The Journal of Islamic Law welcomes scholarship in Islamic law for its main publication as well as its dynamic forum, which features scholarly responses, debates, and new developments in Islamic law scholarship or at the intersection of Islamic law and data science.
We seek articles of up to 15,000 words for the Journal of Islamic Law, and essays of up to 5,000 words for the Journal of Islamic Law Online Forum. Submissions for this year’s issue are due by October 15, 2025, and must be submitted through either Scholastica or our online submissions portal. Once accepted, the paper goes through a process of peer review, a final decision on acceptance, editing, and publication. This issue of the Journal of Islamic Law will be published in April 2026. For detailed submission guidelines, please visit our submissions webpage. For further questions, please contact us at pil@law.harvard.edu.
Submissions, unless otherwise noted for special issues, may take many forms, including: Articles & Essays, Student Notes, and Book/Tech Reviews. Both single-author and co-authored submissions are welcome.
Articles & Essays
Articles present sustained works of original research on some aspect of Islamic or comparative law; essays are usually narrower in scope. While the line between them is not rigid, we recommend that article submissions have fewer than 12,500 words, including footnotes. We publish two types of essays: (1) Journal essays, which have fewer than 5,000 words, including footnotes; and (2) Blog essays, which have fewer than 2,000 words, including footnotes. Blog essays may be considered for publication in the Journal at the editors’ discretion.
Both articles and essays may explore traditional topics in Islamic law or engage with its intersection with AI and data science. Empirical elements like datasets, links, or statistical appendices may be included in AI/data science submissions and do not count toward the word limit.
Student Notes
Notes are student-written works typically available to Harvard students. Notes submissions should have fewer than 5,000 words, including footnotes. Like articles and essays, student notes may focus on Islamic law or its intersection with AI/data science. Empirical components such as datasets and statistical evidence are welcome and do not count toward the word limit.
Book/Tech Reviews
We accept reviews of books published within the last two years and tech reviews of AI or data science tools relevant to Islamic law research. Reviews should be under 2,000 words, including footnotes. Empirical components, such as datasets and appendices, may also be included and are not counted in the word limit.
Formatting
Footnotes should conform to the latest edition of the Bluebook (i.e., no need for a separate bibliography). Submissions should be single spaced and in Times New Roman, font size 12. Submissions should include a paragraph of not more than 500 words. Submissions should list between 3 and 5 key words.
