Northwestern University Law Review

The Northwestern University Law Review is a student-operated journal that publishes six issues of general legal scholarship each year. The Law Review is committed to creating as realistic, respectful, and honest selection process as possible. We aim to balance the interests of both authors and student editors at the Law Review (and other journals) through our policies.

The Law Review considers submissions via three different submissions tracks: (1) a winter exclusive submission cycle; (2) a spring open submission cycle; and (3) an exclusive empirical cycle.

We are no longer accepting submissions for our spring open submission cycle.

Communication and publication decisions will take place via Scholastica. If you have questions, please contact our Senior Articles Editor, Maggie Morrison, at margaret.morrison@law.northwestern.edu.

How to Submit

Northwestern University Law Review welcomes all interested authors to submit their work during our submission cycles. We do not review submissions outside of the submission cycles.

When submitting, in addition to a complete manuscript, we ask that authors submit (1) a cover letter that includes your name, article title, word count, phone number, and email address and (2) a CV or résumé.

Authors are encouraged to submit Articles and Essays through the online submission system, Scholastica. Print submissions are only accepted via postal mail in extenuating circumstances.

Selection Process for Exclusive Submission Cycle

Submissions received between December 1, 2025 and January 5, 2026 will be considered as part of our exclusive submission cycle. During our exclusive cycle, articles receive direct consideration from a member of the Articles Board. Authors agree not to submit their manuscript to other journals while under review at NULR and agree to accept a binding offer of publication, should one be extended.

We will render final decisions on or before January 30, 2025. We will do our best to notify authors of final decisions as quickly as possible.

Due to the volume of submissions, we cannot give feedback on rejected submissions.

Submission Length

Northwestern University Law Review has no formal length requirements, and reviews all submissions regardless of length. However, we support this statement. We believe that establishing word limit guidelines will enhance the quality of legal scholarship and improve the editing process. We strongly prefer articles between 15,000 and 25,000 words, including footnotes. Only in exceptional circumstances will we publish articles in excess of 30,000 words.

The Law Review also encourages authors to submit shorter pieces with a focused purpose—advancing a narrow thesis or contributing to discussion on a current, salient issue. Please submit all Essays under 10,000 words to NULR Online for consideration in our Online publication. Further information regarding NULR Online may be found on our Online submissions page.

Empirical Submissions

The Northwestern University Law Review is pleased to announce its seventh annual issue dedicated to empirical legal scholarship, to be published in Spring 2025. We welcome pieces making use of any and all empirical tools—including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods—to illuminate and engage questions of legal interest.

The exclusive empirical submission cycle for Volume 119 will open in Spring 2024, on dates that will be announced on our Scholastica page. By submitting an article to the exclusive empirical submission cycle, authors agree to withhold the manuscript from submission to any other publications while under review at NULR and agree to accept a binding publication offer, should one be extended.

Further information regarding submission requirements and policies are available on our Empirical submissions page. Please contact Northwestern University Law Review Senior Empirical Editor, Alisher Juzgenbayev, with questions at alisher.juzgenbayev@law.northwestern.edu.

Supporting Materials for Empirical Work

It is Northwestern University Law Review’s policy that authors submitting a manuscript involving data from human subjects must also submit an IRB approval or exemption. The Law Review strongly encourages authors submitting empirical pieces to make their datasets available and accessible during the selection process in order to allow for complete consideration of their work. Further, the acceptance of any empirical work will be contingent upon the author’s documentation and archival of all datasets in a manner sufficient to allow third parties to replicate the published findings. These datasets will be posted in a publicly available space, such as the Law Review’s website. The Law Review will make narrow exceptions to this policy to the extent necessary to protect privacy or confidentiality.

Online Submissions

Northwestern University Law Review Online (NULR Online) publishes shorter, more accessible scholarly pieces that are intended for a wider audience than most traditional journal articles. As such, NULR Online prefers pieces between 3,000 to 6,000 words, and will only consider unsolicited submissions that are less than 10,000 words, inclusive of footnotes. We aim to publish a wide range of content, including short essays, responses to articles, debates, book reviews, and other forms of legal scholarship. We welcome submissions from professors, judges, practitioners, and law students. Selected submissions will be published on the Law Review’s website and are carried on Westlaw and LexisNexis.

How to Submit

NULR Online accepts submissions on a continuous basis throughout the year. Authors are encouraged to submit through the online submissions service Scholastica. We also accept submissions via email.

If you have questions regarding NULR Online, you may contact our Online Editor-in-Chief, Brianne Wylie (brianne.wylie@law.northwestern.edu) for more information.

General Submissions Policies

These policies apply to both print and NULR Online submissions.

Formatting of Text and Citations

Manuscripts should use footnotes rather than endnotes. Text and citations should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed. 2020) and the Texas Law Review Manual on Usage & Style (15th ed. 2020). We also request that authors provide a word count, including footnotes. The Law Review encourages the use of gender-neutral language.

Replication Policy for Empirical Work

The Northwestern University Law Review strongly encourages authors submitting empirical works to make their datasets available and accessible during the selection process in order to allow for complete consideration of their work. Further, the acceptance of any empirical work will be contingent upon the author’s documentation and archival of all datasets in a manner sufficient to allow third parties to replicate the published findings. These datasets will be posted in a publicly available space, such as the Law Review’s website. The Law Review will make narrow exceptions to this policy to the extent necessary to protect privacy or confidentiality.