Submissions

The vast majority of law review articles can effectively convey their arguments within 40-70 pages. The California Law Review (CLR) seeks to dispel any impression that it prefers longer articles. CLR is rethinking its policies and will modify them to discourage submission and publication of excessively lengthy articles.

In mid-December 2004, the Harvard Law Review conducted a nationwide survey of law faculty regarding the state of legal scholarship. Nearly 800 professors submitted completed surveys. About 90% of them agreed that articles are too long. Dozens of respondents wrote comments identifying the dangers of this trend and calling for action. Survey respondents also suggested that shorter articles would improve legal scholarship, shorten and enhance the editing process, and make articles more effective and easier to read. This research confirmed that lengthy articles persist despite a shared desire by editors, authors, and scholars to reduce the length of articles.

Collective action is necessary. In January and February 2005, the law reviews at Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Michigan, Stanford, Texas, U. Penn., Virginia, and Yale agreed to publicly and jointly state their intention to aggressively address the problem. Each of these law reviews is independently deciding how it can best help to reduce article length, but editors across the country are dismayed by the troubling trend toward longer articles and are working to reverse it. CLR proudly joins this effort.

The California Law Review invites the submission of unsolicited manuscripts on a continuous basis. Both text and notes should be double-spaced. We regret that manuscripts cannot be returned.

PLEASE NOTE: We are no longer accepting any submissions for Book Reviews and Essays. Please resubmit any pieces in the Spring, 2006.

PLEASE NOTE: We are no longer accepting submissions or expedites for Volume 94. The 2006-2007 Editorial Board will begin reviewing articles, book reviews, and essays in February; we urge you to submit new manuscripts after the first of the year for consideration for Volume 95.

Current Boalt Hall School of Law students who wish to submit manuscripts should go here.

Manuscripts should be submitted to:

California Law Review
592 Simon Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel: (510) 642-7562
Fax: (510) 642-3476

Copyright © 2001 by California Law Review, Inc.
California Law Review, Inc. (CLR) is a California nonprofit corporation.
CLR and the authors are solely responsible for the content of their publications.