Journal of Animal Rights Law

Project summary

Founded in 2023, the Journal of Animal Rights Law is the first and only legal journal dedicated to advancing animal rights law through the dissemination and discussion of cutting-edge research in this field.

The Journal of Animal Rights Law is an online open-access journal accepting submissions on a rolling basis. It is freely available to students, scholars, practitioners, advocates, and policy-makers interested in understanding and expanding non-human animals' moral and legal rights within our multispecies society by engaging with or contributing to these resources through research and dissemination.

The Journal of Animal Rights Law publishes research articles, dissertations, case commentaries, student notes, book reviews, and conference proceedings.

It operates independently and is not affiliated with any university.

https://jarlaw.org/index.php/jarl/index

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

Our objective is to foster the knowledge and study of fundamental rights for non-human animals, enhance comprehension of the legal and ethical issues surrounding non-human animals, facilitate constructive and interdisciplinary dialogue, and stimulate innovative legal approaches and scholarship on animal rights.

We aim to organise a global animal rights law conference within the next three years to gather momentum and stimulate innovation toward legal and policy changes through cross-cultural and multidisciplinary dialogue.

We will:

Review, edit and publish research articles, dissertations, case commentaries, student notes, book reviews, and conference proceedings with an international and diverse growing editorial team: https://jarlaw.org/index.php/jarl/about/editorialTeam.
Host online academic events with published authors to discuss their contributions, contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and exchange with a diverse audience, enhance comprehension, foster knowledge, facilitate open-minded and constructive dialogue, and encourage societal and legal changes.
Organise an in-person global animal rights law conference to promote the development of animal rights law and stimulate innovative legal approaches and scholarship on animal rights, enable interdisciplinary and multicultural dialogue and perspectives to enrich the field and benefit the prospects of policy change for animals, and bring together multilingual experts and researchers from various horizons and all career stages to exchange views and know-how to learn from one another.

How will this funding be used?

To fund the costs of independent publication over three years, as we operate independently and are not affiliated with any university. We have subscribed to PKP's OJS Basic Plan annually (850$ per year).
To pay the costs of our domain name for three years ('jarlaw.org') - (18€ per year - about 20$ per year).
To pay for a Zoom pro account for three years (149.90€ per year - about 166$) to host regular online discussions with published authors to present their contributions.

Total operation costs for a year: 1036$

Total operation costs for three years: 3108$

Miscellaneous (10%): 311$

Contingency (15%): 466$

Total budget for three years: 3885$

Any sums allocated above will be used to finance the organisation of a global in-person animal rights law conference. The higher the sum, the more likely a global conference will be organised in person, and the presenters will be remunerated, covering their travel and accommodation expenses too. Thus, the work of the researchers and any financial limitations should the latter not be affiliated with a university or should the latter not reimburse expenses will be respected. In addition, we believe the remuneration for the work of researchers should be the minimum at every academic conference. Ideally, this conference would be free of charge for participants, and we would, of course, not charge conference fees for speakers either. In the best scenario, scholarships would be available for participants facing financial limitations regarding travel and accommodation.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

We are currently recruiting more Associate Editors and Advisory Board Members, but our founding members are essentially listed below. Many of us have already curated journals' special issues and reviewed journal articles or books for publishers. The Editor-in-Chief was the Assistant Editor for an animal law journal, Derecho Animal (Forum of Animal Law Studies), from 2018 to 2020, gaining significant experience in the editorial process and with the OJS software.

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief: Marine Lercier (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Managing Editor: Meganne Natali (University of Portsmouth)

Associate Editors: Meganne Natali (University of Portsmouth), Cezary Błaszczyk (University of Warsaw), Rebecca Critser (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health), Maureen O'Sullivan (University of Galway), Carley Lightfoot (Birmingham City University)

Publication Ethics Officer: Carley Lightfoot (Birmingham City University)

Accessibility and Inclusivity Advocate: Angie Vega (Michigan State University)

Financial Manager: Marine Lercier (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Conference and Symposium Organisers: Marine Lercier (Autonomous University of Barcelona), Angie Vega (Michigan State University), Carley Lightfoot (Birmingham City University), Rebecca Critser (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health)

Communication and Outreach Coordinator: Rebecca Critser (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health)

Advisory Board

Eva Bernet Kempers (Antwerp University)

Raffael N. Fasel (Cambridge University)

Michaël Lessard (University of Sherbrooke)

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

This project could fail if we do not get enough submissions for publication and participation in academic events, though as the first and only in this niche, we are well positioned to become a leader, especially as we are founded and working with leader academics in the field who are respected for their work.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

We are also getting funding from the International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE) and the Institut québécois de droit animalier | Québec Animal Law Institute.

More funding is crucial to organise academic events, maximise research impact, encourage dialogue among researchers, facilitate the exchange of ideas across cultures, disciplines, countries, and continents, and increase the chances of societal, policy, and legal changes through innovation.

@stevenrouk Thank you so much, Steven, for looking at our project and for your generous donation. I appreciate your feedback.

We originally came together as a result of successive workshops organised by the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, first in Europe and then in the United States. The last one was held in India, and we're hoping to recruit more associate editors to join our team in the majority world because, at present, our founders, who came from these first law lecturers' workshops, are not representative enough. Now that we are entering our recruitment phase and have just launched the journal, however, we very much hope to be able to achieve this.

We are also currently recruiting members for our advisory board, which will be much more diverse, inclusive, and, therefore, global.

I agree that collaboration is key in the animal rights/law space. Any advice is welcome, and we're willing to organise a global animal rights law conference to come together within the next three years -- without financial barriers for all. The more, the merrier.