Journal Articles
The Harvard Journal on Legislation considers scholarly submissions for publication through ExpressO. The Journal will not consider submissions made by mail or email. Footnotes should comply with The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th ed. 2010).
Faculty Review
Unlike many law journals, JOL strives to have experts review accepted works and pieces under consideration. We have found that faculty input enriches the student reviewing process. As such, pieces that have been accepted or are under strong consideration may be submitted for anonymous, non-binding faculty review. Please contact hlsjol@mail.law.harvard.edu with any questions or concerns.
Student Writing
Print Edition – Winter Student Note Competition
The Harvard Journal on Legislation is now accepting student submissions for its next volume. A statement of interest is due by Thursday, December 20 and a full draft is due by Wednesday, January 23. Statements of interest should be submitted at this link.
JOL will consider articles on any policy or legislation-related issue. We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics — law, policy, politics, history — as long as the subject matter will be of interest to policymakers. The journal is looking for two types of student writing: longer, more formal pieces to be published as Student Notes in the journal and shorter pieces for online publication.
JOL will work with you to organize and develop your writing into the final article. If you have a final paper from class, this can be a great opportunity to turn it into published work.
We look forward to your submissions! Questions about submissions or the process to submit can be directed to mmclean [at] jd19.law.harvard.edu.
Online Edition
We are always seeking original submissions for online content, both for longer pieces to be posted as Online Notes and shorter pieces to fit our Commentary section. We welcome submissions from non-lawyers as well as law students.
We welcome submissions on a wide range of topics, including law, policy, politics, and history, as long as the subject matter will be of interest to policymakers. If you aren’t sure if your topic will be a good fit, contact us at harvardlegislation [at] gmail.com. Although we cannot precommit to accept articles, we can give guidance on whether subjects will be of interest to our readers.
Online Notes are meant to replicate student notes in the print journal, although they may be shorter. They are meant to give a detailed analysis of a particular point of policy or law. They can be of any length, and are expected to be rigorous in their arguments and thoroughly sourced.
Many kinds of articles will be suitable to be published as Commentary. They might provide a broad overview of a specific type of policy or program currently under debate; a very close analysis of a technical point of legislation; or a history of a particular provision of a bill. Generally, Commentary submissions should be roughly 1000-2000 words, including footnotes, and do not have to be as densely sourced as a typical law review article.
Although we publish all pieces in accordance with Bluebook citation guidelines, we can assist non-lawyers with footnote formatting, and all pieces will be edited for style, clarity, and technical accuracy.
To submit a piece for online publication, send it to harvardlegislation [at] gmail.com with a short cover letter introducing you and the material.
For examples of past online content, see JOL Online.