AUTHOR GUIDELINES

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The manuscript must be an original scholarly work in Legal Studies (no plagiarism), not previously published and not under consideration elsewhere, as confirmed by an Originality Statement. Submissions may be written in English (preferred) or Bahasa Indonesia. For manuscripts submitted in English, authors must ensure clear, academically sound English that meets the journal’s mandatory English Quality Policy. The journal applies enforceable language quality control across the editorial workflow, including editorial language screening at desk review and mandatory post-acceptance professional proofreading/copyediting prior to publication to ensure clarity, consistency, and appropriate academic tone.

The manuscript must not have been published in any form or medium (including journals, edited volumes, institutional repositories as a published version, or other formal publications) and must not be under review by another journal at the time of submission. Authors are required to submit a signed Originality Statement confirming that the work is original, properly cited, free from plagiarism, and submitted exclusively to Unifikasi: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum during the review process.

 WRITING RULES

The manuscript is written maximum 15 pages (4000-6000 words) using Time New Roman font size 12 with 1.15 spacing on A4 size. 

Systematics of script writing research results include:

  • Title

The title uses an effective sentence with a maximum 15 words and given a description of the contract number and source of research funding.

  • Author’s Name

The author's name listed without title (authors preferably from 2 (two) countries)

  • Affiliation
  • E-mail, listed e-mail should be active because of the correspondence by e-mail.
  • Abstract and Keywords

The abstract must be written in English, typed in single spacing, and contain 150–300 words. It must clearly state: (1) the research problem, (2) the objective and/or research question(s), (3) the research method, and (4) the main findings (and brief implications, if relevant).

Keywords must include 3–5 terms, arranged in alphabetical order, and should reflect the main concepts, legal area, and/or jurisdiction discussed in the manuscript.

  • Introduction
The Introduction must clearly present the research problem and its context, explaining why the issue is important from a legal and/or policy perspective. It must then state the research aim and/or research questions explicitly (preferably 1–3 questions). The Introduction should also provide a concise state-of-the-art/literature review that engages with both international scholarship and relevant national literature to show what is already known about the topic, supported by at least five key scholarly sources, including recent journal articles. Finally, the Introduction must include a clear gap statement, identifying what remains missing, unclear, or under-examined in existing scholarship and how the manuscript intends to address it.
  • Research Methods
The Research Methods section must be written in a clear descriptive manner and provide sufficient detail so that the study is replicable and auditable. Authors must explicitly explain the research design/type used (e.g., doctrinal/normative, comparative, socio-legal/empirical, case study, mixed-method), and clearly describe the data/materials and sources examined, including primary legal materials (such as statutes, court decisions, regulations, or treaties), relevant secondary sources (journal articles, books, and other scholarly works), and—where applicable—empirical sources (interviews, surveys, policy documents, observations, or other field data). The section must also state the selection criteria, explaining why particular sources, cases, jurisdictions/regions, or time periods were chosen. In addition, authors must describe the analytical approach applied (for example statutory interpretation, comparative legal analysis, content analysis, thematic analysis, or jurisprudential analysis) and provide a brief step-by-step procedure outlining how the materials/data were collected, organized, and analyzed, so readers can understand exactly what was done and how conclusions were reached.
  • Result and Discussion
The Results section should clearly present the main findings of the study in a well-organized and systematic way, using a structure that makes the logic of the research easy to follow. Rather than listing findings descriptively, authors are expected to show how each key point is derived and justified by presenting a clear line of argument: stating the main claim, supporting it with relevant evidence (such as legal provisions, case law, data, or credible scholarly sources), explaining how the evidence leads to the finding, and explicitly linking the result back to the research question(s).
The Discussion section should interpret and evaluate the results by linking them back to the research questions and the wider scholarly debate. It should be structured either around the research questions or under clear thematic headings, so readers can follow the argument step by step. In each subsection, authors should present a clear argument, support it with appropriate evidence—such as legal provisions, court decisions, empirical data, or relevant scholarly sources—and then explain why that evidence justifies the argument being made. Each part of the discussion should end with a brief mini-conclusion that explicitly reconnects the analysis to the research question(s). Authors must also explain and justify the interpretation or analytical approach they choose, particularly in normative or doctrinal papers. For comparative studies, the discussion must clarify why the selected jurisdictions are comparable, what the comparison reveals, and how it improves legal understanding or governance. Purely descriptive writing should be avoided; instead, the discussion must provide critical analysis and scholarly justification for every major claim.
  • Conclusion

The Conclusion should directly answer the research objectives and/or research questions by summarizing the main takeaways of the study in a clear and focused manner. It should not repeat the abstract or merely restate the results; instead, it must highlight the significance of the findings and explain what they mean for legal scholarship, policy, or practice. Authors are encouraged to briefly restate the article’s main contribution and provide a clear explanation of the practical implications, such as how the findings may be applied, what legal or policy improvements may be considered, and what recommendations or next steps logically follow from the analysis.

  • Suggestion

The suggestions that will be given are related to the research formulation that is discussed in the research and are expected to be followed up by those concerned.

  • Acknowledgements (optional)

Acknowledgements contain words conveyed to institutions or parties involved in research activities or providing research funds, such as ministries or business entities.

  • References
The manuscript must include at least 20 references, with a minimum of 80% drawn from peer-reviewed scientific journals. Books may be used as supporting references, but they should preferably be published within the last 10 years. All references must follow the Turabian citation style as applied by Unifikasi: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum and must be formatted consistently throughout the manuscript. Authors are strongly encouraged to use a reference management tool such as Mendeley (or an equivalent manager) to ensure accuracy and consistency.

 

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.

  1. 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).
  2. The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  3. Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  4. 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.
  5. The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  6. If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.