Summary
Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law: Special Issue 2025/6
The Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law aims to publish one special issue a year. Proposals are now invited for the 2025/6 special issue (to be published in February 2026).
About the journal
The Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, a peer-reviewed quarterly published by Bloomsbury Professional, is the official journal of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA), the professional body for UK immigration lawyers. It provides information and commentary on immigration law and serves as a unique forum for the exchange of ideas and debate about immigration law between academics, policy analysts and leading practitioners. The Journal is interested in comparative and international work but, as a UK-based journal, aims to publish articles that will be of relevance and interest to those working in the UK system. The Journal’s readership includes legal academics, legal practitioners and individuals working with international organisations and NGOs.
Proposals
The editorial board is interested in empirical, European, international and comparative work and in an interdisciplinary collection, provided the primary focus is on immigration law. Authors may be academics, legal practitioners or policy specialists. The editorial board welcomes proposals in areas that do not often receive sustained attention.
Proposals should include the following information:
- Full contact details and a short biography (200 words maximum) of the proposed guest editor(s);
- An explanation of the rationale for the proposal of no more than 500 words which should address its major themes, how it will advance knowledge, and its importance for the readership of the Journal;
- A list of contributors with their affiliations, a short biography of each (100 words maximum) and a confirmation of their commitment to the special issue;
- An abstract for each paper of no more than 200 words;
- Any information about the origins of the proposal, eg, workshop, conference, research project, research network.
Proposals should be emailed to the editor, Alan Desmond, at [email protected] by close of business on 28 February 2025. The editorial team will select the proposal that, in their view:
- Is of the highest quality both in terms of the contribution made by each article and of its overarching coherence, interest and originality as a special issue;
- Best reflects the interests of the Journal and its readership.
The Special Issue
The articles for the special issue, including the introduction/overview by the guest editor(s), should be between 45,000 and 50,000 words in total (including footnotes). The main articles are expected to be between 7,000 and 10,000 words in length but flexibility is possible within the overall total.
The guest editor(s) will be responsible for liaising with authors and the JIANL editorial team and for ensuring strict observance of the overall timetable for the special issue outlined below.
Editing will be a cooperative process. The guest editor(s) will arrange for first drafts of articles to be received in the Journal house style and fully referenced, approved by them. Guest editors will send each article for a single anonymous, independent peer review and we will also arrange for review within the editorial board or, if necessary, outside it. Once reviews have been received, the editorial team will liaise with the guest editor(s) about revisions. Authors then resubmit their revised version with a note documenting the changes that have been made in response to the reviews.
Timetable
28 February 2025: Deadline for submitting proposals.
14 March 2025: Guest editor(s) advised of decision.
18 August 2025: First drafts of articles submitted to JIANL editorial team and sent to external reviewers.
15 September 2025: External reviews received by guest editor(s) and JIANL editorial team and sent to authors.
10 November 2025: Final drafts submitted to JIANL.
