YLJ Online piece? - The Yale Law Journal

YLJ O NLINE STUDENT SUBMISSIONS
We encourage you to submit Commentaries for publication in The Yale Law Journal
Online (www.yalelawjournal.org). Publication in YLJ Online allows student authors to
engage in practical and timely legal discourse with the broader legal community including
academics, practitioners, judges, and policymakers. YLJ Online publishes pieces
responding to specific symposium calls, responding to articles in the print journal, and
also independent essays on current legal events and issues that are not well suited for
more detailed academic analysis in the Journal.
The YLJ Online Committee reviews submissions anonymously. To preserve anonymity,
all questions regarding the YLJ Online submissions process should be directed to
Managing
Editors
Leslie
Pope
and
BJ
Ard
([email protected],
[email protected]). If you have any questions about any aspect of the YLJ Online
submissions process, please feel free to ask!
What makes a good YLJ O
Online
nline piece?
Commentaries are works of 1,000 – 1,500 words. Commentaries are intended to be
succinct pieces that capture the interest of our online readership. As such, they should be
both timely and original. Successful commentaries typically achieve one of the following
functions.
Issue/Topic Essay:
Essay A commentary may bear directly on events unfolding in the
present; may seek to influence legislators, policy makers, and practitioners outside
of academia, who may lack the time to read printed law journals; may set forth a
brief observation that is novel and useful but that does not require a full-length
article to express.
Symposia Solicitations: YLJ Online releases topic specific “Issues” at regular
intervals aimed to present multiple perspectives on a single area of law.
Submissions on these topics will be formally solicited and announced with a Call
for Papers in the Spring and Fall.
Response to Print Journal:
Journal YLJ Online also welcomes a continuing dialogue
with published works in the printed Yale Law Journal. Reactions, criticisms, and
new perspectives on printed articles are welcome and encouraged.
To best serve these goals, a submission should be written in a style that is accessible and
engaging. In writing a Commentary, keep in mind these basic principles:
First, please stick to the word limit of 1,500 words.
Second, state your thesis within the first 100 words. These are the only words that
will appear on the main website. So, use them to communicate your argument
and give readers a reason to read on.
Third, use the active voice and write in a conversational tone.
Recent legal developments such as court decisions, statutes, trials, speeches, and
controversies may be good starting points for Commentaries. Commentaries should not,
however, be merely descriptive of recent events. As short as they are, Commentaries
should make a forceful argument that furthers discussion on the issue.
Developing Your Commentary
YLJ Online editors are available to provide substantive and stylistic advice or answer
questions about the submissions process. Do not email YLJ Online editors directly.
Instead, email Managing Editors Leslie Pope and BJ Ard ([email protected],
[email protected]) with your proposed topic and any preferences you have about
working with a particular YLJ Online editor.
The editor who works with you, or any editor who can identify you as the author of the
submission, must recuse him- or herself from considering your submission.
Formatting Your Commentary
Commentaries should be formatted according to Bluebook rules, subject to the following
considerations:
Provide a full citation to one source for each quotation, attribution, and nonobvious fact. Omit all other citations and do not include extensive text in
footnotes. (Footnotes appear only as “roll overs” in HTML document).
Do not use short-form citations (id., supra, infra).
citation.
Instead, repeat the full
Whenever possible provide parallel citations to online versions of sources. Also,
provide any general Internet links that would be useful to your reader.
In addition, please do not reveal your identity in any part of your Commentary
Commentary.
Submitting Your Commentary
To submit your Commentary, visit our website, www.yalelawjournal.org, and follow the
link for “Submissions.”
Jeff K. Lee, Managing Online Editor
Amanda Andrade, Editor
Kathleen Claussen, Editor
Rebecca Freeland, Editor
Jonathan M. Justl, Editor

Download Report