Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

The Journal of Open Law, Technology & Society (JOLTS) is a collaborative legal publication aiming to increase knowledge and understanding among lawyers about all areas of law technology society, starting from an initial focus on Free and Open Source Software issues. Topics covered include copyright, licence implementation, licence interpretation, software patents, open standards, case law and statutory changes.

Sections include case law reviews, full-length research articles, book reviews and 'tech watch' reports by non-lawyers. Articles are accepted for publication via the Journal's web site, and are subject to anonymous peer review where appropriate.

The Editorial Committee of the Journal is mainly drawn from the membership of the Legal Network, a non-partisan professional network of Free Software legal experts, and its composition rotates regularly among network members. The network is facilitated by Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), but the membership extends across a broad spectrum of interests engaging in Free Software across four continents. The Journal itself received financial and administrative support from the NLNet Foundation, the FSFE, OIN, OpenChain, Open  Forum Europe.

 

Section Policies

Editorials

IFOSS L. Rev. editorials authored by the Editorial Committee are designed to allow the Committee to introduce topics covered in later full-length articles, establish themes which may run throughout the issue, and to opine on matters of relevance to the Review's core focus.

IFOSS L. Rev. also accepts articles for publication in the editorials section by non-members of the Editorial Committee. Such articles should meet the highest standards of intellectual enquiry, conform to IFOSS L. Rev.'s editorial guidelines and tackle issues not appropriate to be examined in a full-length article. Examples would include expressing a (justified) opinion on an upcoming statutory change or policy issue, and suggesting a topic for research.

IFOSS L. Rev. editorial articles are not normally subject to peer review, but are instead evaluated by the Editorial Committee as a whole.

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Unchecked Peer Reviewed

Articles

This section of IFOSS L. Rev. is the main venue for full-length researched articles on legal issues of interest to the IFOSS L. Rev. readership.

All submissions are peer-reviewed. IFOSS L. Rev. accepts articles for publication in the Articles section from all qualified authors. Such articles should meet the highest standards of intellectual enquiry and conform to IFOSS L. Rev.'s editorial guidelines.

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Legislative Review

IFOSS L. Rev.'s legislative review section is designed to brief readers on recent or upcoming changes to legislation relevant to Free and Open Source Software.

Articles in this section should brief on the main implications of the legislative change, set out the context of prior law, and indicate how governmental policy and/or international law will affect implementation.

Articles are accepted for publication from all those suitably qualified to do so. All articles are peer-reviewed.

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Case Law Reports

This section of IFOSS L. Rev. is intended to allow authors to report on recent developments in case law, and to offer commentary on the legal and policy implications of the decisions.

Articles are peer-reviewed where appropriate. They should be between 1500 and 6000 words in length.

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Book reviews

Book reviews should be between 500 - 2000 words in length, and should critically analyse the main arguments of the literature under examination. Further, they should indicate the reviewer's assessment of the literature's usefulness to JOLTS' readership, its novelty of approach, its factual accuracy and its relevance to current debates.

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Tech Watch

IFOSS L. Rev's Tech Watch section aims to allow technical experts and organisational leaders in Free and Open Source Software to introduce and explain topical issues with important legal aspects. These discussions may form the basis of subsequent detailed examination by IFOSS L. Rev. contributors. Tech Watch columns take a in short essay form, and are expected to be between 500 and 2000 words in length. Tech Watch columns are usually written by non-lawyers.

Tech Watch articles are not subject to normal peer review, but are instead evaluated by the Editorial Committee as a whole.

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Platform

The Platform section of IFOSS L. Rev. provides an opportunity for the expression of considered opinions on issues of interest to the readership of the Review. It is intended to give space to clear, strong and reasoned argument from professionals with insight.

IFOSS L. Rev. accepts articles for publication in the Platform section from all qualified authors. Because of the nature of this section as providing, as the name suggests, a platform for the expression of a personal view, submissions are reviewed by the full Editorial Committee, and both the detail and spirit of the standards of this publication are expected to be adhered to. In addition, because of its nature as a venue for reasoned opinion, due consideration for respect and professional courtesy are essential qualities for any article intended for publication in this section.

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Peer Review Process

Articles in the Aticles section and optionally in other sections are peer reviewed by selected experts. We opted for half-blind review, as the reviewer's details are not disclosed to the author, but the details of the author are know to the reviewer.

 

Publication Frequency

Jolts publishes on a rolling basis

 

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

The licence of choice is Creative Commons - attribution (by) 4.0 - unported.

 

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...