About this blog

The NCLOS Blog is the official blog of the Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea. It provides timely, accessible and analytically rigorous commentary on developments in law of the sea and international law relating to the oceans. It operates as an open platform, featuring contributions from NCLOS staff as well as external academics, researchers (including PhD researchers) and practitioners. In exceptional cases, submissions from Master’s students may also be considered.

The NCLOS Blog seeks to foster informed debate and scholarly exchange by welcoming a range of contributions, including analytical posts on current developments, opinion pieces, case commentaries, theoretical and methodological reflections, as well as suggestions for symposia (i.e., a collection of blog posts on a recent judgement, see our 2026 symposium with CIL here). All submissions are subject to editorial review. The Editors reserve the right to edit, request revisions, or decline submissions in line with the Blog’s standards.

Please email our Managing Editor or one of the members of the Editorial Board to submit a draft post for our consideration.

Interested readers can subscribe to the NCLOS Blog by clicking on the ‘Subscribe’ button on the home page. Subscribers will receive an email when a new blog is uploaded.”

Structure of the Editorial Board

Editor in Chief: Vito De Lucia (vito.delucia@uit.no)

Editorial Board: Richard Alan Barnes, Maria Madalena Das Neves, Vito De Lucia, Endalew Lijalem Enyew, Magne Frostad, Tore Henriksen, Alexander Lott, Lena Schøning, Jan Jakub Solski, Ingrid Solstad Andreassen, Eva Van Der Marel, Youri van Logchem

Associate Editors: Ekaterina Antsygina, Tine Margrethe Brun Henriksen, Kostantinos Deligiannis Virvos, Nikolaos Gkikas, Bastiaan Klerk, Mathilde Morel, Jessica Schechinger, Apostolos Tsiouvalas, Mana Elise Hera Tugend, Sofie Elise Waterman Quist

Editorial Guidelines of the NCLOS Blog

Instruction for Submission

The NCLOS Blog accepts individual submissions and symposia proposals within its thematic scope.

Submissions must be written in clear English and maintain a respectful tone (ad hominem arguments are not tolerated). They must be well-structured and present a coherent argument. Blog posts must be informative and make an original contribution. Generally, we only accept submissions that have not been previously published elsewhere. Authors may request permission to cross-post content on other platforms.

Publishing Criteria

The following criteria will be applied when reviewing any submissions made to the NCLOS Blog, so please keep these in mind when preparing your submission.

• Clarity of the topic and argument
• Logical coherence and analytical depth
• Structure and readability of the text, including subheadings and illustrations, if applicable
• Relevance to new or current issues, events, and developments
• Originality of the argument and message and innovativeness of approach
• Quality of empirical support and timeliness of data used

Format and Guidelines

1. Please submit your contribution in a Word document in a clear font (e.g., Times New Roman, Aptos, Calibri), single spacing, with spacing between paragraphs and no indentations. Use headings in bold (maximum two levels of headings).

Please also send us your affiliation and details of your LinkedIn profile (optional).

You may also add a photograph or map in the Word document if that is relevant for your post. The photo (as a link or attached file) should be at least 500KBs and with a ratio of 16:9 (e.g. 1600*900, 1920*1080, 1366*768, etc.). Please ensure that you provide a caption and all the relevant copyright and crediting information.

2. There are three types of contributions.

• Developments briefs / short opinion pieces (up to 1500 words): These contributions provide concise and focused analyses of recent developments (e.g., new policy developments, new treaties/legislation, new court/tribunal decisions), a general process, or a critical topic in law of the sea.
• Extended Opinion Pieces (up to 3000 words): These contributions allow for more in-depth engagement with a particular issue related to law of the sea.
• Book or Reports reviews (up to 1500 words): Reviews shall engage critically with recent publications of relevance to the law of the sea and related fields. It is expected that they go beyond descriptive summary.

3. Please avoid footnotes unless absolutely necessary. Use in-text citations and hyperlinks wherever possible for all citations/references in parentheses after the quotations (e.g., Churchill/Lowe/Sander, The Law of the Sea 2022, p. 198).

On the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The NCLOS Blog recognizes the growing use of AI tools in academic writing and editing and permits their use within the guidelines laid out below. Note that this policy may be subject to frequent updates, as the technology develops at lightning speed.

The following guidelines are informed by the research conducted by the STM Association (see also their 2025 list of nine recommended classifications for clarification).

ACCEPTABLE USE – NO DISCLOSURE NEEDED:

• Language refinement, proofreading, or stylistic editing
• Copy editing
• Formatting of text, data, or code
• Use of AI tools for initial research suggestions (e.g., similar to search engines or databases)
• Brainstorming

ACCEPTABLE USE – DISCLOSURE NEEDED:

• Generation or editing of images, diagrams, or other illustrative materials
• Creation or refinement of data visualizations
• Translation of manuscript text
• Iterative Drafting Support
• Summarization
• Research Assistance

All such acceptable uses are contingent on the authors providing appropriate disclosure, indicating specifically which AI Large Language Model (LLM) and which particular model version has been used (ie Claude, Fable 5.0), and when they provide information as to the use of the AI LLM. No prompts history is needed. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their submission, as AI LLMs cannot be considered author and are merely technical tools.

UNACCEPTABLE USE:

• Use of AI tools to generate or compile references without verification against original sources
• Presenting AI-generated content as original scholarship, data, or analysis without appropriate verification and attribution.
• Drafting or writing substantial parts of a manuscript using AI tools without author’s engagement. Direct or uncritical reproduction of AI-generated text is not permitted.