SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Articles
The Berkeley Journal of International Law invites submissions of original manuscripts on novel issues relating to comparative, transnational, public, or private international law that generally focus analysis on more than one country.
Requirements
1. A current CV or resume for each author,
2. A cover letter containing:
​
-
All contact information for each author (email address and phone number),
-
Total Word Count (with footnotes),
number of footnotes, and -
An explanation of the contribution the article will make to the field of international law, and
3. The article itself, which must comply with the following standards:
-
Length: At a minimum, submissions must be 10,000 words, including footnotes. In our experience, most authors are best able to convey their point in 18,000 to 30,000 words, including footnotes. Manuscripts of 33,000 words or more are strongly discouraged and may not be reviewed on the basis of such length.
-
Format: All manuscripts must be in Microsoft Word-compatible format. Citations should conform to the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, and authors should be prepared to supply any cited sources upon request.
Policies and Guidelines
Author Eligibility
We accept article submissions from academics, legal scholars, and practitioners. Ph.D. students who are three or more years into their program are eligible to submit their dissertations as regular article submissions.
Current J.D. and LL.M. students are not eligible to submit pieces as regular articles and should instead participate in the Student Note Contest. Please see the Student Note Contest section below for more information.
Submissions Process
BJIL accepts submissions electronically only. We strongly prefer to receive submissions through Scholastica, as this will result in the fastest processing and communication with applicants. If this is not feasible, we also accept submissions through ExpressO and direct email: bjilsubmissions@law.berkeley.edu. Please refrain from submitting through multiple platforms.
​
Submissions Timeline
Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis until the issue is filled. We aim to begin reviewing articles by August 15th for publication the following fall and by January 1st for publication the following spring. Submissions are less frequently monitored from May through July, and will likely receive an automated message acknowledging receipt.
​
Expedited Review
BJIL’s Submissions Committee strives to give full and careful consideration to every article it receives and to inform authors of all final decisions in the timeliest manner possible. On a case-by-case basis and upon request, BJIL will provide expedited review for authors who have received an offer of publication from another journal. Please direct requests for expedited review to the Submissions Editors at bjilsubmissions@law.berkeley.edu with the subject line “EXPEDITED REVIEW” and the title of your article. Requests should specify (1) the journals that have accepted the article, (2) the deadlines those journals have given to respond to their offers, and (3) the latest possible date and time the author can receive a response from BJIL. While we work to accommodate requests for expedited review, we generally cannot guarantee a response within a specific deadline and may ask for extensions as needed.
​
Withdrawals
If you wish to withdraw your piece from consideration, please do so by using the withdrawal options on ExpressO and Scholastica, or email bjilsubmissions@law.berkeley.edu.
Contact Us
Mailing Address
374 Law Building School of Law, UC at Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720 USA​
Email Us
General Inquiries: bjil@law.berkeley.edu
BACK TO TOP