The Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The Southern Illinois University Law Journal aims to produce scholarly publications of the highest quality attainable. The Journal is a student-run organization with a board of editors and staff members. The student editors and staff members select articles written by experts on various legal topics and then carry the articles through an editorial process to reach the end goal of publication.

As staff members, students not only work on editing citations throughout selected articles but also compose a student-written note covering a prevalent legal issue of interest to them. These notes are then considered for publication in one of the Southern Illinois University Law Journal issues during the following academic year.

The Southern Illinois University Law Journal is an online-only publication and is available on Westlaw, LexisNexis, HeinOnline, and Digital Commons. Issues beginning with Volume 32, No. 3 can also be accessed at the link below.

2026 Law Journal Symposium

The SIU Law Journal is currently accepting submissions for the symposium and requests that all submissions be received by January 19, 2026. Interested Scholars should submit by emailing the SIU Law journal at lawjourn@siu.edu.

The symposium will be held in a virtual format in late February or early March, where authors will have the opportunity to participate in presentations and panels exploring the issues in selected papers. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the SIU Law Journal in April/May 2026.

Click here to learn more about the suggested topics.

Submit a Manuscript to our Journal

Submissions to SIU Law Journal

The Southern Illinois University Law Journal accepts submissions through Scholastica.

If you do not have a Scholastica account, you may email your submission to lawjourn@siu.edu.

Submission Guidelines

Inclusions. Please include each author’s current CV in your submission. A cover letter is preferred but is not required.

Length. For Articles, we encourage submissions of fewer than 25,000 words, including footnotes. For Essays, we encourage submissions of fewer than 15,000 words, including footnotes.

Format. Please submit your manuscript as a Word document, double-spaced, with 1” margins, and in 12-point Times New Roman font. All citations should follow the 21^st edition of the Bluebook.

Timing. The SIU Law Journal takes pride in carefully reviewing every submission received. If your preference is to publish in the SIU Law Journal, we encourage you to notify us to that effect upon submission so that we may prioritize review. We have a rolling review process, so we continue to review submissions until all issues of the current volume are filled. Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts as soon as they are ready for a publication decision. Authors may also request an expedited review. Please include the date and time any current offers expire in the expedite review request.

Withdrawal. Please let us know if you decide to withdraw your article from consideration. Include your name and the title of your manuscript in your withdrawal notification.