Instructions for Authors

Submission Process

Please send submissions via email to judicature@law.duke.edu. Articles should be no longer than 7,500 words and will preferably be closer to 5,000 words or less. We generally respond within 10 business days to let you know whether your submission will be considered by the publisher and editorial board. If accepted for review, you can expect to receive a final response, along with any editorial suggestions, within 90 days. Publication may take up to six months after submission. All submissions are exclusive until they are published unless the managing editor provides a written release for submission to another publication.

Articles that are accepted for publication are subject to the publisher’s copyright policies as spelled out in Judicature’s Author Agreement. All authors must sign and return the Author’s Agreement once the article is accepted for publication. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material from other sources.

Formatting

• All submissions must be Microsoft Word files.
• Text should be 12-point font with double-spaced lines. Do not indent new paragraphs; instead, separate paragraphs with an extra line.
• If your submission requires a chart or table, we will ask you to provide it in a high-resolution (300 dpi) format suitable for print reproduction. We may be able to assist in creating supporting graphics.
• Please convert footnotes to endnotes.

Style Notes

• Endnotes should be in legal citation style (numbers only in text) and should be used in moderation. They should consist primarily of citations, not additional discussion. Use italics rather than underlines for article titles.
• Generally, Judicature uses A Uniform System of Citation, commonly known as the Blue Book. However, there are some variations. We reserve the right to edit your submission for consistency with our style preferences.
• Use short subheads to break up your text, but do not number or letter sections unless it’s necessary for clarity.
• Include the full name and title with the first reference to a person who is quoted or mentioned in the body of your article, even when that information appears in an endnote. Similarly, you should use the full name of a court, organization, or company on first reference in your text.
• In general, do not capitalize a person’s title if it appears after his or her name.
• Do use the serial (Oxford) comma.
• In the body of your article, use numerals for numbers larger than ten, except for in court names. Use numerals for ages, measurements, chapters, or parts of a series.
• Use an EM dash rather than two hyphens or an EN dash when inserting tangential comments. Insert a space before and after an EM dash.
• A note on bios and photos: If accepted for publication, the author will be asked to provide a high-resolution photograph and a bio of approximately 75 words.   This bio will be used instead of the footnoted biographical note typical to most law reviews.

Please contact our managing editor, Melinda Vaughn, with specific style questions.