Manuscript Information

Types of Publications

The Riyadh Law Review has three forms of publication: articles, case notes, book reviews.

• Articles: Articles are the longest form of published articles at the Riyadh Law Review. They involve a doctrinal or legal analysis of legal institutes in a logical structure. They ought to present novel arguments about how to descriptively understand and conceive of the law.
• Case notes: Case notes display and critically analyze to the reader a novel legal ruling by a court, tribunal, or any other adjudicatory authority. The cases must deal with a central legal issue in contention and proposes a marked legal impact or change in the legal understanding and application of a legal doctrine or rule. Case notes must display the facts, legal issue, and ruling contemplated in the case followed giving a critical assessment of the correctness of the ruling and its implication on future cases. A recent case in one that has been published within two (2) years from the publication of the journal issue.
• Book reviews: Book reviews attempt to display to a reader a general summary of a book published within a year of the intended issue of the journal. ‘Book’ is meant generally to be anything that has a cohesive structure or form typically with an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and authored or edited by individuals or groups. They may include monographs, textbooks, edited collections, casebooks (provided these casebooks provide critical evaluation of the cases contained in it and not just compilation of cases), and treatises.

The Riyadh Law Review does not publish the text of legal cases or blog posts.

Eligibility

Submissions to the Riyadh Law Review are welcome from legal scholars, practitioners, Ph.D. candidates, graduate and undergraduate law students, as well as professionals and academics working in related or interdisciplinary fields.

While all eligible contributors may submit full-length articles, Articles are reserved for advanced, in-depth academic analysis and are generally expected from authors with demonstrated research experience. Graduate and undergraduate students are advised that submissions in the Essay category may face a higher risk of rejection unless the work reflects exceptional scholarly quality.

Students are strongly encouraged to seek guidance or co-authorship with experienced legal scholars or practitioners, particularly when submitting full-length articles. Alternatively, students are invited to contribute Case Notes or Book Reviews, which are more suitable formats for early-stage researchers and emerging legal voices.

Scope of the Riyadh Law Review

The Riyadh Law Review publishes original works covering all aspects and branches of law, with a particular emphasis on contemporary legal doctrinal issues and problems of Saudi and international legal systems. The Riyadh Law Review does in principle not publish papers on foreign national laws alone except to the extent it involves a comparative analysis with Saudi law.

The Riyadh Law Review encourages publications demonstrating cross- and inter-disciplinary methods of research in legal studies, including any socio-legal, historical, or economic articles.

Article Length

The Riyadh Law Review encourages clear, concise, and focused legal writing. To maintain editorial consistency and improve readability, the following word limits apply (including footnotes):

• Articles: up to 20,000 words
• Case Notes: up to 10,000 words
• Book Reviews: up to 7,000 words

Submissions that exceed these limits may not proceed to review unless the author has obtained prior approval from the editorial board. While the Riyadh Law Review encourages thoughtful and substantive legal writing, authors are kindly asked to respect the stated word limits to support a smooth and timely editorial process.

Authors who submit manuscripts exceeding the specified word limits will be required to provide a written acknowledgment that they are willing to work collaboratively with the editors and reviewers to revise and reduce the manuscript to meet editorial standards. The Riyadh Law Review reserves the right to condition continued review on the author’s commitment to trimming the submission where appropriate.

All submissions must be accompanied by a brief abstract (150–250 words). The abstract is not counted toward the word limit.

Exclusive and non-exclusive submissions

The Riyadh Law Review permits simultaneous submissions to other journals prior to acceptance. At the time of submission, authors will be asked to indicate whether their manuscript is submitted exclusively to the Riyadh Law Review or concurrently to other publications.

• If you select Yes, you confirm that the Riyadh Law Review is the only journal to which the manuscript has been submitted.
• If you select No, you confirm that the manuscript has been submitted to one or more other journals at the same time.

Please note that exclusive submissions benefit from an expedited review process. Authors seeking early feedback or quicker decisions are encouraged to opt for exclusive submission.

ORCID

The Riyadh Law Review encourages all authors to register for an ORCID when submitting a manuscript. ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a free, non-profit service that provides researchers with a unique digital identifier to distinguish their work and link it across platforms and institutions.

Having an ORCID improves the visibility of your research, simplifies submissions and profile updates across systems, keeps a central record of your scholarly contributions. It also helps reduce confusion between researchers with similar or identical names. ORCID especially useful for distinguishing authors with common Arabic names. Authors may create or link their ORCID during the submission process.

