Author Guidelines

1. Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted through the Journal's official electronic submission platform (OJS), together with the completed Author Application Form and other required documentation. If a technical malfunction prevents submission through OJS, the documents may be sent to csljournal@cu.edu.ge. The editorial office will subsequently register such submissions on the platform.

2. Authorship and Author Information

A manuscript may have no more than four authors. Authorship requires a significant intellectual contribution to the research, manuscript preparation or substantive academic revision. All authors are responsible for the manuscript's content and compliance with academic integrity requirements.

Each author must provide their full name, academic degree (where applicable), institutional affiliation and country (where applicable), academic or professional position or status, and ORCID iD. The Author Application Form must additionally include each author's full postal address, country and email address. Authors without an institutional affiliation may indicate Independent Researcher status.

3. Manuscript Formatting

Manuscripts must be written in English and submitted in Microsoft Word format. The following requirements apply:

• Main text: Times New Roman, 11 pt, line spacing 1.0.

• Footnotes: Times New Roman, 9 pt, line spacing 1.0.

• Bibliography: Times New Roman, 10 pt, line spacing 1.0; paragraph spacing 0 pt before and 6 pt after.

• Margins: 2.5 cm on all sides.

• Length: normally no more than 20 pages.

The article title must appear in bold, and bibliography pages must be numbered consecutively with the main text.

4. Manuscript Structure, Abstract and Keywords

Each scholarly manuscript must contain author information, title, abstract, keywords, introduction, main text, conclusion, three mandatory declarations and bibliography.

The introduction must explain the relevance and significance of the research topic. The conclusion must present the principal findings and, where appropriate, recommendations and future research perspectives.

The abstract must contain 200–250 words and present the research objective, methodology, principal findings and conclusions. Authors must provide 4–6 keywords reflecting the manuscript's subject matter and research questions without reproducing the article title.

Published articles must include English- and Georgian-language information blocks containing the required author details, title, abstract and keywords. The Georgian-language information must correspond in substance to the English version. International authors are not required to prepare the Georgian-language information block; the editorial office is responsible for its translation and linguistic accuracy.

5. Mandatory Declarations

Three separate declarations must appear immediately before the bibliography, regardless of whether the relevant circumstances exist:

Funding: Identify any funding organisation and, where applicable, the grant number. Otherwise, explicitly state that no funding was received.

Conflict of Interest: Disclose any circumstances affecting the author's independence or impartiality. Otherwise, explicitly declare that no conflict of interest exists.

Declaration of Generative AI Use: Identify any generative AI system used and explain its purpose. Otherwise, explicitly state that no generative AI was used. AI systems may not be listed as authors or co-authors, and authors remain fully responsible for the manuscript.

6. Citation and Footnote Requirements

All sources must be accurately identified and cited in accordance with the Journal's prescribed citation standards. Direct quotations require quotation marks and appropriate footnotes; paraphrases and references to individual ideas must also acknowledge their sources.

Unfamiliar abbreviations must be defined upon first use. Latin terms and other non-English expressions must be italicised where appropriate.

References to books, scholarly articles, legislation, judicial decisions, electronic sources and translated works must follow the formats established by the Journal's Regulations. Electronic references must include the relevant bibliographic information, the URL preceded by Available from:, and the access date in square brackets.

Non-Latin bibliographic information must be transliterated into the Latin alphabet. English translations of non-English titles must appear in square brackets.

Detailed citation rules and examples are provided in the Author Guidelines (PDF).

7. Bibliography

The bibliography must be presented as a single consolidated list, arranged alphabetically by author surname or, where no author is identified, by source title. Multiple works by the same author must be listed from newest to oldest.

Judicial decisions must appear in a separate Case Law section, grouped alphabetically by court and chronologically from newest to oldest within each court.

The publication language of each non-English source must be indicated in square brackets at the end of the entry, except for judicial decisions. Each source must appear only once in the bibliography, with specific cited pages indicated in footnotes. Publisher names must not appear in footnotes or bibliographic entries.

8. Initial Editorial Assessment

The Editor-in-Chief conducts an initial assessment of formal admissibility, citation standards, editorial policy, aims and scope, as well as scholarly novelty, relevance, methodology and overall academic quality. This assessment does not replace independent peer review.

Where technical deficiencies are identified, authors are given a reasonable period not exceeding seven calendar days to correct them. Manuscripts that do not comply with the requirements will not proceed to academic integrity screening or peer review. Failure to correct deficiencies within the prescribed period prevents further consideration for publication.

9. Academic Integrity Screening

Manuscripts are screened using Turnitin, with an indicative similarity threshold of 20%. Exceeding this threshold does not automatically result in rejection.

Similarity reports are assessed substantively, taking account of properly cited quotations, bibliographic references, legislation, judicial decisions and other legal materials. The Turnitin report serves as an auxiliary assessment tool rather than the sole basis for an editorial decision.

10. Double-Blind Peer Review

Eligible manuscripts are anonymised and submitted to at least two reviewers under the double-blind peer-review procedure. Reviewers are expected to submit their reports within four weeks, subject to justified extensions. This period does not constitute a deadline for the Journal's final decision.

Where the initial reviewers' recommendations differ materially, a third reviewer is appointed. Reviewers may recommend acceptance without revisions, acceptance subject to minor revisions, substantial revision and resubmission for further peer review, or rejection. Reviewer anonymity is maintained throughout and after the review process.

11. Editorial Decision and Final Preparation

The final decision to publish or reject a manuscript is made by the Editor-in-Chief, taking account of the reviewers' reports, scholarly quality, academic integrity and editorial policy. Where the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, an independent Editorial Board member is designated to oversee the process and make the final decision.

Decisions and their principal grounds are communicated in writing through OJS or email. Accepted manuscripts undergo technical and language editing, and the final edited version is sent to the author for review.

Where publication is refused, reviewers' reports may be provided upon the author's request, subject to reviewer anonymity. Upon request, the Journal may issue an official certificate confirming acceptance for publication.

12. Pre-Submission Checklist

Before submission, authors must ensure that the manuscript meets the prescribed language, formatting and length requirements; contains a 200–250-word abstract and 4–6 keywords; includes all required author information and ORCID iDs; contains the three mandatory declarations; and complies with the Journal's citation, bibliography and academic integrity standards.

The manuscript must be accompanied by the completed Author Application Form and any other required documentation.

Detailed requirements: Author Guidelines (PDF)
Editorial correspondence: csljournal@cu.edu.ge

Where any inconsistency arises between these Guidelines and the Journal's Regulations, the Regulations shall prevail.