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JD Writing Requirement: Getting Published

This guide provides students with resources and information that support them in completing the Berkeley Law writing requirement.

You Completed the Writing Requirement -- Why Publish?

Writing requirement papers--particularly option two papers--frequently serve as great starting material for future law journal submissions. You might wonder why, after spending so much time and effort on the writing requirement, you should expend additional hours adapting your paper to a journal submission. We can assure you, there are a host of reasons that students should look to publish their work:

  • Scholarship looks impressive on a resume as a proxy for a wide variety of desirable attributes, including intellectual curiosity / engagement
  • Publishing signals a certain quality of writing as well as a level of substantive knowledge / interest in a particular practice area
  • In come cases, an accepted note can result in "publishing on" to a flagship journal. The California Law Review, for instance, accepts Berkeley Law student notes for publication during two cycles. If a 2L submits a student note during the spring cycle and is accepted for publication, they will be offered a coveted journal membership for the following academic year.

We encourage you to investigate available channels for publication, keeping in mind: 1) the structural changes required to adapt a paper to a note, comment, essay, or article, 2) standard publication cycles, and 3) best practices for selecting the appropriate journals for submission.

The How to Get Published training session (Spring 2021), led by Professor Rebecca Wexler, includes advice and tips on the publishing process.

Nancy Levit et al., Submission of Law Student Articles for Publication (2021) offers a number of suggestions for law students who want to publish their research papers.

Adapting the Paper

Though it is hard to return to a paper that you have worked on for an entire semester for further revision, it is important to tailor the piece to the appropriate submission category: no one should submit their class paper as a journal submission. The elements for (and definitions of) submission categories can vary from publication to publication (particularly the scope of a note or comment), so it is important to review each journal's specific guidelines. Typically, though, the categories are outlined as follows: 

  • A note should advance a particular area of legal scholarship beyond its current state, make a detailed argument, and provide persuasive evidence for each of its conclusions.
  • A comment, by contrast, should present a concise yet still original argument with minimal literature review. Comments often (but need not necessarily) respond to a recent development in the law, such as cases, legislation, law review articles, administrative rulings, and executive orders.
  • An essay typically starts a new conversations rather than entering existing ones by employing methodologies atypical for law review article. 
  • An article should attempt to situate novel ideas within existing legal conversations. Articles generally provide a comprehensive breadth of treatment of a particular area of law and follow a traditional roadmap: I. introduction, II. background information, III. arguments, and IV. conclusion.

Additionally, although it is unlikely that you are dealing with issues of privilege in a writing requirement paper, it is important to scrub any privileged information from the paper prior to submission for journal consideration. The Yale Law Journal offers helpful guidance on resolving issues of privilege for scholarship purposes (page 5). 

Submissions

Consider where to publish by talking to faculty and research librarians, and by browsing:

Submission procedures: Through the Law Library licenses, you have access to Scholastica, a service that will allow you to submit to multiple publications at one time. Many law journals explicitly state that they prefer scholarship to be submitted through Scholastica rather than via email.

What to Include:

  • Cover letter: submitted articles should be accompanied by a cover letter that states (in a paragraph) the thesis of the article and why it is relevant (or how it is novel). 
  • No need to mention that you are a student in your letter; the first footnote in your article (or note) should include: "JD candidate, UC Berkeley School of Law"
  • Abstract: Draft and submit an abstract that summarizes your article in 150-300 words. Most law journals require an abstract, but be sure to include one even if the publisher does not ask for one.

Below, please see a handy summary of requirements for various flagship journals and listing of submission and publications resources from the 2021 How to Get Published training session.