Guidelines for Contributors to Precedent

Journal of the Australian Lawyers Alliance
Contributions to Precedent are welcome. These guidelines will help to ensure that your article will be suitable for publication. Further inquiries should be directed to Renée Harris, Publications Officer, on (02) 9258 7700, or by using our Online Enquiry Form.

MISSION OF AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS ALLIANCE

The Australian Lawyers Alliance is the only national association of lawyers and other professionals dedicated to the protection and promotion of justice, freedom and the rights of individuals.

We value a fair, just and democratic society, and aim to redress the imbalance between the ample resources available to corporations and their insurers, and those available to members of the public.

Lawyers who act for individuals are in a unique position to understand the challenges that face plaintiffs. They see first hand the human cost of injury in the workplace and other environments. They understand the importance of the presumption of innocence and the right to silence of accused persons.

They are dedicated to representing the interests of their clients. This dedication extends to fighting for the rights of the injured and others who suffer loss due to the fault of another.

We take an active role in contributing to the development of policy and legislation that will affect the rights of the injured and those disadvantaged through the negligence of others. We promote access to justice and equality before the law for all individuals regardless of their wealth, position, gender, age, race or religious belief. We oppose oppression and discrimination and support democratic systems of government and an independent judiciary.

MISSION OF PRECEDENT

Contributions to Precedent are welcome. These guidelines will help to ensure that your article will be suitable for publication.

Precedent provides members with a bi-monthly update on legislative and case law developments, together with cutting-edge articles and case notes in personal injury, public interest and related areas of law that are both practical and inspirational. The journal also aims to encourage informed debate about a wide range of issues of interest to both ALA members and the broader public, and to provide information about our events, activities and campaigns.

Want to contribute?

We publish articles of practical relevance to legal practitioners and do not publish advertorials in any form.

If you wish to submit an unsolicited article, please email the editor a 100-500 word abstract of your piece. This will be submitted to the editorial committee for consideration.

Feature articles

1. Each issue of Precedent contains several 'theme' articles that provide the journal with a particular focus. A list of future themes is available from the editor.
2. The journal also has several general articles on various topics of interest to our readership.
3. The word length for theme articles is 2,500 words; while general articles can be up to 2,000 words in length.

Submissions

1. All articles should ideally have a short, catchy title with a subheading.
2. Authors of all theme and general articles should provide an introductory paragraph of 50-100 words.
3. Please include appropriate subheadings to break up the text of your article.
4. Please clearly indicate the total word count of your article (including footnote material) and paginate your document throughout.
5. Please provide personal details at the end of your article: your name, position, firm/organisation, telephone contact numbers and email address. Please also provide a forwarding address so that we can send you a complimentary copy of the journal once it is published.
6. Please submit copy by email as a Word or rtf file. If you don't have access to email facilities, please send a clearly labelled disk to the publications officer at the Australian Lawyers Alliance's head office.
7. Copy must be submitted by the deadline. Authors should contact the editor at least one week prior to the copy deadline if they anticipate any difficulty in meeting the deadline.

Case notes

1. Case notes are designed to inform readers of the mains points and outcome of a recent case. More detailed analyses of cases should be written as general articles.
2. Word length is strictly limited to 620 words.
3. All case notes should have a short, catchy title and a sub-heading providing the name of the case with full citation.

Endnotes

1. Full citation is required for all cases, legislation and other source materials quoted or referred to. Citations should be gathered together at the end of the article as numbered endnotes, with footnote indicators inserted at appropriate places in the text.
2. Endnotes are included in the article's word count, and should be numbered consecutively and gathered together at the end of the article.
3. Avoid long, explanatory footnotes.
4. Do not use footnotes to quote sections of judgments.

Citations

Full case citation must be provided in the first instance: eg, Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (with the technical component of the reference provided in an endnote). Thereafter, the case can be referred to in the text in a short form: for example, Donoghue v Stevenson, or Donoghue.

Similarly, full citation of legislation must be provided in the first instance: eg, Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). Thereafter, it may be referred to in short form: eg, Trade Practices Act or the Act.

Full citation must also be provided for other source material: eg, K Rigby and PT Slee, 'Bullying Among Children and School Children: Reported Behaviours and Attitudes Towards Victims', Journal of Social Psychology, 131, 1991, pp615-17.

VE Besag, Bullies and Victims in Schools, Open University Press, 1998, Milton Keynes, pp23-35.

Language, style and editing

1. Please follow the style as set out in the Precedent Housestyle Guide.
2. Use clear, concise, gender-neutral and non-discriminatory language and avoid overly long sentences and paragraphs. Plain English that is accessible to the intelligent layperson is preferable to 'legalese' and jargon.
3. Minor grammatical, semantic or stylistic changes may be made to the article without consultation prior to publication. Major changes of substance will be made only after consultation with the author.
4. Contact the managing editor for any further guidance on the content of articles, particularly in relation to legal content; and the editor is happy to help with respect to writing style, article structure, housestyle issues, etc.

Factual accuracy

1. All contributors should take care to be as factually accurate as possible. The Australian Lawyers Alliance takes no responsibility for the factual accuracy of articles published, and opinions expressed in Precedent do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of APLA.
2. Please ensure accuracy of case names, citations and other references, quotations and the spelling of judges' names.
3. Please advise the editor if there are any factors that might affect the currency of your article such as appeals, possible appeals, draft legislation or reform proposals.
4. It is the contributor's responsibility to ensure that material submitted is not defamatory or litigious.

Prior publication, copyright and right of use

1. Precedent rarely publishes articles that have already appeared elsewhere. If your article has been previously published, please advise the editor.
2. Copyright in all articles is vested jointly in Precedent and the contributor.
3. The Australian Lawyers Alliance retains the right to publish, with or without charge, all articles submitted to us for this purpose in Precedent as well as in Precedent Online, which is accessible to members on our website, or in any other form. Articles published in Precedent may not be reproduced in any other publication without ALA's written consent.

Submission details

Please email your contributions in Word, rich text format or text only format to:

renee@lawyersalliance.com.au or send to:

Renée Harris
Publications Officer
Australian Lawyers Alliance
GPO Box 7052
Sydney NSW 2001     or

DX 10126 Sydney Stock Exchange

Further inquiries should be directed to Renée Harris, Precedent editor, on (02) 9258 7700.