The International Journal of Cultural Property is a leading peer-reviewed journal which publishes papers and other materials representing a broad set of perspectives on problems relating to cultural property, cultural heritage, and related issues. Contributions are welcome from the wide variety of fields implicated in the debates—law, anthropology, public policy, archaeology, art history, preservation, museum-tourism, and heritage studies—and from a variety of perspectives and interests—indigenous, Western, and non-Western; academic, professional and amateur; consumers and producers—to promote meaningful discussion of the complexities, competing values, and other concerns that form the environment within which these disputes exist.
Articles may address any issue regarding tangible or intangible cultural property and heritage, and may draw upon scholarship from such diverse fields as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, law, museum studies, public policy, and tourism management, among others. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the subject matter, authors should refrain from employing subject-specific jargon where possible, and should generally keep in mind that diverse readership may require that certain concepts be explained in greater detail than they are accustomed. Of particular interest are articles which contain a pragmatic dimension and propose new directions for policy and practice. Submitted manuscripts should generally be between 6000 and 9000 words, although longer pieces may be considered, and should adhere to the below style guidelines.
Short Essays are original works of scholarship that are timely, readable, and accessible. They will either contribute to an ongoing conversation on cultural property issues or initiate a new one. Short essays can be on any current topic that concerns cultural property or cultural heritage, they can analyse a current issue of importance to the community of scholars, professionals and relevant stakeholders in the field.
- Short essays should clearly articulate the issue that they address, explain why it is significant for the journal’s readership and situate it in the context of their discipline, as well as the factual context.
- Short essays should have footnotes and references albeit to a lesser degree than articles as they aim to be responsive to a current issue rather than being an in-depth analysis of a specific issue
- Approximate length 3,000 words (for longer work, please consider submitting an article rather than a short essay)
- Short essays will be submitted to a lighter peer reviewing process than articles, they will not be sent to anonymous peer reviewer but will be approved by two members of the editorial board.
Case Studies discuss an object, a collection, a place, a monument, a site, or a practice from different perspectives. It will bring together scholars to analyse a case from their own discipline being law, history, art history, anthropology, heritage studies, museum studies… with the aim to facilitate interdisciplinarity by bridging epistemological differences.
- Case studies will be about objects, collections, places, sites, monuments or practices that are of cultural significance and that raise legal, ethical, historical tensions.
- Authors should be aware that readers may not be familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of their discipline and are encouraged to explain them when relevant to the discussion. Thus, they might have to provide more information than might otherwise seem necessary.
- Case studies should contain all available citations for the case being discussed.
- Approximate length
- For case studies with a multidisciplinary approach: between 6,000 words and 10,000 words depending on the number of authors/disciplines contributing to the case study (approx. 2,500 words per author).
- For case studies that are not multidisciplinary: 2,500 words
- A case study should have one section per author and they should be of almost equal length
- An introductory paragraph summarizing the choice of the case and its broader importance, as well as the choice of authors and what the discussion is bringing to
- A section per author/discipline
- Authors should aim to explain the importance of the case in their discipline and key theoretical concepts that are relevant to the analysis
- A short conclusion assessing the discussion
- If possible, include a picture of the case under discussion
Case notes are about decisions made by courts, tribunals or other decision-making bodies such as arbitration tribunals. Case notes are about decisions that concern questions of cultural property law at the international level (public international law and the nexus between international and domestic law), regional level (regional courts and the nexus between international, regional and domestic law) or domestic level (private international law, domestic law), including provincial court decisions. For domestic cases, it will be important to explain why the decision is important and relevant to an international readership.If authors participated (as counsel, lawyer, advisor) in the decision that they have commented, they should clearly state this in the commentary, preferably in the introduction. Case notes should not have appeared elsewhere prior to publication in IJCP.
Submission of case notes
- Case notes should contain all available citations for the case being discussed, both official and unofficial and electronic wherever possible. In the case of decisions that are not available in English authors should be particularly aware that readers may not be able to read the actual decision and thus should provide more information about the facts and reasoning in the case than might otherwise seem necessary.
- Citations to the text of the decision should be made parenthetically in the text, for example (para. 3).
