Focus and Scope

International Comparative Jurisprudence (ICJ) focuses on comparative studies of legal theory, regulation, and practice, and provides a forum for the exchange of research-based solutions.

The journal is open for the contribution of doctrinal and empirical research in:

(i) Philosophy of Law;

(ii) International Law;

(iii) Public Law;

(iv) Private Law.

The target audience of the journal includes an international community of legal researchers and practitioners, as well as students – primarily from Central and Eastern Europe – interested in exploring and debating the most important regulatory developments that enable positive societal transformations.  

Peer Review Process

Peer review is organized strictly according to the description of this process. Article should be reviewed by at least two active scholars confidentially appointed by the editors. Papers submitted to ICJ are subject to peer review to maintain the standards of the journal, promote rigorous research within the field of learning technology, and to offer authors constructive feedback on their submissions. Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional, high-quality peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the journal. ICJ has a 'double blind' review process: identity of reviewer is not disclosed to the author and vice versa. Peer reviewers are asked to give their opinion on a number of issues pertinent to the quality and suitability of a paper, and to evaluate papers on the grounds of originality and importance. Reviewers are instructed to provide constructive and formative feedback to authors.

Peer reviewers will have four possible options for any paper:

• Accept manuscript without further amendments;
• Accept manuscript with minor amendments;
• Suggest to make substantial amendments (paper will be sent out for another peer review round);
• Reject manuscript (i.e. if the manuscript is not sufficiently developed for publication).

In addition, manuscripts may be returned to the authors by the editors prior to review, if they are out of scope, out of the limits of the word length guidance or not sufficiently prepared for publication.

The author(s) must correct an accepted article in accordance with the remarks of the reviewers and editors, or provide a substantiated explanation, why they have not been incorporated. The corrected version of the article in electronic format should be provided to the editors on mutually agreed time.

Publication Frequency

Journal publishes 2 issues per year. One issue is published in June and one in December, with a set of minimum 6 and maximum 10 articles per issue. As well, under the decision of the Editorial Board special issues may be published.

Open Access Policy

International Comparative Jurisprudence - Online ISSN: 2351-6674  is an Open Access Journal. Author(s), their employer(s), or their funder(s) retain copyright, but license MRU to publish their work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public (CC BY-NC-ND) License.

Articles will be published online immediately after the final corrections of the master proof have been made, and in print grouped in an Issue. Articles are assigned a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier) for citation and other purposes.

Publication fee
Currently publishing in International Comparative Jurisprudence is free of charge. In other words, there are no article submission or article processing fees.

Ethics and Malpractise Statement

Research journal International Comparative Jurisprudence (ICJ) strives to ensure the high quality of published articles and strictly maintain the requirements of academic integrity. Editorial board of ICJ constantly develops the journal and is always ready to improve it by publishing corrections, clarifications and apologies when needed.

ICJ ensures that:

* Every published article is original and was not published before.

* Every article, preparation of which was funded by any projects or organizations, should include a remark informing the audience about it and briefly describing the role of the funders. It is the author’s duty to inform the editors about the funding and it’s source;

* ICJ publishes original research articles. Under the decision of the Editorial Board, the issue may contain other sections as presentation at the conferences, review articles, letters to the Editor, book reviews and etc.

* Editors maintain the quality of the material they publish by applying a set of different measures including, but not limited to, pre evaluation of the paper originality, quality of the research and topicality before the review process, checking the text of the manuscripts using antiplagiarism tools, as much as possible ensuring the scrupulous and conscientious review procedures.

* Articles are accepted or rejected applying clear criteria, such as article’s topicality, originality, quality, relevance to the scope and aims of the journal, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy, institutional affiliation or other status.

* Peer review is organized strictly according to the description of this process. Article should be reviewed by at least two active scholars confidentially appointed by the editors. Papers submitted to ICJ are subject to peer review to maintain the standards of the journal, promote rigorous research within the field of learning technology, and to offer authors constructive feedback on their submissions. Manuscripts are sent out for review electronically, and all correspondence takes place via e-mail. Although the peer review process is accelerated by the use of electronic communication, traditional, high-quality peer-review standards are applied to all manuscripts submitted to the journal. ICJ has a 'double blind' review process: identity of reviewer is not disclosed to the author and vice versa. Peer reviewers are asked to give their opinion on a number of issues pertinent to the quality and suitability of a paper, and to evaluate papers on the grounds of originality and importance. Reviewers are instructed to provide constructive and formative feedback to authors. Manuscripts as well may be returned to the authors by the editors prior to review, if they are out of scope, out of the limits of the word length guidance or not sufficiently prepared for publication. The author(s) must correct an accepted article in accordance with the remarks of the reviewers and editors, or provide a substantiated explanation, why they have not been incorporated. The corrected version of the article in electronic format should be provided to the editors on mutually agreed time.

* Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors.

* Any invited reviewer who has conflicts of interests resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript should immediately notify the editors to declare their conflicts of interest.

* In case authors disagree with the decision of ICJ editors, they are highly encouraged to appeal it, addressing their complaints to the Editor-in-Chief. Editor-in-Chief is obliged to investigate the issue promptly and to inform in writing his/her final decision on the matter.

* ICJ requirements for the articles are published in the section ‘Author Guidelines’ and are regularly updated.

* Already accepted articles cannot be rejected unless serious problems of academic integrity emerge.

* The changes of editors should not affect the validity of decisions, which were already made by previous editors.

* ICJ editors protect the confidentiality of personal data of authors and reviewers, as well as other information, which by the author or reviewer was defined as confidential and a submitted manuscript itself.

* In case editors suspect the misconduct, they are obliged to take actions. After the rejection of the article, which raises concerns about the misconduct, editor has a duty to ask the author for written explanation and after the investigation of it Editor-in-Chief may take a decision to inform the affiliation institution and other appropriate bodies (regulatory bodies, funders of the research, etc.) about the case and ask to investigate it. Editor-in-Chief and editors have a duty to take all reasonable efforts to encourage proper investigation of the case.

* If any significant inaccuracy or misleading statement is already published, editors must promptly make all necessary corrections. If an appropriate investigation of competent institutions proves the article to be fraudulent, editors should promptly retract it and clearly for the audience and indexing system identify the reasons of the retraction.

* Editors work fully independent from the publisher and owner of the journal.

* Seeking to avoid the conflicts of interests, Editor-in-Chief and associate editors of ICJ (while they are on duty) are not allowed to publish their articles in ICJ. However, Members of Editorial Board are allowed to submit their articles for publishing in ICJ.

ICJ is always open for any suggestions in the field of development of the journal and improvements of existing policies and practices.