Yale Journal of International Law

Article Content Requirements

The Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) is committed to publishing cutting-edge, provocative, and thoughtful scholarship at the forefront of international, comparative, and transnational law. The Journal publishes 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 one nation-state or articles on the topic of foreign actors in a domestic legal context, such as United States immigration law. The goal of the Journal, furthermore, is to publish new ideas and viewpoints rather than to summarize areas of international law. YJIL aims to provide a forum for a broad diversity of opinion.

Article Format and Length

All manuscripts should be submitted in English with both text and footnotes typed and text double-spaced. 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.

For the print edition, we particularly welcome the submission of articles and essays under 30,000 words (including footnotes). Articles above 35,000 words are strongly discouraged. These guidelines will be a factor in consideration for publication. While the Journal is a general interest publication, we presume that most readers will have at least a basic understanding of key ideas in the field of international law and encourage authors to cite to these basic tenets with footnotes rather than extensive exposition.

Author Eligibility

We accept article submissions from practicing attorneys and legal scholars, as well as Ph.D. and S.J.D./J.S.D. students. Current J.D. and LL.M. students at the Yale Law School are not eligible to publish articles in YJIL’s print edition, though we encourage those students to submit Notes and some features as advertised by YJIL Online. Current J.D. and LL.M. students at other schools are not eligible to publish in YJIL’s print edition.

Submitting Articles to YJIL

Submissions System

We request that all authors attach a résumé or CV to their submission. Due to the high volume of submissions the Journal receives, we regret that we are unable to offer feedback on submitted drafts not accepted for publication.

Timeline

The Yale Journal of International Law reviews article submissions for the current Volume starting on or about February 1 of each calendar year. The Journal may re-open article submissions for the current Volume starting on or about August 1 of each calendar year, depending on the results of the first round of submissions.

Expedited Review

We appreciate the effort that authors have put into the articles submitted to the Journal. While we will try our best to accommodate requests for expedited review, we cannot guarantee that we can accomplish an expedited review by a specific deadline. To request an expedited review, please submit a request for expedited consideration through Scholastica. Due to the volume of articles we receive, we will only be responding to expedite requests if the article is selected for review for publication. Thank you for your understanding.

Withdrawals

If you wish to withdraw your piece from consideration, please do so using the withdrawal option in the Scholastica online submission system.

Editorial Review Process

YJIL is distinguished among international law journals for its thoughtful, professional editorial review process. In addition to rigorous cite-checking and Bluebooking, articles selected for publication typically receive two rounds of substantive feedback in the form of “Edit Letters” (usually around three to four pages in length) containing the Editorial Board’s suggestions for further honing the author’s argument and improving the structure and development of the piece. Nevertheless, YJIL authors retain full control over the final content of their work, and all comments and suggestions offered by YJIL’s Editors are optional.