Please note: The Riyadh Law Review is not affiliated with or paid by ORCID, and recommends its use solely to enhance academic transparency and discoverability.

Solicited and Unsolicited Submissions

The Riyadh Law Review welcomes both solicited and unsolicited submissions. Most submissions are unsolicited and undergo the same rigorous editorial and review process. Occasionally, the Editorial Board may invite prominent scholars or legal academics to submit work for publication. An invitation to submit does not guarantee acceptance, and all solicited articles are subject to the same academic and editorial standards as unsolicited submissions.

Decision on the Submission

All submitted manuscripts will receive one of the following editorial decisions after the decisions of the Editorial Board:

• Rejection: The manuscript will not be accepted for publication. While the journal may provide general feedback, it is not obligated to furnish detailed reasons for rejection.
• Acceptance without Revisions: The manuscript is accepted in its current form and will proceed to publication with only minor editorial proofing.
• Acceptance with Revisions: The manuscript is conditionally accepted, subject to the author making specific revisions. Final acceptance is contingent on satisfactory incorporation of the requested changes.

Authors will be notified of the editorial decision via email once the review process is complete.

Resubmissions

Authors are welcome to resubmit previously rejected manuscripts, particularly if the resubmission addresses the concerns or reasons – if provided – for the initial rejection. While prior rejection does not preclude reconsideration, resubmissions should demonstrate substantial improvements and may be subject to a new round of review. Authors are encouraged to clearly indicate in a cover letter how the revised submission differs from the original.

Style and Formatting

Language

Submissions may be written in either Arabic or English. Authors are expected to ensure linguistic clarity, academic tone, and consistency throughout the manuscript.

• Arabic submissions should be written in formal Modern Standard Arabic, avoiding regional dialects, unless it is necessitated by the context. Terminology should be clear, legally precise, and free of ambiguity. Grammatical rules should be observed. Saja’ is highly discouraged in this context.

• English submissions must be grammatically sound and stylistically coherent, adhering to standard legal academic prose, following British English rules and customs.

Transliteration and Translation:

• Arabic names (e.g. personal names, city names, publishing houses names, etc.) included in English-language submissions should be transliterated. The journal requires all authors to follow the American Library Association – Library of Congress Arabic Romanization Table (version 2012). Italics should be used for transliterated Arabic words. Do not underline or use all capital letters. Arabic text that does not include names (e.g. complete sentences, long quotes, etc.)  should be translated to English with the Arabic version between brackets [ … ].

• Foreign-language words in Arabic-language submissions should be transliterated or translated according to the following rules. Foreign-language proper names (such as personal names, city names, institutions, or publishing houses) should be transliterated into Arabic using standard phonetic conventions or commonly accepted Arabic renderings. When including complete English phrases or quotations, authors must provide an Arabic translation, followed by the original foreign-language text in brackets [ … ]. Foreign terms not widely known in Arabic should be italicised if they are retained in their original form.

Formatting

To maintain uniformity, all manuscripts must follow the basic structure below:

Alignment: All text should be flush left (left-aligned) and justified.

Title Page:

• The title of the article should appear on the first page, followed by the full name of each author and Institutional affiliation(s).
• Abstract: A brief abstract of no more than 250 words, written as a single paragraph, must be placed directly after the title and author information.
• Keywords: Authors must provide 3 to 8 keywords that reflect the core themes and topics of the article.

Body Text:

• Times New Roman, 12 pts.
• Use minimal formatting.
• Use italics sparingly (for emphasis and transliteration purposes only).
• Avoid underlining, bold text, or all-capital words.

Headings:

• Headings must be flush left, with each main word capitalised.
• The journal uses three levels of headings:
  • 1 Heading One
  • 1.1 Heading Two
  • 1.1.1 Heading Three

Paragraphs:

• The first sentence after a heading begins flush left.
• All subsequent paragraphs are (1.5) indented.
• A spacing of (1.5) should be placed between paragraphs.

Note: While authors are expected to follow these formatting guidelines, the journal’s editors will work closely with authors during the proof stage to refine layout, style, and presentation prior to publication.

Style and Citation

Authors must adhere to the following citation and style conventions:

• English Submissions

Must follow The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.) for all legal citations. Submissions should be clear, concise, and conform to formal academic tone and structure.

• Arabic Submissions

Must follow the Arabic Style and Citation Guidelines set by the journal (02062025RLR – قواعد التوثيق للكتابة العلمية القانونية في المملكة العربية السعودية).

