Call for Papers: Current Developments in Arctic Law (CDAL), Volume 14 (2026) [Open Access, No Submission Fee]
UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Law, University of the Arctic.About Current Developments in Arctic Law
Current Developments in Arctic Law (CDAL) is an annual open-access publication of the University of the Arctic's Thematic Network on Arctic Law and its Chair in Arctic Legal Research and Education, produced in collaboration with the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law (NIEM) at the Arctic Centre, University of Lapland. It exists to give timely legal and policy developments in the Arctic a fast route into print. Volume 13 appeared in December 2025 with fourteen contributions, and submissions are now open for Volume 14.
Authors should note that CDAL is an open-access scientific publication but is not strictly peer reviewed. It suits short academic articles, commentaries, conference and workshop reports, and summaries of ongoing research rather than full-length refereed research papers.
Themes of Interest
The editors welcome contributions on any aspect of Arctic law and policy. Themes of interest include, but are not limited to:
- International law: legal and policy frameworks governing the Arctic, international law and institutions, and regional frameworks.
- National laws and policies: the legal frameworks of the Arctic states and their approaches to Arctic issues.
- Climate change and environmental law: the legal implications of climate change in the Arctic and the role of environmental law.
- Resource management: legal aspects of resource extraction and management, including oil and gas, fisheries and minerals.
- Indigenous rights: the rights and interests of Arctic and Indigenous peoples within the international governance structure of the Arctic.
- Geopolitical issues: the impact of geopolitical shifts on Arctic cooperation, and new forms of cooperation or conflict.
Who Can Submit
The call is addressed to authors generally and imposes no restriction by institution, nationality or UArctic membership. Academics, independent researchers, practitioners and research students working on Arctic law and policy may all submit.
Co-authored contributions are accepted. Where a piece has more than one author, all authors' names, institutions and email addresses must appear on the first page, and the corresponding author must be marked with an asterisk.
Types of Contribution, Length and Formatting
The following requirements come from the CDAL authors' guidelines:
- Types accepted: short academic articles, review papers, or summaries of research or projects.
- Length: ideally between 1,000 and 3,000 words including title, main body, tables, figures and references. Longer pieces are also accepted.
- File format: the article must be submitted in Word format.
- Typography: Times New Roman, 12 point, single line spacing, with 2 cm margins on all four sides.
- Headings: chapter headings in bold and unnumbered; subsections in italics and unnumbered. Do not use numbering such as 1.1 or 1.1.1.
- Paragraphs: the first paragraph of a section starts without an indent; indent from the second paragraph onward, with one blank line between paragraphs.
- Figures and tables: both must be numbered and carry a heading. Figure headings go below the figure; table headings go above the table.
- Citations: APA 7th edition, both in text and in a reference list headed "References".
Fee
There is no submission fee, article processing charge or publication charge. Participation is free, and the published volume is open access to readers.
How to Submit
Email your contribution to the UArctic Chair, Professor Kamrul Hossain, at khossain@ulapland.fi by 30 October 2026. Send the manuscript as a Word file formatted to the authors' guidelines, with the author details block on the first page.
The full authors' guidelines PDF is attached to this listing.
Publication Timeline
The call opened on 4 August 2026 and closes on 30 October 2026. Volume 14 of Current Developments in Arctic Law is expected to be published in December 2026, following the pattern of earlier volumes, which have been released each December.
Contact and Queries
Questions about the call, the scope of a proposed contribution or the guidelines should go to Professor Kamrul Hossain, UArctic Chair in Arctic Legal Research and Education, at khossain@ulapland.fi. General enquiries about the network can be directed to the UArctic International Secretariat at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland.