Who can submit?

Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in LMU Law Review provided he or she owns the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception in the non-academic world to this might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).

Article Submissions (non-student submissions)

Submissions are open as listed at the tope of this page. Please submit through Scholastica with your CV/resume and abstract. It is best to upload your manuscript in Word format since that is the format needed for editing should your work be accepted for publication.

We generally complete reviews of manuscripts within several days of submission and email authors with decisions immediately upon completion of our review. If your work is accepted and you accept our offer to publish, we will email you a publication agreement for signing as well as the publication schedule, including the timeframe for your final review of our edits.

Student Notes & Comments Submissions - Special Instructions

The submission process for student notes and comments differs from the submission process for articles by non-students. In order to maintain a fair and competitive process for all students (both inside and outside of LMU), please follow the instructions below only during timeframes when submissions are being accepted.

LMU Students
Email your note/comment in Word format to rachel.schworer@lmunet.edu along with an abstract. Important: Do not include your name on the emailed document or a CV/resume, as your submission must be distributed to reviewers anonymously.

Non-LMU Students
Submit your note/comment through Scholastica, preferably in Word format, with your CV/resume and abstract.

• When the submissions deadline has passed, we will review all notes and comments together over the course of a week.
• By the end of the week after the submission deadline, we will notify you of our decision by email.
• If your note/comment is accepted, we will email you a publication agreement for signing and the publication schedule, including the timeframe for your final review of our edits.

General Submission Rules

Submitted manuscripts cannot have been previously published, nor be forthcoming in an archival journal or book (print or electronic).
Please note: “publication” in a working-paper series does not constitute prior publication. In addition, by submitting material to the Law Review, the author is stipulating that the material is not currently under review at another journal (electronic or print) and that he or she will not submit the material to another journal (electronic or print) until the completion of the editorial decision process at the Law Review. If you have concerns about submission terms, please contact the editors.

Formatting, Length, and Citation Requirements

The Law Review has no general rules about the formatting or length of articles upon initial submission. There are, however, rules governing the formatting of the final version, which is completed by the Law Review.

All submissions must contain proper footnotes completed using the most recent Bluebook rules. The Law Review will edit footnotes as necessary and to maintain the style of the journal.

Publishing Agreement

The author(s) and the Law Review will sign a publishing agreement upon acceptance of any manuscript, which allows for the rights outlined below, provides covenants by LMU Law Review and warranties by the author(s), and contingencies for litigation. If you wish to review a copy of the Publishing Agreement at any point, please contact the editors.

LMU Law Review Rights

Authors grant LMU Law Review the exclusive license to print, reprint, republish, and distribute the work for a period beginning when the Publishing Agreement is executed and ending one (1) year after publication of the article in the journal or two (2) years after execution of the agreement, whichever is shorter, and shall be nonexclusive thereafter.

Authors understand that this grant of license gives LMU Law Review all of the following:

• The right to publish the work in LMU Law Review’s journal (digitally through Scholastica);
• The right to reproduce the full text of the work on the journal website on Scholastica along with an archive in the LMU institutional repository at LMU Digital Commons. Digital Commons does not claim copyright on any works in the LMU Law Review archive. Digital Commons has the right to distribute the work and modify as necessary to make accessible per ADA compliance;
• The right to grant permission to include the work in online research databases, such as Mead Data Systems, Inc. (LEXIS), West Publishing Company (WESTLAW), or other electronic means;
• The right to grant permission for copies of the work to be made for classroom use, provided that: (1) copies of the work are distributed at or below cost, (2) the author(s) and journal are identified, and (3) proper notice of the author’s copyright is affixed to each copy;
• The right to prepare a translation in any language or to authorize the preparation of such translation and to publish the work product; and
• The right to consider and grant any special requests of republication not covered in the above rights in accordance with the practice of fostering maxim dissemination of the information (such request should be made in writing to the editor-in-chief of the LMU Law Review).

Author Rights

Notwithstanding LMU Law Review’s rights as outlined above, the author may:

• Reproduce the work, including any figures and tables, in reasonable quantities for personal use, including on Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and Bepress, with proper acknowledgement to LMU Law Review;
• Authorize reproduction of the work in any publication by the author’s employer for in-house continuing education or training purposes with proper acknowledgement to LMU Law Review; and
• Make oral representations of the same or similar information with the proper acknowledgement to LMU Law Review.

The following uses are always permitted to the author(s):

• Storage and back-up of the article on the author’s computer(s) and digital media (e.g., diskettes, back-up servers, Zip disks, etc.), provided that the work stored on these computers and media is not readily accessible by persons other than the author(s);
• Posting of the work on the author(s) personal website, provided that the website is non-commercial;
• Posting of the work on the internet as part of a non-commercial open access institutional repository or other non-commercial open access publication site affiliated with the author(s)'s place of employment (e.g., a Phrenology professor at the University of Southern North Dakota can have her article appear in the University of Southern North Dakota’s Department of Phrenology online publication series); and
• Posting of the article on a non-commercial course website for a course being taught by the author at the university or college employing the author.