Online Submissions

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) publishes four types of online content:

  1. Longer-form Features Essays
  2. Short-form Forum Pieces
  3. Book Reviews
  4. Published Pieces from our Annual Symposium

YJIL is particularly interested in submissions that examine recent developments, discuss practitioner experiences, or respond to articles published in YJIL. We publish works that include international, comparative, or transnational elements as an intrinsic part of the central legal argument. YJIL does not publish pieces that confront solely the domestic law of nation states, as well as articles on the topic of foreign actors in a domestic legal context, such as U.S. immigration law. The goal of YJIL, furthermore, is to publish new ideas and viewpoints rather than to summarize areas of international law.

Type Length  Eligibility  Format 
Features Essays  5,000-10,000 words  Practitioners and scholars. Students are not eligible.  Use hyperlinks rather than footnotes. In-text styling should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.). 
Forum Pieces  500-2,000 words.  Any current law students (not limited to Yale Law students).  Use hyperlinks rather than footnotes. In-text styling should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.). 
Book Reviews  N/A  Authors submit a free book (online or in-print) to the journal.  If accepted, a YJIL Editor will publish a review of your book. 
Symposia Pieces  5,000-10,000 words  Scholars YJIL has invited to speak at our annual symposium in October.  Use hyperlinks rather than footnotes. In-text styling should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.). 

Accepted Online Submissions:

Length: Features Essays are 5,000-10,000 words. 

Eligibility: Practitioners and scholars are eligible. Current students are not eligible.

Format: All manuscripts should be submitted in English. Hyperlinks should be used when possible. In-text formatting and necessary footnotes must conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.), and authors should be prepared to supply any cited sources upon request. 

Review Process: In addition to rigorous cite-checking, pieces selected for publication will typically receive one round of substantive feedback in the form of an “edit letter” (usually around two to three pages each in length), containing the Editorial Board’s suggestions for further honing the author’s argument and improving the structure and development of the piece. Authors will then submit their revised piece and receive line edits. The pieces will then be published online.

Length: Forum Pieces are 500-2,000 words.

Eligibility: Current law students, from any university, are eligible (J.D., L.L.M., or J.S.D.). 

Format: All Pieces should be submitted in English. Hyperlinks should be used when possible. In-text formatting and necessary footnotes must conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.), and authors should be prepared to supply any cited sources upon request. 

Review Process: Pieces selected for publication typically receive one round of substantive feedback in the form of a brief “edit letter” containing the Editorial Board’s suggestions for further honing the author’s argument and improving the structure and development of the piece. Authors will then submit their revised piece and receive line edits. The pieces will then be published online.

We accept offers to review books pertaining to YJIL’s subject matters. To submit a book for consideration, please email an electronic version of your manuscript (preferably in pdf form) and a CV to yjil@yale.edu. 

Review Process: Our Features Committee will deliberate to determine if we have availability to review your manuscript. If your manuscript is selected, a Features Editor will publish a review of the manuscript. 

Length: Feature Essays are 5,000-10,000 words. 

Eligibility: Only scholars invited to speak at our annual symposium in October are eligible.

Format: All manuscripts should be submitted in English. Hyperlinks should be used when possible. In-text formatting and necessary footnotes must conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.), and authors should be prepared to supply any cited sources upon request. 

Review Process: In addition to rigorous cite-checking, pieces selected for publication will typically receive one round of substantive feedback in the form of an “edit letter” (usually around two to three pages each in length), containing the Editorial Board’s suggestions for further honing the author’s argument and improving the structure and development of the piece. Authors will then submit their revised piece and receive line edits. The pieces will then be published online.

General YJIL Online Requirements

Submission Process: YJIL Online accepts submissions on a rolling basis. Authors should email their submissions, along with a copy of their résumé or CV, to yjil@yale.edu. A brief statement discussing the contribution of the submission to existing scholarship is welcome but not required. Please name your submission “[series].[lastname].[date].doc.” Due to the high volume of submissions that YJIL receives, we regret that we are unable to offer feedback on submitted drafts not accepted for publication. If you wish to withdraw your piece from consideration, please send an email to yjil@yale.edu. Please put “Withdraw” as the subject of your email, and include in the text the author name and title of your manuscript.

Author Eligibility: YJIL Online accepts submissions in all categories from Ph.D. and S.J.D/J.S.D. students as well as practitioners and legal scholars (altogether as “Eligible Online Authors”). Current law students (J.D., LL.M., or J.S.D.) are eligible to submit YJIL Forum pieces or may co-author YJIL Forum pieces with Eligible Online Authors. Forum Pieces are open to all current law students, whether at Yale or elsewhere. Current Yale Law School J.D. and LL.M. students are not eligible as authors or coauthors for Features Essays.

YJIL Submissions Summary