About the Journal

International Journal of Digital Economy and Law (IJDEL) is an international, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the U.S.-Asia Pacific Law and Policy Institute, with institutional support from Grand Global USA Group. The journal is committed to a non-commercial, academically driven publication model that prioritizes research quality, scholarly integrity, and the dissemination of legal, economic, and policy knowledge in the digital era.

IJDEL provides an interdisciplinary forum for scholars, legal researchers, economists, policymakers, practitioners, and professionals to examine the legal, economic, regulatory, and governance implications of digital transformation. The journal focuses on how emerging technologies reshape markets, institutions, business models, public governance, and legal systems.

The journal welcomes original and high-quality submissions addressing a broad range of topics, including but not limited to digital economy, digital law, artificial intelligence governance, data governance, digital assets, fintech regulation, e-commerce, platform economies, cybersecurity, consumer protection, competition law, taxation, cross-border business regulation, and comparative legal and policy studies.

IJDEL particularly encourages research that provides practical, policy-oriented, and analytically rigorous solutions relevant to academic communities, policymakers, legal professionals, regulators, and businesses operating in the United States, Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, and the broader global digital economy.

All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening followed by a double-blind peer review process conducted by at least two independent reviewers. Accepted manuscripts are published in English. The journal operates through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform to ensure transparent editorial workflow, structured manuscript management, and effective communication among authors, reviewers, and editors.

IJDEL aspires to become a leading international journal in the fields of digital economy, law, and governance, with particular relevance to the United States and Asia-Pacific region.

Aims and Scope

The International Journal of Digital Economy and Law (IJDEL) aims to advance interdisciplinary research at the intersection of law, economics, technology, business, and public policy. The journal seeks to contribute to academic and practical understanding of how digital transformation affects legal systems, market structures, regulatory frameworks, public governance, and business compliance.

IJDEL welcomes theoretical, doctrinal, comparative, empirical, and policy-oriented research. The journal is especially interested in manuscripts that combine rigorous academic analysis with practical legal and policy implications.

The scope of IJDEL includes, but is not limited to:

Digital economy and legal transformation;
Digital law and technology regulation;
Artificial intelligence governance and liability;
Data governance, privacy, and data protection;
Digital assets, crypto-assets, blockchain, and tokenization;
Fintech, digital payments, and financial regulation;
E-commerce, platform economies, and online marketplaces;
Cybersecurity law and digital risk governance;
Consumer protection in digital markets;
Competition law and digital platforms;
Taxation of digital transactions and digital assets;
Smart contracts and automated transactions;
Legal issues in digital trade and cross-border business;
Regulatory sandboxes and innovation governance;
Intellectual property and digital innovation;
Human rights and fundamental rights in the digital economy;
Comparative law and policy developments in the United States, Asia-Pacific jurisdictions, and other regions.

The journal welcomes submissions from scholars, researchers, policymakers, legal practitioners, economists, graduate researchers, and professionals working on issues related to the digital economy and legal regulation.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to IJDEL are subject to editorial screening and double-blind peer review.

After submission, the editorial team conducts an initial review to determine whether the manuscript fits the journal’s aims and scope, satisfies basic academic standards, and complies with submission requirements. Manuscripts that are outside the journal’s scope, lack sufficient academic quality, or fail to meet ethical and formatting standards may be declined at this stage.

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent to at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. The identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential during the review process. Reviewers are asked to evaluate the manuscript based on originality, academic contribution, methodological soundness, clarity of argument, quality of analysis, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with ethical standards.

Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the editorial decision may be one of the following:

Accept;
Accept with minor revisions;
Revise and resubmit;
Reject.

Authors are expected to respond carefully to reviewer comments and submit revised manuscripts within the timeframe specified by the editorial office. The final decision on publication rests with the Editor-in-Chief or the designated editorial authority.

IJDEL is committed to maintaining fairness, transparency, editorial independence, and academic integrity throughout the review process.

Open Access Policy

IJDEL provides open access to its published content in order to support the free exchange of academic knowledge and promote wider dissemination of research in the fields of digital economy, law, and policy.

All published articles are made available online to readers without subscription barriers. Readers may access, read, download, and share published works for academic and non-commercial purposes, subject to proper citation of the original source and compliance with the applicable copyright and licensing terms.

The journal believes that open access contributes to scholarly visibility, public-interest knowledge dissemination, and broader engagement among researchers, policymakers, professionals, and the public.

Publication Ethics

IJDEL is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The journal expects authors, editors, reviewers, and all parties involved in the publication process to act in accordance with principles of honesty, transparency, fairness, and scholarly responsibility.

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are original, properly cited, and not under consideration by another journal at the same time. Plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, improper authorship, and other forms of research misconduct are not acceptable.

Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair and objective editorial process. Editorial decisions are based on academic merit, relevance to the journal’s scope, originality, methodological quality, and contribution to scholarship. Editors must avoid conflicts of interest and protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations. Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential documents and disclose any conflict of interest that may affect their impartiality.

When ethical concerns arise, the journal may request clarification from authors, conduct further review, issue corrections, retract published articles, or take other appropriate actions depending on the seriousness of the issue.

Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts submitted to IJDEL must be original and must properly acknowledge the work of others. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or improper use of previously published materials.

The editorial team may use plagiarism detection tools or other methods to assess the originality of submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts with significant overlap, unattributed copying, improper paraphrasing, or insufficient citation may be rejected before or during peer review.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all quotations, paraphrases, data, tables, figures, and ideas taken from other sources are properly cited. If plagiarism or serious academic misconduct is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy

IJDEL recognizes that artificial intelligence tools may support academic writing, language editing, data processing, and research assistance. However, authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their submissions.

AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authorship is limited to human contributors who take responsibility for the work. Authors who use AI tools in preparing a manuscript should disclose such use where it materially affects the research, writing, analysis, data processing, or presentation of the article.

Authors must ensure that AI-generated content does not contain fabricated references, inaccurate claims, plagiarism, confidential information, or misleading analysis. The use of AI tools does not replace the author’s responsibility to verify sources, arguments, data, and legal or policy claims.

The journal may request clarification from authors regarding the use of AI tools when necessary.

Copyright Notice

Authors retain copyright in their published works, subject to the licensing and publication terms of IJDEL.

By submitting a manuscript, authors grant the journal the right to publish, distribute, archive, and make the article available online through the journal’s platform and related indexing, archiving, and dissemination services.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts do not infringe the rights of third parties and that permissions have been obtained for any copyrighted materials, including images, figures, tables, or substantial excerpts reproduced from other sources.

Proper citation of the published article is required when the work is reused, shared, or referenced.

Licensing Policy

Unless otherwise stated, articles published in IJDEL are made available for academic and non-commercial use with proper attribution to the author, journal, and original publication source.

The journal may adopt a Creative Commons license or other open access license as its publication model develops. The applicable license for each article will be indicated on the article webpage or PDF version where relevant.

Authors and readers should consult the specific article page for the applicable terms of reuse and distribution.

Archiving Policy

IJDEL is committed to preserving the accessibility and long-term availability of its published content. The journal maintains digital records of published articles through the Open Journal Systems platform and may use additional institutional, third-party, or digital archiving systems as appropriate.

The journal intends to develop appropriate digital preservation arrangements, including participation in recognized archiving systems where feasible, in order to ensure that published materials remain accessible over time.

Privacy Statement

Names, email addresses, affiliations, and other personal information entered into the journal platform will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journal, including manuscript submission, peer review, editorial communication, publication management, and related academic correspondence.

The journal will not sell, rent, or disclose personal information to third parties for commercial marketing purposes. Personal information may be used by editors, reviewers, journal managers, and technical administrators only to the extent necessary for the operation of the journal.

Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account information. The journal takes reasonable steps to protect user information, but users should avoid submitting unnecessary sensitive personal data through the platform.

Sponsorship and Institutional Support Disclosure

International Journal of Digital Economy and Law (IJDEL) is published by the U.S.-Asia Pacific Law and Policy Institute. The journal currently receives institutional support from Grand Global USA.

This support is intended to assist the journal’s academic development, technical operation, editorial infrastructure, and knowledge dissemination. The journal’s publication model is non-commercial and academically driven. Editorial decisions are based on scholarly quality, relevance, originality, methodological soundness, and contribution to the fields of digital economy, law, and policy.

Institutional support does not influence editorial decisions, peer review outcomes, or the academic independence of the journal.

Editorial Independence Statement

IJDEL maintains editorial independence in all matters relating to manuscript evaluation, peer review, acceptance, rejection, revision, and publication.

Editorial decisions are made by the journal’s editorial team based on academic merit, relevance to the journal’s scope, quality of analysis, originality, ethical compliance, and reviewer recommendations. Sponsors, supporting institutions, advertisers, partners, or external organizations do not determine editorial outcomes.

The journal is committed to protecting academic integrity, fairness, transparency, and independence throughout the publication process.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that may affect the integrity or objectivity of the research, review, or editorial decision-making process.

Conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, professional competition, advisory roles, funding arrangements, or other circumstances that could influence judgment.

Authors should disclose relevant funding sources, institutional support, or professional interests connected to the submitted manuscript. Reviewers should decline review assignments where they cannot provide an impartial assessment. Editors should recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict of interest exists.

Corrections and Retractions Policy

IJDEL is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the academic record. When errors are identified in published articles, the journal may issue corrections, clarifications, expressions of concern, or retractions depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue.

Minor errors that do not affect the scholarly conclusions of an article may be corrected through a correction notice. Serious issues such as plagiarism, fabricated data, major methodological flaws, duplicate publication, or unethical research conduct may result in retraction.

Retraction decisions are made carefully and transparently, with appropriate communication to the authors and editorial team.

Language Policy

IJDEL publishes manuscripts in English. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are written in clear, professional, and academically appropriate English.

The journal may request language editing before review or publication if the manuscript’s language quality affects clarity, readability, or scholarly presentation. Language quality alone does not determine acceptance; however, manuscripts must be sufficiently clear to allow proper peer review and academic evaluation.