What to Submit

Manuscripts and associated files should be submitted electronically to jostc@uliege.be.

A submission should include:

An anonymised review copy

The review copy should:

• be submitted in Microsoft Word format;
• comply with the applicable word limit;
• contain no author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, or other identifying information;
• include the title, abstract, and keywords, where applicable;
• follow the Journal’s formatting and citation requirements; and
• indicate the intended location of any tables and figures.

Author information

Provide the following for each author:

• full name;
• current position and institutional affiliation;
• email address; and
• a biographical note of 100–150 words, including relevant qualifications, expertise, and selected publications where appropriate.

Abstract and keywords

Research Articles, Viewpoints and Commentaries, and Reports should include:

• an abstract of 150–250 words; and
• five to eight keywords.

The abstract should briefly state the background, purpose, method or approach, principal findings or arguments, and conclusions.

Tables and figures

Tables and figures should be submitted as separate files in the highest available quality. Their intended locations in the manuscript should be clearly indicated.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted tables, figures, photographs, or other third-party material.

Required disclosures

Where applicable, authors should provide:

• a conflict-of-interest statement;
• details of relevant funding or institutional support;
• information about earlier versions of the manuscript;
• a generative AI disclosure; and
• confirmation that any required employer, government, institutional, or contractual publication authorization has been obtained.

Consult the submission checklist in the complete JoSTC Instructions for Authors before submitting.

Originality and publication ethics

Submissions must contain original work and must not:

• be under consideration elsewhere;
• have been previously published in substantially identical form; or
• contain plagiarised, fabricated, or falsified material.

The Journal reserves the right to reject any submission in which plagiarism, fabrication, falsification of evidence, misrepresentation of sources, or another form of academic misconduct is identified.

Authors should disclose whether an earlier version of the manuscript has appeared as a conference paper, working paper, policy brief, institutional report, or preprint. The existence of an earlier version does not necessarily prevent consideration, but it must be disclosed at the time of submission.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all factual, legal, technical, and bibliographical information contained in their submissions.

Conflicts of interest and funding

Authors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, analysis, or conclusions presented in the manuscript.

Authors must also identify relevant sources of financial or institutional support.

Use of generative artificial intelligence

Generative AI tools may not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, attribution, and integrity of all submitted content.

Any substantial use of generative AI tools in researching, drafting, translating, analysing, or substantially revising a manuscript must be disclosed at the time of submission. Routine uses limited to spelling, grammar, formatting, or basic language correction do not normally require disclosure.

Where disclosure is required, authors should identify the tool used and briefly explain how it was used. The use of generative AI does not relieve authors of their responsibility to verify all facts, quotations, citations, sources, and legal or technical claims.

Clarity and accessibility

Submissions should be written in clear and grammatically correct English. They should present a logical and readily identifiable argument or purpose and should distinguish clearly between facts, analysis, and opinion.

JoSTC seeks to remain accessible to specialist and non-specialist audiences. Authors should avoid unnecessary jargon and explain specialised terms where appropriate.

All submissions are initially screened by the editors to assess their relevance to the Journal’s scope, quality, originality, and compliance with the submission requirements.

Research Articles are normally evaluated through double-blind peer review by at least two external reviewers with relevant subject-matter expertise. Reports undergo editorial assessment and may also be sent for external peer review where appropriate. Viewpoints and Commentaries undergo editorial review and may be sent for external peer review at the editors’ discretion, depending on their content and analytical character. Book Reviews are normally assessed by the editorial team and are not ordinarily subject to external peer review.

The editors aim to communicate an initial decision within twelve weeks of submission. Possible decisions include:

• acceptance;
• acceptance subject to revision;
• revise and resubmit; or
• rejection.

Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers or assessed by the editors, depending on the nature and extent of the revisions required.

The editors reserve the right to reject a submission without external peer review where it falls outside the Journal’s scope, does not meet the Journal’s standards, or does not comply with the submission requirements.

Formatting

Manuscripts should follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

• File format: Microsoft Word
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 point
• Margins: 2.54 cm or 1 inch on all sides
• Line spacing: 1.5
• Body text: fully justified
• Headings: left aligned
• Paragraphs: separated by a blank line and not indented
• Non-English terms: italicised where appropriate
• Spelling: American English
• Word count: includes all footnotes

Submissions that do not comply with JoSTC formatting and citation requirements may be returned for correction before editorial assessment or peer review.

Citation requirements

JoSTC uses the Notes and Bibliography system of the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition.

Authors must:

• cite factual claims, quotations, statistics, legal references, and externally derived data;
• use footnotes rather than in-text author-date citations;
• provide a full citation when a source is first cited;
• use a shortened citation for subsequent references;
• provide page numbers when referring to a specific argument, quotation, or passage; and
• include URLs and DOIs where available for online material.

JoSTC does not use ibid., op. cit., loc. cit., or similar abbreviations. A shortened citation should normally contain:

• the author’s surname;
• a shortened title; and
• the relevant page number or page range.

Example

First citation

Joop Voetelink, “Repurposing frozen Russian sovereign assets for the support and reconstruction of Ukraine: a legal assessment,” Journal of Strategic Trade Control, Vol. 2 (October 2024), p. 9.

Subsequent citation

Voetelink, “Repurposing frozen Russian sovereign assets,” p. 10.

Complete citation examples for books, articles, reports, online material, legislation, international organisations, treaties, United Nations documents, and judicial decisions are provided in the downloadable JoSTC Instructions for Authors.

Authors subject to non-disclosure agreements, government clearance requirements, employer pre-publication review, or other publication restrictions are responsible for obtaining all necessary authorizations before submitting a manuscript.

Submission to JoSTC constitutes confirmation that the author is authorised to submit the material for consideration and publication.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in published contributions are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of their employers, sponsoring institutions, the University of Liège, the Editorial Board, or the Journal of Strategic Trade Control.