Author Guidelines
Peer Review Process
Submissions to Cultura giuridica e diritto vivente intended for the "Essays" and "Notes and Comments" sections will undergo a double-blind peer review by two reviewers chosen from among subject-matter specialists, either within or outside the Scientific Committee. Reviewers will assess the article's alignment with the journal's scope, scientific relevance, originality, methodological quality, validity of results, and writing style.
Once the article's publishability is confirmed, reviewers will recommend either acceptance as is or acceptance subject to revisions. Reviewers will also assess whether the article fits better in the "Essays" or "Notes and Comments" section and may suggest relocating it to a more appropriate section. The Author will be promptly informed of all editorial decisions.
Submission Guidelines
Manuscripts must be submitted using the appropriate procedure available on the website. Only one round of proof is provided. Proof must be returned within fifteen days. Authors should use the "track changes" function to indicate any corrections or typographical errors.
Open Access Policy
No article processing charges – No article submission charges
Cultura giuridica e diritto vivente does not charge authors for article processing or submission; both review and publication are completely free of charge.
The journal provides open access to its content, believing that freely available research enhances the global exchange of knowledge. It adopts the broadest Creative Commons license, which allows third parties to reproduce, distribute, publicly display, perform, and adapt the work, provided proper attribution is given to the Author and the journal.
Read the license summary – Read the legal code
Language
The journal accepts submissions in Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German.
Sections:
Essays
This section publishes extended scientific contributions (up to 85,000 characters, including notes), which are subject to double-blind peer review by two anonymous reviewers.
Notes and Comments
This section includes shorter scholarly contributions such as reviews, reports, reading notes, case comments, and viewpoints (up to 25,000 characters), also subject to double-blind peer review.
The Most Beautiful Words of Justice
Curated by Prof. Chiara Gabrielli (University of Urbino), this section collects the most significant lectures presented during scientific events organized by the Department of Law, especially the annual "Words of Justice" festival. Contributions are selected by the Editorial Board in coordination with the section's curator.
Materials
This section hosts various scientific materials: working papers, seminar and conference papers, educational materials, multimedia documents, and other resources relevant to legal culture and education. Anonymous peer review is not required.
Author Information and Submission Requirements
Each submission must include:
- English translation of the title
- Abstract in both Italian and English (100 words each)
- Five keywords in both Italian and English
- Academic or professional title of the Author and their email address
- Indication of the section of Cultura giuridica e diritto vivente to which the article is being submitted
Copyright Notice
Cultura giuridica e diritto vivente allows authors to retain publishing rights and copyrights without restrictions.
Editorial Norms
- Formatting and Structure of Submissions
Submissions must be sent in .docx (or .doc) format, using Garamond font, size 12 for the main text and size 11 for footnotes, single-spaced.
Italic fonts should be used for all words in a language other than that of the article, including Latin, as well as to emphasize specific expressions or terms. Boldface is not allowed.
Greek text must be inserted using the greek.ttf font or compatible fonts.
Submissions may be divided into numbered and titled paragraphs.
- Bibliography
2.1. For the first citation of monographs, indicate:
- Author's initials (no spaces) followed by the surname (in regular font, lowercase);
- Full title of the work, entirely in italics;
- Any series title in parentheses, without a preceding comma, using Arabic numerals;
- Place of publication, as stated on the title page (e.g., London, not Londra); DO NOT indicate the publisher;
- Year of publication, possibly followed by a superscript indicating the edition;
- Any page references (not preceded by p./pp.).
Example:
- Giuffrè, Studi sul debito. Tra esperienza romana e ordinamenti moderni, Napoli 1997², 124 ff.
- Lamberti, La famiglia romana e i suoi volti. Pagine scelte su diritto e persone in Roma antica, Torino 2014.
2.2. For the first citation of works included in miscellaneous or collective volumes (e.g., collected essays, proceedings), indicate the Author and title of the essay as above, then add "in" (in regular font), followed by the volume title (in italics), following the general rules.
Example:
- Rizzelli, La violenza sessuale su donne nell'esperienza di Roma antica. Note per una storia degli stereotipi, in E. Höbenreich, V. Kühne, F. Lamberti (eds.), El Cisne 2. Violencia, proceso y discurso sobre género, Lecce 2012, 295–377.
2.3. For contributions published in journals, encyclopedias, or dictionaries: after the article title, add "in"; then give the title of the journal, encyclopedia, or dictionary (in italics, no quotation marks); year in Arabic numerals; publication year; page numbers without p./pp., and no commas between elements.
Example:
- Falcone, Per una datazione del ‘De verborum quae ad ius pertinent significatione’ di Elio Gallo, in AUPA 41, 1990, 223 n. 2.
- Grelle, Consoli e «datio tutoris» in I. I.20.3, in Labeo 13, 1967, 194 ff. [= Diritto e società nel mondo romano, ed. L. Fanizza, Roma 2005, 113 ff.].
2.4. For subsequent citations:
- Abbreviated name and surname of the Author;
- Full or abbreviated title of the work in italics, followed by 'cit.' in regular font, preceded and followed by commas;
- In multi-volume works, specify the volume number in Arabic before 'cit.'
Example:
- Giuffrè, Studi sul debito, cit., 124 ff.
- Textual Citations
Latin or foreign language passages must be in italics and not enclosed in quotation marks. Greek passages must never be italicized or quoted.
Use a vertical bar | to indicate line breaks in epigraphs.
Citations of modern authors or translations must be enclosed in guillemets («...»). For emphasis within a quoted passage, use single quotation marks ('...').
- Footnotes
In the presence of punctuation, the note marker ALWAYS precedes the punctuation mark, with no space.
Example: ... as already stated18.
- Abbreviations and Acronyms — Historical Disciplines
Follow L'Année Philologique for journal abbreviations, except for commonly used abbreviations in Roman law journals (e.g., Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte – Romanistische Abteilung is abbreviated ZSS., Annali del Seminario Giuridico dell'Università di Palermo as AUPA., etc.). All abbreviations end with a period.
Journals that are not universally known and non-academic publications must be spelt out.
Use Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford 1940 for Greek text abbreviations.
Use Thesaurus linguae Latinae, Leipzig 1900 for Latin text abbreviations.
Passages must always be cited using Arabic numerals.
Separate book, chapter, paragraph, verse, or line with a period, without space.
Example:
Liv. 2.14.3
Multiple verses/lines/paragraphs or chapters under the same division: separate with commas (no space):
Liv. 2.14.1,3–5,7
Liv. 2.14,16,18.
Chapters or books without a higher-level division: use semicolon and space:
Liv. 2; 3
Tac. Agr. 1; 19; 21
See here for a list of the main legal source abbreviations.
- Abbreviations and Acronyms — Positive Law Disciplines
Citations of case law should include the abbreviation of the court (see abbreviation index), Roman numeral for the section (if applicable), hearing date (or deposit date for Constitutional Court), and decision number.
Example:
Cass., Sez. IV, 29 October 1993, no. 45560
To reference a journal publication or commentary, follow with the journal details (in italics, preceded by a comma and "in" ):
Example:
Cass., Sez. un., 29 October 1993, in Foro it., 1994, IV, p. 151
For headnotes from the Supreme Court's electronic documentation centre, include the code:
Example:
Cass., 12 January 1999, no. 7765, in C.e.d. Cass., no. 1234567
A list of legal, case law and journal abbreviations is available here.
- Offprints
Each Author will receive a PDF copy of their published contribution
Download Editorial Rules