Submissions: Northwestern University Law Review

Northwestern University Law Review : Submissions

Submissions

We are now reviewing submissions for our 104th volume. Please contact Scott Lerner, Executive Articles Editor, for more information.

We review pieces, short essays (3000-4500 words), for publication on the Colloquy year-round on a continuous basis. The time period between when an essay is selected for publication and when it is actually published is much quicker than for pieces in the print review. Please click here for more information about the Colloquy. Submissions should be sent to Dana Brusca, Senior Colloquy Editor.

General Information

Northwestern University Law Review publishes articles and essays (shorter submissions, typically less than 50 pages or 150 footnotes) in four issues a year: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer.

We welcome unsolicited manuscripts from authors. Interested authors should submit articles between mid-February and early April for consideration in our Fall and Winter issues, and between early September and mid-October for consideration in our Spring and Summer issues. We cannot review submissions or expedite any reviews during the summer period (late April through August) or the winter period (November through January).

The Law Review no longer publishes solicited book reviews in its print edition. The Law Review will consider timely, completed book reviews as a part of its standard essay selection process, and will continue to consider solicited book reviews for the Colloquy and The Legal Workshop, at the discretion of the Colloquy Board.

We strongly prefer that submissions be made through the online system ExpressO.

If you must submit a hard copy, please mail it to:

Executive Articles Editor
Northwestern University Law Review
Northwestern University School of Law
357 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611-3069

We regret that manuscripts cannot be returned. Submissions are not accepted via e-mail.

Manuscripts should be double-spaced and use footnotes rather than endnotes. Text and citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed. 2005) and Texas Law Review Manual on Usage & Style (10th ed. 2005). Authors are also requested to provide a word count, including footnotes.

As a matter of policy, the Law Review encourages the use of gender-neutral language.

Submission Length

Effective April 15, 2005

The Northwestern University Law Review has no formal length requirements, and we will review all submissions, regardless of length. However, we support the recent statement (pdf) by the editors of several of our peer journals, and endorse the position that most Law Review articles can effectively convey their arguments within the range of 40-70 journal pages.

We believe that establishing page limit guidelines will enhance the quality of legal scholarship, and also shorten and improve the editing process. To that end, we strongly encourage authors submitting articles for our consideration to limit their pieces to 35,000 words, including footnotes. Authors submitting essays for our consideration are encouraged to limit their pieces to 20,000 words, including footnotes.

If you are considering a submission to the Northwestern University Law Review, and have questions or concerns about this new policy, please contact Executive Articles Editor Scott Lerner, or call (312) 503-8435.

Expedited Reviews

When requesting expedited review of a previously submitted article, please do so via ExpressO or by e-mail to Scott Lerner. The subject line of the e-mail should read 'Request for Expedited Review.'

If you have additional questions about the submission process, please e-mail Scott Lerner, Executive Articles Editor, or call (312) 503-8435.