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Style Guide for Authors

Authors are requested to refer to this guide while preparing their manuscripts for submissions to the PoliLegal Blog. Following these guidelines helps us in ensuring uniformity of formatting, ultimately resulting in a speedy publication process and a better reading experience.

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I. RULES OF EXPRESSION

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A. General

  1. Please use the British spelling conventions, as set out in the current edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. For example, please use honour as opposed to honor or analyse as opposed to analyze.

  2. In case of non-English terms, please italicise the term and provide an approximate English translation of it in parentheses at its first appearance. The need for translation does not apply to legal phrases in Latin such as prima facie. This rule does not apply in its entirety to words such as caveat and per annum, which have been assimilated into English.

  3. In case a particular term occurs frequently in the article, we encourage the use of short forms. For instance, ‘This paper shall discuss the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (‘the Act’) in detail.’ Please refrain from using terms such as ‘hereinafter’.

  4. Please use the Oxford or serial comma wherever possible.

 
B. Quotations and Extracts

  1. All extracts should appear within double quotation marks. Extracts longer than 50 words should be separated from the body by placing them in a separate paragraph, indented on both sides by 1 inch of the margin. No quotation marks should be used for such extracts.

  2. If quotation marks are being used to highlight a term used in a specific manner, please use single quotes.

 

C. Formatting of the text

  1. The post must be in word-processed format using Garamond font, size 12, line spacing 1.5.

  2. PoliLegal primarily follows Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) – 4 th edn. for the purposes of citations.

  3. Please cite all relevant sources in form of footnotes. No separate bibliography or reference list is required.

  4. Hyperlinks can also be used to cite relevant online resources.

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II. HEADINGS

A hierarchy of headings is essential to organise complex text, but please restrict it to three levels of headings. In case of particularly complicated discussions, a fourth level may be used. Please follow the following system of organization.

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Level 1:

I. Bold, Centre Aligned, Garamond Size 12

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Level 2:

A. Sub-heading- Bold, Left Aligned, Italicised, Garamond Size 12

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Level 3:

i. Left Aligned, Italicised, Garamond Size 12

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