Note / Comment
What is a note or comment?
There are two types of submissions: A Note is a student-authored piece of academic writing which discusses and analyzes an original legal issue or problem in some depth. A Comment is a student-authored piece of academic writing that is centered around an analysis or critique of a recent case, piece of legislation, law journal article, or law-related book. Comments are also significantly shorter than Notes.
Who can submit?
The Notes Committee encourages all Stanford Law School students to submit their written work for publication in the Law Review. If you are not a Stanford Law student, you must submit your work as an article. We strongly encourage all students interested in making a submission to read the Guide to Student Submissions, which provides critical information about the Notes/Comments process, including guidelines for making a submission, details about the selection process, and information about what makes a good student submission.
Law Review membership is not required to make a submission, nor does it influence the selection process in any way. Submissions are accepted from current Stanford Law School students, as well as those who graduated the prior year. Graduates must make their submissions by the June Note/Comment Call the year following their graduation (for instance, a May 2008 graduate would have until the June 2009 Note/Comment Call to submit).
When is the best time to submit?
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis, but they are only reviewed at four points throughout the year, after a Note/Comment call is sent to the law school e-mail list (law-announce). These Note/Comment calls typically take place in March, June, September, and January and decisions regarding publication are typically made within a month of the deadline in the Note/Comment call.
How do I submit?
To submit a note or comment, please email it to the Notes Committee Liaison, at notescommittee@stanfordlawreview.org. You can find the guidelines for submitting a note or comment in the Vol. 63 Notes Guide (click the link to download). It must meet the following requirements:
Blinded Submission: Because the review process is blind, all identifying information, including the author’s name and any acknowledgements, must be removed prior to submission. Further, authors should take care not to discuss their work with any members of the Notes Committee.
Statement of Originality: All Notes & Comments must contain a Statement of Originality (or an Abstract) detailing how the argument being advanced fits into the current literature. It should be clear from this Statement how your argument differs from those of other authors. For Comments, please include a list of other reviews on the case, legislation, article, or book, and address how yours adds to them.
Statement of Resubmission: All resubmitted work must contain a Statement of Resubmission detailing how the paper has been improved since the prior submission. The author should include in this Statement a discussion of how she has taken into consideration any feedback provided by the Notes Committee from the prior submission; if the author felt that the feedback was not valid, she should indicate why.
Word Limit: Notes cannot be longer than 17,500 words; Comments cannot be longer than 7,500 words (except for Comments on books, for which 7,500 words is a suggested limit). These word limits include footnotes (be careful, as the default setting in Microsoft Word does not include footnotes in the word count), but do not include the table of contents, the Statement of Originality, or the Statement of Resubmission. Please note that although the word limit sets the maximum length that will be accepted, many successful submissions are significantly shorter than this limit.
Limit on Submissions: During each Note/Comment call, a student may make no more than two total submissions (including both Comments and Notes).
I have more questions. Whom should I contact?
All submissions are evaluated blindly by the Notes Committee. To maintain the integrity of the blind evaluation process for student submissions, please address comments and questions to the Notes Committee Liaison at notescommittee@stanfordlawreview.org. Your questions will then be passed along to Jenna Sheldon-Sherman, Senior Notes Editor for Volume 63, with any identifying information removed. Further, authors should take care not to discuss their work with any of the members of the Notes Committee.