Failure to Comply

While non-compliance with the required template or citation style is not, by itself, a ground for automatic rejection, it can significantly hinder the editorial process. Submissions that substantially deviate from the formatting or style guidelines may require extensive revisions and may, in some cases, be returned to the author or declined if the editorial burden becomes disproportionate.

Publication Ethics

The Riyadh Law Review is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and ethical publishing. 

Independence

The Riyadh Law Review upholds high standards of transparency in academic publishing. To ensure that readers fully understand the context and potential influences surrounding each published work, authors are required to fill the Author Disclosure Form (03062025RLR – COI Disclosure Form [EN] in English) (03062025RLR – COI Disclosure Form [AR] in Arabic).

The Riyadh Law Review may take appropriate editorial action in the event of undisclosed conflicts or misleading statements.

Authorship

In the Riyadh Law Review, an author is someone who has made a meaningful intellectual contribution to the research and preparation of a manuscript. This includes contributing to the core idea, conducting legal research, analysing results, and drafting or revising the work.

The Riyadh Law Review defines authorship as the result of a substantive intellectual contribution to the research and writing process. This includes, but is not limited to:

1. Substantial Contribution: Participation in the research idea, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation.
2. Manuscript Development: Involvement in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for intellectual content.
3. Accountability: Agreement to be responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the entire work.
4. Approval: Approve impliedly or expressly the final version for publication.

Merely providing funding, language editing, administrative support, or general supervision does not qualify an individual for authorship.

The Riyadh Law Review is committed to rejecting unethical authorship practices that have historically distorted academic merit in the region – such as adding supervisors, funders, or uninvolved faculty as honorary authors. We require all contributors to be credited honestly and based solely on academic merit and actual involvement.

The Riyadh Law Review encourages the use of AI tools and chatbots to increase the authors productivity and the publication’s adherence to form and style. However, AI tools and chatbots cannot be classified as authors. All authors must provide a disclosure on the AI tools or chatbots they have used, including where they were used. Authors are responsible for the materials they use from AI tools or chatbots.

In line with the provisions of Saudi Copyright Law, the Riyadh Law Review permits pseudonymous or anonymous submissions where a valid justification is provided. Authors wishing to submit under a pseudonym or anonymously must include a confidential statement to the editorial team explaining the reason for the request. Acceptable justifications may include concerns relating to professional, personal, or academic safety, or other compelling circumstances. However, invalid or unsubstantiated reasons will not be accepted, and the submission may be rejected. Authors are expected to take full responsibility for the content they submit. The journal reserves the right to decline submissions where anonymity is used to evade academic or legal accountability.

Blind Review

The Riyadh Law Review employs a triple-blind peer review process to promote fairness, impartiality, and academic integrity throughout its editorial workflow.

Under this model:

1. Reviewers do not know the identity of the author(s).
2. Author(s) do not know the identity of the reviewer(s).
3. Editors involved in the decision-making process do not have access to the identity of the author(s) during decision making.

This structure is designed to eliminate conscious or unconscious bias based on institutional affiliation, academic rank, gender, nationality, or prior publication history.

The review process is managed through secure systems that separate identifying information from the manuscript during the editorial decision phase. Reviewer comments are evaluated on their academic merit alone, and authors are required to anonymize all submissions to support this process

Only after a final decision is made may identities be disclosed internally for administrative or acknowledgement purposes – never for influencing the review outcome.

Peer-Review

The Riyadh Law Review is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and legal scholarship. All submissions are subject to rigorous peer review and editorial scrutiny to ensure the originality, clarity, and substantive value of each published work.

The Riyadh Law Review is a student-run journal. As such, the peer review is conducted by an Editorial Board composed of Bachelor’s and Master’s law students who have received specific instruction in academic editing, legal research methodology, and publication ethics.

While student editors are responsible for overseeing the editorial process, the Review may, in exceptional cases, seek the assistance of qualified external scholars to ensure the quality and rigor of published work. Additionally, the Riyadh Law Review reserves the right to consult subject-matter experts, legal practitioners, and faculty members – especially in the context of peer review for complex or highly technical submissions. These external reviewers are selected based on their expertise in the relevant area of law and their familiarity with academic publishing standards.

Editors and reviewers of Riyadh Law Review do not disclose the identity of authors or share any identifying information with public AI tools; any permitted use of AI is carried out in a manner that preserves the confidentiality and integrity of the peer review process.

