Academic Legal Writing - Eugene Volokh [133]
It may be too bad that the world is so credential-conscious; if everyone had enough time, they would actually read people's articles rather than just looking at where they were published. Still, the reality is that the place where a piece was published—and whether it was published at an outside journal, through competitive screening—matters, and both student authors and journal editors should recognize this.
3. Here's how
Here's what you do:
1. Timing: Figure out the right time to send the article. The best times are mid-February to March, and mid- to late August. April and September are a little worse but generally fine, May through early August are so-so, and October through early February are particularly bad.
Most journals' editorial boards serve from mid-February to mid-February, and many well-regarded journals fill up for the year by the end of October, which is why you should avoid October through early February. Most journals operate more slowly during the summer, or don't operate at all, which is why May through early August aren't very good. And because manuscripts might stay in journals' inboxes for several weeks before they're read, April and September submissions may run into problems similar to those of May and October submissions.
On the other hand, if the article is especially time-sensitive, send it out as soon as possible. Ask your faculty advisor for guidance on this.
2. Cover letter: Write a one-page cover letter that briefly, clearly, and effectively shows that your article is novel, nonobvious, and useful; see Appendix III.A, p. 373, for an example. You're trying to get journal editors to think, “This is a thoughtful, well-written article on an important topic, and if we publish it, many people will read it and cite it. We should be the ones who snag it, rather than letting it go to our rival journals.” (Of course, be more subtle and more concrete than that.)
This may sound like mere salesmanship rather than Serious, Dignified Scholarship. But much of life requires good salesmanship. If you have a good idea, you should invest some effort into making sure that people see how good it is.
3. Re-proofreading: Give the article (and its abstract, see Part XXIII.C) one more editing and proofreading pass, to make sure that it looks as polished as possible. Ask your faculty advisor to suggest more improvements to the article. Sometimes seeing your willingness to actually publish the piece will persuade the professor to give you some tips that he might have otherwise thought were moot.
4. Re-bluebooking: While you're proofreading, make sure that the footnotes are in Bluebook format. Rightly or wrongly, many journal editors see good bluebooking as a sign of professionalism; accommodate their prejudices. Not all law journals follow the Bluebook, but the great majority do, so it makes sense to follow the dominant convention. And journals that don't follow the Bluebook probably get 90% of their pieces in Bluebook form anyway, so they won't resent you for being part of that 90%.
5. Your status as a student: Do not say that you're a student in your cover letter or in the article, though of course do not lie or make misleading statements about your status. Many journals will realize you're still a law student, but no need to rub their noses in this fact.
6. a. Finding specialty journals: Find any specialty journals (for instance, the UCLA Entertainment Law Review or the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities) that focus on your area. You'll want to submit the article to all these journals.
Some articles may fit into multiple categories: For instance, a historical article about constitutional challenges to statutes that discriminate based on sex might be of interest to constitutional law journals, journals on women and the law, and history journals. To find out which specialty journals are best for you, check the list of law review addresses linked to at http://volokh.com/writing/submitting; the list is nicely