- Case notes should be brief and to the point (approx. 3,000 words but can be up to 6,000 words if the decision is exceptionally important and complex)
Structure
- A case note should have three parts (parts 2 and 3 of almost equal length)
- One or two introductory paragraph(s) summarizing the decision and its broader importance
- An objective exposition of the relevant facts of the case, its procedural history, the law that was applied and legal reasoning of the court; if necessary: legal background and existing law that includes exposition of the law before the decision by reference to earlier cases, relevant statutes, conventions…
- A comment and assessment of the decision.
An objective exposition of the case
This section explains the case and the legal background of the decision or existing law.
Relevant facts: facts relevant to the issue(s) raised in enough detail to understand the problem and legal arguments; preferably in chronological order.
Procedural history: How did the case come to be heard by this court? Who has claimed what (and why) and with what result(s)?
Legal Issue(s): Point(s) of legal uncertainty that must be resolved to determine the case, can be expressed as a question, the answer to which is (or forms part of) the ratio decidendi.
Judicial Reasoning and Argument: reasons given to justify the decision that may involve consideration of precedent, statutory interpretation, policy, ethics and values, or international conventions. It can also mention dissenting judges if there were more than one judge (when relevant); and on what points did it differ to the leading/majority judgment(s) and why? It can distinguish between ratio and dicta (if relevant in the case).
Ratio decidendi - the statement of a principle of law which, when applied to the material facts of the case, allowed the judge(s) to reach their decision in the case
Obiter dicta – reasoning on points of law not strictly necessary to decide the outcome of the case but which may carry significance in the future.
Note that some jurisdictions do not have the distinction between ratio and obiter nor do they have identified judges (for example in French law, the note will refer to the Cour de Cassation or highest civil court’s decision, not to named judges).
Comment and assessment of the Case
This section develops the author’s perspective on the case: evaluate its significance, coherence and utility. Comments do not have to be purely legal, they may be practical or express the author’s own views on the case by reference to existing literature on the topic.
It should discuss if the case was correctly or incorrectly decided, how it fits into existing law, how it is different or how it confirms an existing precedent, to what extent the reasoning of the judge(s) is correct and if it justifies the approach (is it logic, persuasive?).
Comments may be included on the following, depending on the content of the case in question (though this list is non-exhaustive):
- The impact on the development of (international/regional/domestic) cultural heritage law
- Does the decision create new law or reaffirm existing case law?
- Does it clarify the law or simply leave more questions to clarify?
- Conceptual coherence and/or social utility of the decision
- The impact on existing law and heritage protection (if applicable)
- Subsequent developments (if any)
- Comparison with other jurisdictions (if useful)
Bibliography
Board TE, ‘First Year Tip Series: Introduction to Case Notes’ (Trinity College Law Review (TCLR) | Trinity College Dublin, 30 October 2019) <https://trinitycollegelawreview.org/first-year-tip-series-case-notes/> accessed 18 October 2024
‘How-to-Write-a-Case-Note’ <https://lawreview.law.miami.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/How-to-Write-a-Case-Note.pdf> accessed 18 October 2024
Aside from the above materials, the IJCP also publishes Book Reviews, Documents of Record, and Conference Reports. Information regarding submission can be found here.
Inquiries regarding articles or potential special issues can be directed to the Editor.
Style Guidelines
a. All manuscripts should be double-spaced on U.S. standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch or A-4 size paper, and the font size should be at least 11 point for all parts of the text, including footnotes and bibliography.
b. Pages should be numbered consecutively and should not contain the author's name on the first page or in the header or footer, to allow for blind refereeing. For the same reason, do not include acknowledgements in the submitted manuscript.
c. Authors should indicate whether a heading should be A-level or B-level, and then preface each heading by <A> or <B>
d. A separate cover sheet should contain the primary author's name, contact information, title of the article, an abstract of no more than 150 words, and a list of between 5-10 keywords, expressing the precise content of the manuscript.
e. As of 2014, IJCP has changed to a footnote and bibliography-based citation system. Footnotes should follow the author-date style, with the full citation contained in the bibliography (see the Chicago Manual of Style 16.120). For archival and unpublished materials not easily conforming to author-date style, full citation information may be included in the footnotes. So, for example:
When the bibliography includes more than one work published in the same year by the same author, the footnote as well as the bibliography must use the letters a, b, etc. to distinguish between sources. All names should be included for works with 1-3 authors; for works with >3 authors, please use "et al." For more guidance, please consult the Chicago Manual of 16.116-119.
