Getting Published Guide
Introduction
ExpressO
Free Submission Services
Other Useful Sites
Retaining Copyright
Introduction
In this guide, you'll find information on submitting your article to law reviews and journals using fee-based and free online services. You'll also find tips and advice on getting published, as well as sources for locating writing competitions, calls for papers, conferences, and workshops. Information about retaining your copyright as an author is included in the final section of this guide.
If you aren't quite to the point of submitting your paper for publication, you may want to have a look at our Scholarly Writing Resource Guide for suggestions on topic selection, preemption checks, writing guidelines, interdisciplinary research, and more.
ExpressO
ExpressO is the law review submission service most frequently used by faculty at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. C-M Law faculty can take advantage of the College of Law's institutional account. While the school's institutional account is not available to students, anyone can use ExpressO on a fee-basis for article submission. Student submissions through ExpressO cost $2.00 per law review.
ExpressO is easy to use. After creating an account, you will be prompted to upload your paper, along with an abstract and cover letter. You'll also be asked to indicate keywords relating to your paper topic. You can select as many law reviews as you like for your list of submissions, or you can choose a topical group, such as all international law reviews. The $2.00 fee is charged for each law review selected. ExpressO also offers an option for expedited review.
A few law reviews accept only hardcopy submissions. You can take care of these through ExpressO. For hardcopy submission, you upload your paper, and ExpressO handles the printing and mailing of the article to the law review. This service costs $6.50.
Free Submission Services
- LexOpus is a free law journal submission service from Washington & Lee University School of Law. LexOpus submits sequentially to one journal at a time. Our blog post provides more information on this service. You can learn more about law review rankings using LexOpus' related site, Law Journals: Submissions and Ranking.
- Northern Kentucky University's Law Review Electronic Submissions enables you to select law reviews which accept electronic submissions and simultaneously email your article to the journals. The site also includes a list of upcoming symposia.
Other Useful Sites
- The Legal Scholarship Blog is the go-to site listing calls for papers, conferences and workshops.
- The C-M Law Legal Writing faculty have put together this Law Student Writing Competitions page. In addition to cash prizes, many competitions offer a chance for publication. This site is kept up-to-date, so check back frequently.
- Prof. Barbara Tyler (C-M Law Legal Writing Professor Emeritus) offers knowledgeable publishing advice and a sample cover letter on her Getting Your Work Published page.
- Allen Rostron and Nancy Levit's article, Information for Submitting Articles to Law Reviews and Journals (June 2009) includes a chart of submission requirements for 192 schools and their journals. Download from SSRN.
- Colin Miller's Submission Guide for Online Law Review Supplements (May 2009) explains how to submit shorter articles and essays to 19 general online law reviews. Download from SSRN.
Retaining Copyright
Retaining your copyright as an author is an important consideration when submitting an article for publication since this allows you to secure online and print republication rights. Extensive Copyright Information is available on the Faculty Services page.
- Timothy K. Armstrong's brief article, An Introduction to Publication Agreements for Authors (May 2009) discusses the wording of publication agreements and authors' rights retention. He suggests ways to convince reluctant publishers to let you retain copyright.
- You may also consider the six types of Creative Commons Licenses offered for your own work, a model author/journal agreement through AALS, or a SPARC Author Addendum.
August 2009 (sa/aeb)