Publishing my work

[blue134]

Please help! 

I have some papers I want to publish, does anyone know how you go about doing that? I literally think I know nothing about that process. 

Do I submit to the school journal, do they even take submissions over the summer? Anything anyone knows about this would be so so helpful!

[Renerik]

It depends where you want to publish your papers. You should either:

- Ask a professor. They will have an idea of which journals to target.

- Ask one of the editors for your school's law review.

[blue134]

5 hours ago, Renerik said:

It depends where you want to publish your papers. You should either:

- Ask a professor. They will have an idea of which journals to target.

- Ask one of the editors for your school's law review.

I was thinking the osgoode hall journal, is that too ambitious? Also do they publish in the summer?

[Renerik]

7 hours ago, blue134 said:

I was thinking the osgoode hall journal, is that too ambitious?

Can't say without knowing what your submission looks like. If you're trying to get something you wrote in 1L published, the quality is likely relatively poor and no law journal would accept your submission.

7 hours ago, blue134 said:

Also do they publish in the summer?

Depends on the year. Go on the OHLJ website and look at their recent issues to see when they typically publish. If you're asking whether you could submit something now and have it published by this summer, the answer is almost certainly "no".

You ought to speak to a professor about this. They could give you better advice than anyone on this forum (that said, everything you've asked so far is easily Googleable, so arguably you could save time by just Googling for answers yourself).

[SNAILS]

I think you might be overly ambitious if you want "some papers" published when you have never published anything before. Select your best work - the one that you think adds something new to a particular area of law that no academic has specifically addressed before. Then figure out which journal would publish that particular work.

If you want to write something new, there are a variety of essay competitions out there, some of which have scholarships attached.

[BHC1]

If you got a A level grade on a paper, approach the professor whose class you wrote it for and ask them for input on which journals to approach. They may have some contacts and tips on how to edit your paper to better fit the target journals. 

Be aware getting a paper published can be a bit of a lengthy process - I wouldn’t worry so much about rushing something for this summer, but preparing your paper so it can be submitted to a few select relevant journals in the upcoming fall. 

[CommeCiCommeCa]

Just want to chime in and say that I cannot think of a single journal that would allow you to submit a potential publication to other journals simultaneously, so picking the right journal to submit your paper to is very important--as you will only be able to submit the paper once (unless the paper is rejected by the journal, then you can submit it elsewhere, but you will still have to wait for the rejection).

There are subject specific journals depending on the level of specificity of your paper (e.g. the Canadian Tax Journal), and then there are more general journals (i.e. law reviews at unis, like the McGill Law Journal). As a rule of thumb, it is usually easier to get published in specific journals, as they generally receive fewer submissions, given the paper must be related to that specific subject. You will have to do some googling to see what journals might best fit your paper. 

Submitting papers for publication also isn't just a one-and-done process. It is a very iterative process that will require you to incorporate feedback into the paper and potentially make substantial edits (assuming it is accepted). So, as other posters have expressed, you will not be able to submit a paper now and have it published by this summer. Your papers may also just be outright rejected. Just because a paper received an A in a class in law school does not necessarily mean it is of publishable quality. Your paper will also be compared against subject-matter experts who are submitting papers to the same journal, in which case your paper may just not make the cut. In this case, you might need to refine your paper further based on the feedback you receive. 

As an aside, there are some law journals that only accept submissions from current law students or recent grads (like the UofT law journal). If that applies to you, it may be worthwhile to look into submitting your paper there. 

[whereverjustice]

Another option might be to publish in the "trade publication" world rather than the "academic journal" world. For instance you can join the OBA for free, find a section that relates to your paper, and see about getting the paper included in their next newsletter. Your law professor, or a lawyer practicing in your field, might have suggestions for other organizations that might publish your work on their websites etc (e.g. CIAJ, some criminal lawyers' organization that I presume exists). If your motivation to publish is at least partly to support your legal job hunt, doing something lawyer-focused rather than academic-focused might be a better fit anyway. 

As a publisher of last resort (which is perhaps a bit unkind, as I do respect the intiative) there is the CanLII authors program. If you were going to pursue that, I would suggest trying to find a lawyer or professor who is willing to be listed as a co-author with you, because as a lawyer I would be reluctant to put much stock in a paper from a JD student with no vetting/vouching.

[toro-nigiri]

I'll echo what others have said, and just add that it's actually quite rare for JD students to publish in the OHLJ. If you take a look at past issues most authors are faculty, and some are grad students.

[StoneMason]

9 hours ago, toro-nigiri said:

I'll echo what others have said, and just add that it's actually quite rare for JD students to publish in the OHLJ. If you take a look at past issues most authors are faculty, and some are grad students.

Targeting student-only journals may be the play here for OP. 

Edited Saturday at 05:18 PM by StoneMason