The Virginia Law Review will accept submissions for its March Notes and Comments Pool from 8:00 a.m. on Friday, March 12th until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 26th. Late submissions will not be accepted. Students who would like their Note or Comment to be considered for publication in the Law Review should read the following submission instructions. A student submission checklist is available in a downloadable format below. Any submitted comments will be pooled by the Online Department and accepted pieces will be published in VLR Online. Please note that under a new rule, new requests for advising will not be entertained during open Notes Pools. This policy is intended to ensure that authors have sufficient time to implement suggested changes before the submission deadline. Requests for Notes Department advising should be made by Friday, March 12th.
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
I. How to Submit
All Notes and Comments submissions will be done via email to the Notes Department. Specific submission instructions are included under IV. Formatting for Submission below.
II. Length
Notes. The recommended length for a Note is 10,000–15,000 words. This word limit includes footnotes. Notes longer than 15,000 words are strongly discouraged. Notes longer than 17,500 words will not be considered without prior approval of the Notes Development Editor. Students may submit Notes shorter than 10,000 words without approval.
Comments. The recommended length for a Comment is 5,000–8,000 words. This word limit includes footnotes. Comments longer than 8,000 words are strongly discouraged, and will not be considered without prior approval of the Notes and Comments Development Editor. Comments below 5,000 words will not be considered.
III. Formatting for Submission
The Virginia Law Review conducts blind review of each student’s Note or Comment. Students must submit two separate documents to the Virginia Law Review Notes and Comments Pool: (1) a substantive submission document containing the Note or Comment but lacking all personal identifying information; and (2) a document containing information that identifies the student. Correctly following all instructions maintains student anonymity and protects the integrity of the selection process.
(a) Substantive Submission Document
This document must include the cover page(s) and the body of the student’s Note or Comment.
Style and Formatting
- Use the Bluebook style guide for your footnotes, rather than any other style guide.
- Use one-inch margins.
- Use double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font.
- Use single-spaced footnotes rather than endnotes for citations and references.
Identifying Information
- Do not include your name or any other piece of identifying information embedded in the body document. This includes any references to the author’s demographic information.
- Remove identifying information typically included at the beginning of a Note or Comment in a * footnote, such as class information, Notes and Comment Advisors, or professors that assisted in the drafting and editing of the submission.
Cover Page(s)
- Include the title of your submission.
- Include an abstract of approximately 250 words, or fewer, which briefly summarizes the argument of the submission. The abstract should be single-spaced.
- Include a table of contents.
- Include a list of the five secondary sources most related to the work. This list should not include cases or statutes.
- Include the word count of the submission, both with and without footnotes.
- If a student is resubmitting a Note or Comment previously submitted to the Virginia Law Review, the student must include a brief description of the substantive changes made since the prior submission.
- Remove any personal information embedded in the digital file by following these instructions: In Word 2010, 2013, 2016: Go to File, select “Info”, click on Check for Issues”, click on “Inspect Document”. In the dialog box, click “Remove All” and close box. Save document. In Word for Mac 2016, 2018: Go to Tools, select “Protect Document” or select “Protect Document” button on Review tab. Save document.
Document Submission
- Email the submission to vlr_7f30@sendtodropbox.com in .docx format before the Pool closes on March 26th at 5:00 p.m. The substantive submission document and identification document may be sent in the same email.
- The file name must be the [Note Title]. For example, the file name for a student’s substantive submission document might read “A Tweetise on Bird Law.”
- The subject line of the email must be “March Notes and Comments Pool.”
(b) Identification Document
This document contains confidential information identifying the author of a Note or Comment. The identification document should be a single page.
Document Information
- Include your name, phone number, email address, and mailing address.
- Include the title of the Note or Comment.
- Include a signed statement that the Note or Comment was substantially written during law school. Electronic signatures are acceptable.
- Include the name(s) of the professor(s) with whom you worked when writing the Note or Comment.
Document Submission
- Email the submission to vlr_7f30@sendtodropbox.com in .pdf format before the Pool closes on March 26th at 5:00 p.m. The substantive submission document and identification document may be sent in the same email.
- Name the file [Title].Confidential. For example, the file name for a student’s identification document might read “A Tweetise on Bird Law.Confidential.”
- The subject line of the email must be “March Notes and Comments Pool.”
IV. Results
The results of the March Notes and Comments Pool will be announced at www.VirginiaLawReview.org. All current students whose Notes or Comments are accepted for publication by March 1st of their 3L year are invited to join the Virginia Law Review. If you have any questions, please contact Jack Hoover (jvh7ec@virginia.edu).