f. In order to avoid the excessive footnoting often associated with academic, and particularly legal, writing, please try to incorporate as much substantive text as possible in the main body of the article.
g. An alphabetical bibliography of works cited should appear at the end of the article, generally adhering to the conventions in the Chicago Manual of Style 16.103. Multiple references by the same author should be ordered chronologically, oldest first, with a 3-em dash replacing the author's name in successive entries. Do not abbreviate titles of journals and other sources in the bibliography, and include the names of all authors. While reports and international documents may be included in the bibliography, cases and statutes should be included in complete form in the footnotes and excluded from the bibliography. Similarly, newspaper articles should be cited only in the notes, though magazines and weekly newspaper supplements may be included in the bibliography, without page numbers. Refer to the following examples as a guide:
Brown, Michael F. 2003. Who Owns Native Culture? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
–––. 2005. "Heritage Trouble: Recent Work on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Property." International Journal of Cultural Property 12, no. 1:40-61.
Chander, Anupam, and Madhavi Sunder. 2004. "The Romance of the Public Domain." California Law Review 92:1331-73.
Hollowell-Zimmer, Julie. 2003. "Digging in the Dirt—Ethics and 'Low-End Looting.'" In Ethical Issues in Archaeology, edited by L. J. Zimmerman, K. D. Vitelli and J. Hollowell-Zimmer, 45-56. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira.
Lynott, Mark J., and Alison Wylie, eds. 2000. Ethics in American Archaeology: Challenges for the 1990s. 2 ed. Washington, DC: Society for American Archaeology.
WIPO. 2004. Traditional Cultural Expressions/Expressions of Folklore: Legal and Policy Options. Geneva: Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore, World Intellectual Property Organization.
h. A note on legal citation conventions. As the IJCP is an interdisciplinary journal, it is asked that law-related articles and Case Notes follow the general guidelines described here rather than the conventions specific to legal writing. While first citations of statutes and cases may follow ALWD or Bluebook conventions, subsequent references should restate the case name, possibly in abbreviated form, for clarity.
For example:
5. U.S. v. An Antique Platter of Gold, 184 F.3d 131 (2nd Cir. 1999).
6. U.S. v. Antique Platter, 134.
As noted in (f), cases and statutes should not be included in the alphabetical bibliography at the end of the article. In addition, please do not use legal conventions for bibliographic references, even those from law reviews and other legal sources, but rather follow the conventions outlined above. Thus, bibliographic entries should read:
Merryman, John H. 1986. "Two Ways of Thinking About Cultural Property." American Journal of International Law 80, no. 4: 831–53.
and not:
Merryman, John H. "Two Ways of Thinking About Cultural Property." 80 Am. J. Int. L. 831 (1986).
i. Please be aware that as a peer-reviewed journal, we require exclusive consideration of submissions. This is because the peer-review process is quite labor intensive. Please make sure to confirm that your paper is not under consideration elsewhere at this time.
Language Editing Services
Contributions written in English are welcomed from all countries. Authors, particularly those whose first language is not English, may wish to have their English-language manuscripts checked by a native speaker before submission. This is optional, but may help to ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the editor and any reviewers. Cambridge offers a service which authors can learn about here. Please note that the use of any of these services is voluntary, and at the author's own expense. Use of these services does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication, nor does it restrict the author to submitting to a Cambridge published journal.
Publication Ethics
Please visit https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/authors/publishing-ethics for information on our ethical guidelines.
ORCID
IJCP now requires that all corresponding authors identify themselves using their ORCID iD when submitting a manuscript to the journal. ORCID provides a unique identifier for researchers and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript submission and grant applications, provides the following benefits:
Discoverability: ORCID increases the discoverability of your publications, by enabling smarter publisher systems and by helping readers to reliably find work that you’ve authored.
Convenience: As more institutions, funders and publishers use ORCID, providing your iD or using it to register for services will automatically link activities to your ORCID record, and will enable you to share this information with other systems and platforms you use, saving you re-keying information multiple times.
Keeping track: Your ORCID record is a neat place to store and (if you choose) share validated information about your research activities and affiliations.
If you don’t already have an iD, you’ll need to create one if you decide to submit a manuscript to International Journal of Cultural Property. You can register for one directly from your user account on ScholarOne or via https://ORCID.org/register.
If you already have an iD, please use this when submitting, either by linking it to your ScholarOne account or supplying it during submission by using the “Link to ORCID record” button.