Submission Guidelines

Davis Journal of Legal Studies publishes pieces pertaining to legal studies, defined as “the interdisciplinary, academic study of legal concepts, institutions, and processes”. 

For Volume VI, we will be accepting submissions through December 31st, 2025.

Potential authors may either submit a paper or a draft:

Paper Submissions: These are completed papers that would only need to be further refined by our Editorial Team. Submissions should be formatted Chicago Style with footnote citations, include an abstract, and be between 5 and 25 pages. The submission should be attached as a Google .doc or Word .docx. Please do not include any identifying information in the title of the submission or within the submission file itself. Identifying information includes, but is not limited to, your name, major, course the submission was initially written for, and student ID number.

Draft submissions: If an author won’t have a completed paper to submit by the submission deadline, they can alternatively submit a draft. This is a paper proposal outlining what the author plans to write, including a main thesis, a list of topics they plan to cover, and at least 15 sources. For authors whose drafts are accepted, they will work alongside editors to develop a completed paper throughout winter quarter.

Throughout winter and spring quarters, the Editorial Team will continuously edit the paper and draft submissions to prepare them for publication, including sending it back to authors for specific revisions.

Draft authors are required to continuously communicate with the editorial team throughout the process. Failure to do so without providing proof of adequate extenuating circumstances may result in the draft being removed from consideration.


Article publishing is a selective process, and we reserve the right to reject papers that do not meet quality standards, whether due to the use of AI or not. The use of AI is permitted for research, editing, translation, or guidance, so long as it is disclosed at submission.

If you have questions about submissions, please visit our contact page.