Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.

Author Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR THE SUBMISSION OF ARICLES AND OTHER SUBMISSIONS

 

1.        Contributions in the form of articles, notes, comments or reviews, should be word-processed, double-spaced and should be provided in electronic form. Contributors may post their submissions on the journal webpage www.ub.bw/ojs by registering as authors and following the steps for submission as indicated by the website. Contributions may also be by  or  by email or in hardcopy to:

The Editor-in- Chief

University of Botswana Law Journal

Department of Law

University of Botswana

Private Bag UB 00705 Gaborone

Botswana

Email: ublj@mopipi.ub.bw

 

2.        One hardcopy, double-spaced and printed on A4/letter paper (using one side of the paper only) may accompany an electronic version. A hardcopy should be supplied in addition to the electronic version wherever a contribution contains graphs, tables, or any other significant formatting.

3.        In the case of articles, an abstract of not more than 300 words should be submitted with the contribution.

4.        Articles and other submissions are sent to three independent referees. To enable the refereeing procedure to be anonymous and impartial, the name(s) and institution(s) of the author(s) should not be included at the head of the article, but should be typed on a separate sheet and submitted with it. This sheet should also indicate the address, telephone number, fax number, email address, academic qualifications, institutional affiliations (where appropriate), and any other identifying material.

5.        All submissions should be original pieces that are written in a clear and straightforward style.

6.        The titles of submissions should be brief, attractive and accurate in describing what the paper is about. Headings and sub-headings within the text should be short and clear: avoid too many levels of sub-headings.

7.        English spelling is recommended.  The Oxford English Dictionary is the standard.

-          For punctuations, double quotes should be used for primary quotations and single quotes within quotes.

-          Number the pages consecutively only from the top right hand, excluding the cover page.

-          For dates, use 30 July, 2003, not 30th July or July 30 etc

-          In general, use the following:

-1995-1996 (not 1995-96)

-20th century

-pp.24—250, not 24-250, Pp.240-250, p.240 et seq. etc

-use “e.g” and “i.e”, instead of eg and ie

-use Section and Article not S., Sec., Sect. or Art.

                     -Latin and other foreign language words should be in italics.

8.        Authors are asked to pay particular attention to the accuracy and presentation of direct quotations.

9.        Footnotes should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals after the punctuation mark.

10.     The standard British method of citation should be followed.

-Books should be cited as follows:

Author (initial and name), title (in italics), place of publication, name of publisher, date of publication and page numbers with p. or pp. e.g.

K. Frimpong, Criminal Law of Botswana:  Cases and Materials, 3rd ed., Gaborone, Associated Printers (2000), pp. 50 – 57

- All the words in the book title, except minor form-words such as “by”, “an”, “a”, “the” etc, should have capital initials.

                      -Articles should be cited as follows:

Author (initial and name), title (in double quotes NOT underlined), number of volume, title of serial publication (in italics), year of volume (in brackets), page number (s)

e.g. C. M. Fombad, “Compensation of Victims of Motor Vehicle Accidents in Botswana:  An Appraisal of the MVA Fund Act Scheme,” 43 J.A.L (1999), pp. 151 – 183.

(Please note that where a journal, as in the above example has its own or standard mode of citation, this must be employed, otherwise, the full title of the journal in italics must be provided.

However, the titles of law reports and legislation should be printed in plain text, NOT italics).

-As regards cases, the mode of citation officially adopted by the report itself   should be followed. In the absence of this, the usual English style should              be employed wherever appropriate.  This is generally in the order:          date,         volume no., if any, initials of report, page.

                e.g.  [2001] 2 All E.R. 740 at 800.

The names of the cases except the “v”, should be in italics, for example:                Tebogo v Tebogo.

 

11.     Articles and other submissions are considered on the understanding that they are not being considered concurrently by any other journal. Regretfully, disks and hardcopies cannot be returned.

12.     Articles and other submissions are accepted on the understanding that exclusive copyright is assigned to the UBLJ. Nevertheless, authors remain free to use the material contained in the paper in other works.

13.     It is the responsibility of authors to ensure that the material submitted does not infringe copyright or is defamatory, obscene or otherwise unlawful or litigious.

14.     The Editorial Board do not hold themselves responsible for any views expressed by contributors.