Plagiarism

The Riyadh Law Review strictly prohibits plagiarism, defined as the use of another person’s ideas, language, data, or work without proper acknowledgment. All submitted manuscripts must be original and correctly cited. The journal uses advanced text-matching software and conducts robust originality checks as part of its editorial process. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarized material will be rejected and may be subject to further investigation.

Self-Plagiarism

Authors must not reuse their previously published work without full disclosure and appropriate citation. This includes text recycling and salami slicing (dividing one study into multiple submissions). Undisclosed reuse of prior work will be treated as a form of misconduct and may result in rejection, retraction, or future submission restrictions.

Thesis-Based Submissions

The Riyadh Law Review accepts submissions based on academic theses or dissertations, provided the author discloses the origin of the work and complies with all applicable ethical and editorial standards.

Material derived from a thesis may be submitted for publication if:

• The thesis consists solely of unpublished work;
• The author holds the copyright or has legal permission to reuse the content;
• Any co-authors involved in the original thesis (e.g., in empirical work or co-written chapters) consent to its reuse; and
• The thesis is properly acknowledged and cited in the submitted manuscript.

If the thesis is publicly available through an institutional repository, this does not disqualify it from submission, but authors must clearly explain how the submitted version differs from the archived thesis.

Submissions derived from theses must be reformatted and appropriately adapted for journal publication. While a verbatim reproduction is discouraged, editorial revisions may vary depending on the nature and quality of the thesis and the submission. Authors are expected to add analytical value or refine their arguments when appropriate.

Where a thesis has already included previously published papers (e.g., in a thesis by publication), those papers may not be republished as original work unless the author obtains written permission from the original publisher and ensures proper attribution. If published under a Creative Commons licence, the terms of that licence must be followed, whatever it may be.

All thesis-based submissions are subject to originality checks and undergo the same peer review process as all other submissions.

Breaches of Publication Ethics and Retractions

The Riyadh Law Review takes all allegations of publication misconduct seriously. The journal may retract a published article if the journal views that there has been a grave breach to the ethical guidelines.

Retractions are issued to protect the scholarly record and will be clearly identified, linked to the original article, and freely available. The purpose is not to punish the author but to maintain the integrity of legal scholarship and ensure that readers are not misled by erroneous or unethical work.

Where appropriate, the journal may issue corrections or expressions of concern instead of retraction, based on the severity, intent, and nature of the issue.

Whistleblowing

If you believe a submission or published article violates the journal’s ethical standards, you may confidentially report the concern through our Whistleblowing Form (here).  The Riyadh Law Review is committed to protecting individuals who report misconduct in good faith.

All whistleblowing reports are handled with strict confidentiality. The identity of the whistleblower will not be disclosed unless required by law. Whistleblowers will be safeguarded from retaliation or negative consequences. Malicious or frivolous reports, however, will be documented and may result in corrective action.

Note: Reports supported by clear, relevant evidence are more likely to lead to prompt and appropriate investigations. We encourage whistleblowers to provide as much detail and documentation as possible to facilitate a fair and efficient process.

After Acceptance Procedures

Upon acceptance, all manuscripts submitted to the Riyadh Law Review will proceed through the following steps:

Publication Agreement

Authors will be required to sign a Publication Agreement with the journal. By signing the Publication Agreement, authors:

• Retain copyright to their work;
• Grant the Riyadh Law Review the non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, and archive the article;
• Confirm that the article is original, has not been published elsewhere in its submitted form, and does not infringe any third-party rights.

Unless otherwise agreed, accepted articles will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows others to share and adapt the work freely, including for commercial use, provided proper attribution is given to the author(s) and the Riyadh Law Review. Authors with concerns about these terms may contact the Editorial Board to discuss alternative licensing options.

Warranties and Indemnities

By signing the Publication Agreement, the author(s) also warrant that:

• They are the sole author(s) or have secured written permission from all co-authors;
• The work does not contain any unlawful, defamatory, or infringing content;
• Necessary permissions have been obtained for all copyrighted materials included;
• They agree to indemnify the journal against any legal claims arising from a breach of these warranties.

The journal may reject or withdraw a publication if any material misrepresentation is discovered.

Copyediting and Proofs

All accepted manuscripts will undergo thorough copyediting and formatting. Authors will receive a proof version of the article to review and approve prior to publication. 

Author Access and Sharing

After publication, authors will receive a permanent link to their article. All content in the Riyadh Law Review is open access and may be shared on academic platforms, personal websites, or social media in accordance with the terms of the applicable Creative Commons license.