Thank you for your interest in contributing to Human Rights Here (HRH). Submissions to the Human Rights Here (HRH) blog are invited from scholars and practitioners both inside and outside of the Netherlands. Members of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (NNHRR) and early career scholars are especially welcome to submit blog content.

Please read the blog guidelines before submitting a proposed blog to us. Contributions should be e-mailed to: humanrightshere@asser.nl.

Content

HRH will accept contributions of the outcomes of recent research, but also those that analyse recent administrative, political and legislative developments and case-law. The blog is not a platform for opinion pieces. The blog post should demonstrate societal relevance.

Arguments should be well-founded, well-argued academically and demonstrably relevant for the realisation of human rights in theory and practice. The blog contributions should bring an added value and preferably new content to debates related to human rights. Submissions that are purely descriptive will not be reviewed favorably. Posts should provide relevant background information to make them accessible to readers from outside of the country context of the submission.

In addition, when using national examples, reference should be made for the relevance of the case or theme with other national contexts.

A short bibliographical note, specifying the author’s current affiliation, portrait photo and e-mail address should be provided with the submission.

Length

Blog posts should be around 1000 words. However, the Editorial Board may consider longer pieces of exceptional quality. It may be proposed to break a longer blog post up into a series of shorter posts.

Language

The language of Human Rights Here is English, so as to be accessible to all members of the NNHRR as well as to its international audience. They should be easily understandable to readers with no legal background. Through our editorial process, we will seek to ensure that the language is of high quality, free of errors, professional, yet also accessible to a larger audience. It is recommended to not excessively use technical, academic or legal jargon.

Posts that are submitted must be fully proofread and conform to the principles of plain English legal writing. Submissions that contain multiple grammatical or stylistic errors will not be reviewed.

Referencing

Posts should include hyperlinks to relevant legal sources and background information, including any laws, treaties or texts that are mentioned. The editors make the final decision over what constitutes a respectable source. Please do not use footnotes or endnotes.

Format

Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) format.

Process for Reviewing Submissions

The decision whether to post a given contribution will be made solely on the basis of its quality and compliance with the submission guidelines.

Each submission will be reviewed by two members of the Editorial Board, normally within three weeks following submission. Submissions may be accepted, rejected or returned to the author for revision. This review may result in comments and suggestions to the author and we ask for a timely return of the piece.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to refuse publication of submissions that do not comply with the mission of the blog or the instructions for authors, or are considered offensive or otherwise inappropriate in nature.

Disclaimer

Human Rights Here is not intended to convey legal advice. All contributors post in their individual capacity, and their opinions do not necessarily reflect any organisation with which the author is affiliated, the official position of the Human Rights Here editors, the Steering Committee of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research or the Asser Institute.

Norms and regulations on academic integrity and conduct of blog contributors for Human Rights Here

The following regulations on research and academic integrity for blog contributions are based on the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity adopted in 2018 by the VSNU (Association of Universities in the Netherlands) and KNAW (Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences). These regulations [norms] are meant to guarantee academic and scholarly integrity and originality in the contributions submitted for publication in Human Rights Here. Contributors are expected to follow these norms, and prepare their research contributions to the blog on the basis of the principles of honesty, scrupulousness, transparency, independence and responsibility as defined in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

1. Contributions to Human Rights Here should be the result of original, unpublished work carried out independently by the author(s) of the contribution. Cross-posting or publication on other platforms is permissible only with the permission of the Editors of the blog, and a minimum of 48 hours after the blog has been published on the HRH website.
2. Submissions  should be free of plagiarism. Plagiarism as defined in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity means: the use of another person’s ideas, work methods, results or texts without appropriate acknowledgement.
3. Contributions will be subjected to a plagiarism control by the editors of Human Rights Here. This assessment shall be conducted honestly and fairly.
4. The authors of a contribution should present their contribution in accordance with the standards set in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity. In particular, the authors have to present sources, data and arguments in a scrupulous way (Standard 34), and when making use of other people’s ideas, procedures, results and text, do justice to the research involved and cite the source accurately (Standard 40).
5. By submitting a contribution, the author(s) acknowledge that they have read the submission guidelines found in the website of Human Rights Here.
6. In the event that a contribution does not meet the standards of academic integrity set out above and in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, the contribution will not be published. The author(s) of the contribution will be informed of the decision not to publish the blog contribution stating the reasons why.
7. In case of a minor shortcoming with the standards set out above, the author(s) of the blog contribution [may] be provided with the opportunity to address the shortcoming and re-submit the contribution.
8. In case of a serious shortcoming and non-compliance with the standards set out above, the author(s) of the contribution will be banned from submitting any kind of contribution for Human Rights Here for a period of one year. The editorial board of Human Rights Here may consider reporting the matter to the relevant regulatory and academic bodies or to authorities empowered to impose other administrative, disciplinary or criminal sanctions as stipulated in the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.