Academic Legal Writing - Eugene Volokh [3]
D. Working with Law Journal Editors
1. Have the right attitude about edits
2. Insist on seeing all changes
3. Always keep a copy of any marked–up draft you mail
4. Make sure your earlier changes were properly entered
5. Use the opportunity to edit more yourself
6. Keep the copyright, but grant nonexclusive rights
E. Publicizing the Article Before It's Published
1. Post the article on SSRN
2. E-mail bloggers in your field
F. Publicizing the Published Article
1. Reprints
2. Distributing the article electronically
G. Planning the Next Article
XXIV. ENTERING WRITING COMPETITIONS
A. Why You Should Do This
B. Competitions That Don't Offer Publication
C. Competitions That Guarantee Publication
D. Competitions That Offer a Chance for Publication
E. Competitions That Solicit Published Pieces
F. Competitions That Solicit Unpublished Pieces
XXV. GETTING ON LAW REVIEW
A. What Is a Law Review?
B. Why Be on a Law Review?
1. The credential
2. Editing, proofreading, and source-checking training
3. An incentive to write and an opportunity to publish
4. An opportunity to do cooperative and valuable work
5. Exposure to ideas
C. Which Law Review?
D. “Making Law Review”
E. Writing On: Background
F. What the Competitions Are Like
G. Begin Before the Competition Starts
1. Do background reading
2. Especially focus on the Bluebook
3. Check past competitions
4. Talk to people about what to expect
5. Review your professors' comments on your written work
6. Clear your calendar
7. Figure out how your friends can help (including by staying quiet)
8. The really good and fortunate friends can help by lending you their apartments
9. Oh, no! I'm reading this chapter the day before the competition is to start
H. A Timeline for After You Start
1. Start quickly
2. Read the instructions
3. Photocopy
4. Read the assignment and the source materials
5. Choose a claim
6. If you can't find the perfect claim, go with what you have
7. Do the editing/proofreading/bluebooking test (if there is one)
8. Write a rough draft of the paper, quickly
9. Use the sources effectively
10. After the first draft is done, go over what you've highlighted in the sources
11. Ignore the mid-competition blues
12. When you have a moment, reread the instructions
13. Edit
14. If you have time, reread this section and the Writing sections
15. What to do if you're over the page limit
16. Near the end
I. Special Suggestions for Case Notes
J. The Personal Statement
1. Write well and proofread carefully
2. Pay attention to the instructions
3. Make yourself sound interesting, but politically unthreatening
4. If you're applying to a specialty journal, stress your interest or experience in the specialty
XXVI. ACADEMIC ETHICS
A. Avoiding Plagiarism
1. The two harms of plagiarism
2. Your obligations
3. Copying from yourself
B. Being Candid
C. Being Fair and Polite to Your Adversaries
D. Being Fair to the Law Review Editors Who Publish Your Article
E. Preserving Confidentiality
F. Treating Sources Fairly
G. Making Data Available
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX I: CLUMSY WORDS AND PHRASES
A. Needlessly Formal Words
1. Verbs
2. Nouns
3. Adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions
B. Circumlocutions
1. Generally
2. Verbs turned into nouns or adjectives
3. “The fact that”
C. Redundancies
APPENDIX II: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES
A. Editing Exercises
1. Basic Editing, p. 141
2. Editing for Concreteness, p. 141
B. Understand Your Source, p. 159
C. USA Today Survey Report, p. 170
D. Drunk Driving Study, p. 179
E. Source–Checking Exercise, p. 179
1. The First Claim
2. The Second Claim
APPENDIX III: SAMPLE COVER LETTERS
A. For Sending an Article to Law Reviews
B. For Sending a Reprint to Potential Readers
C. For Sending a Reprint to Potential Readers on Whose Work You Substantially Rely
ENDNOTES
ACADEMIC LEGAL
WRITING: