be forthcoming in other publications. Authors may, of course, use contents previously published in previous works as references to support genuinely new and additive academic research contained in a submission. In such cases, the attribution(s) must be clearly cited in footnotes and/or in the text itself.

4. Manuscript Formatting

TABLES: Be sparing in the use and design of tables. Provide only data relevant to the textual argument. Use clear headings to communicate the relevance of the data presented to the argument you are making in the manuscript. Avoid designing tables so wide or content-rich that they must be printed at right angles to the normal textual flow. Tables must be numbered and titled.
FIGURES: Rough drawings of figures are acceptable upon submission. Rough drawings of figures, illustrations, or conceptual diagrams are acceptable for purposes of a submission for peer review. If accepted, the author(s) must submit high-resolution images in suitable formats (.gif, .jpg, etc.) for direct inclusion in the final manuscript.
FOOTNOTES: Any substantive ideas or tangents that seem worth presenting in a footnote are usually more appropriately presented directly in the text. When that proves to be difficult, there might be a strong argument for dropping the point. If the author(s) decide nonetheless to include certain substantive ideas as notes, number them consecutively and place them at the bottom of the page. Citations in manuscripts should appear in footnotes, not endnotes, and follow the formats detailed in: The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.), as noted below.
- Please note that while footnotes must adhere to the format of the Bluebook, the titles of sources in Korean may be written in the original Korean text instead of being romanized (e.g. “민법연구” instead of “Minbeobyeongu”).

6. Copyright

JKL uses the no derivatives Creative Commons license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/) to all published articles. Under this license, authors retain ownership of the copyright over their article, but authors also agree to let anyone download, reuse, reprint, distribute, and/or copy articles published in JKL, so long as the original author(s) and source(s) is cited. No separate permissions for such use are required from the author(s) or the publisher(s). This broad license was developed to facilitate open access to, and free use of, original works of all types. Applying this standard license to your own work will ensure your right to make your work freely and openly available.
Authors may not republish their articles already published in the Journal without written permission from the Editorial Board. Authors seeking to republish an article must notify the Editorial Board, and when republishing an article they must clearly mention the fact that the article had previously been published in the Journal.

7. Editorial and Peer Review Process

The Journal of Korean Law submits all received manuscripts to the same review process.
Manuscripts are sent to three referees for review of the contents. The Editor-in-Chief selects peer referees amongst prominent scholars and professionals by recommendation of the Editorial Board members or from the specialist database owned by the Editorial Board.
During the review process, the identities of the authors are completely blinded. Acceptance of the manuscript is based on the critiques and recommendations of the referees.
Referees can make one of the following recommendations:
- Acceptance without revision
- Acceptance after minor revisions
- Re-review after revisions
- Rejection
Articles receiving “rejection” or “re-review after revisions” twice will no longer be accepted.
The reviewed manuscripts are returned to the corresponding author with comments and recommended revisions. Names and decisions of the referees are kept confidential. A final decision on acceptance or rejection for publication is forwarded to the corresponding author from the Editorial Board. The usual reasons of rejection are insufficient originality, serious academic flaws, poor quality of illustrations, or absence of a message that might be important to readers.
The peer review process takes usually four to eight weeks after the reviewers are assigned. Revisions are usually requested to take account of criticism and comments made by referees. Two copies of the revised manuscript should be submitted, including two sets of original illustrations. Failure to resubmit the revised manuscript within two months is regarded as a rejection. The corresponding author must indicate clearly what alterations have been made in response to the referees’ comments point by point. Acceptable reasons should be given for noncompliance with any recommendation of the referees.
Once accepted, original articles will be published within six months.

Submission Guide