Cambridge International Law Journal, Volume 16(1): Call for Articles and Case Notes

The Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ) is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal with a broad focus on international law, run by the postgraduate students of the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge. It is the successor to the Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law, which the Cambridge postgraduate community established in 2011.

The Journal is published by Edward Elgar Publishing and carries the ISSN 2398-9173 (Print) and 2398-9181 (Online). Its stated purpose is to give both emerging and established scholars a venue to publish research on contemporary international legal questions in dialogue with one another.

• Two issues appear each year, in June and in December
• The June issue is drawn from open submissions; the December issue combines open submissions with selected papers from the CILJ Annual Conference
• Editorial direction sits with an Editorial Board of Cambridge postgraduates, supported by a Faculty Advisory Board and an Academic Review Board of established scholars and practitioners
• The Journal reports an Impact Factor of 0.7 in the Emerging Sources Citation Index and a Journal Citation Indicator of 1.02 in the 2023 Journal Citation Reports

The Editorial Board of the Cambridge International Law Journal invites submissions for Volume 16(1), which is scheduled for publication in June 2027. The call is currently open on the Journal's Submittable platform.

Submissions for Volume 16(1) must be received through the online Submittable platform by 23:59 (BST) on Thursday, 1 October 2026. The Journal accepts only submissions made through Submittable, and that link is live only while a call for papers is active.

CILJ has a broad focus on international law and covers international and European Union law topics. The Editorial Board places particular emphasis on cutting-edge and highly topical questions of international law.

There is no single announced theme for Volume 16(1). Authors are free to propose any subject that falls within the Journal's international and EU law remit, provided the piece makes an original scholarly contribution.

The call is open internationally. The Journal exists to publish work by scholars at an early stage of their career alongside established academics, and it does not restrict submissions by nationality, jurisdiction, institution or career stage.

• Academics and researchers in international and EU law
• Practitioners working in the field
• Postgraduate and doctoral students
• Authors based in India and other non-UK jurisdictions may submit on the same terms as any other author

The CILJ accepts the following types of submission for Volume 16(1):

• Articles: between 6,000 and 12,000 words, including footnotes
• Case Notes: substantive analysis of a decision, not exceeding 3,000 words, including footnotes

Authors must list the word count of the text and the word count of the footnotes separately on the manuscript.

Manuscripts must comply with the Journal's style guidelines before they are considered.

• All copies must be submitted in Microsoft Word format, either .doc or .docx
• Citations must follow OSCOLA, Fifth edition
• The word count of text and of footnotes must be stated separately on the manuscript
• Full submission instructions are published on the Journal's Edward Elgar page at www.elgaronline.com/cilj

All submissions are subject to double-blind peer review. The CILJ Editorial Board reviews every piece received, and selected articles are then sent to the Academic Review Board, which is made up of distinguished international law scholars and practitioners.

Because review is double-blind, neither the author nor the reviewer is identified to the other during the assessment.

The Cambridge International Law Journal does not accept submissions containing drafting or text generated by artificial intelligence tools. Authors are expected to submit pieces they have drafted themselves in their own words.

The Journal states that identification of AI-generated text in any submission by its Editorial Board will automatically result in a decision not to publish that submission. The Journal also publishes an Ethics Policy, which authors should read before submitting.

The call states no submission fee, processing charge or publication charge. Submission is free.

• Prepare the manuscript in Word (.doc or .docx), formatted to OSCOLA Fifth edition, with separate word counts for text and footnotes
• Upload it through the CILJ Submittable portal for Volume 16(1) using the registration link on this page
• Submit on or before 23:59 (BST) on Thursday, 1 October 2026
• General queries go to the Editors-in-Chief at editors@cilj.co.uk

Separately, the Journal accepts CILJ Blog submissions on a rolling basis throughout the year, which can be sent through the blog portal or to blog@cilj.co.uk.