Articles & Essays

Announcement: The Articles Department of the Virginia Law Review is currently closed for submissions. It will reopen in February.  

The Virginia Law Review offers authors a tradition of excellence and light-edit philosophy. Please note that the Virginia Law Review now accepts submissions exclusively through Scholastica.

The Virginia Law Review publishes eight issues per year: March, April, May, June, September, October, November, and December. We welcome Article submissions from judges, professors, practitioners, and law clerks. We do not, however, consider work written exclusively by current law students (though University of Virginia law students can submit Notes).

Length: We strongly prefer Articles under 25,000 words (including footnotes). We will publish manuscripts over 30,000 words only under exceptional circumstances. 

Format: We strongly prefer electronic submissions. Electronic submissions should be sent through Scholastica only.

All submissions must include:

1. A cover letter, which should prominently feature the following:

• the title of the manuscript,
• an e-mail address (Note: We will not acknowledge receipt of submissions without an e-mail address),
• a mailing address,
• a daytime telephone number,
• a word count for the manuscript (including footnotes) and a separate word count for the footnotes,

2. A brief abstract (under 250 words) on a separate page, and
    
3. A copy of the manuscript.​
    
4. Submission guidelines for Empirical Articles and Essays:

• The Virginia Law Review requires that authors of empirically-based articles to submit any supporting documentation (such as data files and/or result print-outs) to the Virginia Law Review within seven days of accepting an offer to publish. Authors are welcome to submit the data concurrently with their article via Scholastica to assist with the articles review process. 
• The Virginia Law Review has a strong preference that such empirical data be publicly available or disclosed on request. This presumption may be waived in extraordinary circumstances.

Resumes and other biographical information are optional.

Timing: The Articles Department is currently closed for submissions. The best times to send Articles are between late February and mid-April and between mid-July and mid-September. We do not actively consider manuscripts over the summer (from late May until mid-July) and will not respond to requests for expedited review during that time.

Expedited Review Process: We consider expedite requests during the school year, but not over the summer. Expedites should be sent through Scholastica only. An expedite request should include: the author's name, e-mail address, and daytime telephone number; the date by which an answer is required; and the name of the journal that has offered publication. Although we make every effort to review expedited material, we cannot guarantee a reply given the high volume and rapid turnover of submissions.