GUIDELINES

FOR
COMPLETING
THE
MASTER OF LAWS THESIS

(2017 UPDATE)
 COMPLETING THE MASTER OF LAWS THESIS

This document is intended to provide to GW Law students guidelines on matters relating

to the Master of Laws (LL.M.) thesis. The Law School’s Bulletin identifies the thesis
requirements for LL.M. candidates. The standards set out in the Bulletin govern to the
extent that the matters below are inconsistent with the Bulletin.

General Thesis Guidelines

Full-time LL.M. (students those enrolled for 9 or more credit hours/semester) are
expected to complete all degree requirements within one calendar year of matriculation.
Part-time LL.M. students (those enrolled for 8 or fewer credit hours/semester) are
expected to complete all degree requirements within two calendar years of matriculation.

The thesis must be a substantial scholarly work of a quality and length akin to a law
review article. The thesis is to be written under the supervision of a full-time member of
the Law School faculty or, with the approval of the program director, an adjunct member
of the Law School faculty. The thesis adviser assigns the thesis grade and is the final
authority with regard to thesis deadlines. When a faculty member accepts a student’s
request to serve as thesis adviser, the two parties should establish and agree, in writing, to
a timeline of thesis deadlines based on the student’s planned graduation date.1

The thesis adviser may provide, at his/her discretion, written consent to an extension of
the thesis deadlines up to one calendar year. The thesis adviser, in consultation with the
program director, also has discretion in establishing a minimum page length requirement
for the thesis. The student must fulfill the page minimum established by the thesis
adviser or the thesis will not be accepted for grading. The thesis adviser may impose
additional requirements regarding the thesis subject, outline, content, citation style,
authoritative support, and general presentation. Furthermore, the thesis adviser must
approve the student’s research methodology, and must receive at least one preliminary
draft of the thesis. Individual thesis advisers may require additional drafts and/or outlines
for review.

1
Students should check the Law School academic calendar for the exact date of spring
graduation. Summer graduation is always August 31. Fall/winter graduation is always
January 31.
1
Thesis Course
Students writing an LL.M. thesis must enroll in Thesis (Law 690 and Law 691), a four
credit scholarly writing class taught by a member of the Law School’s Legal Writing
faculty. Full-time LL.M. students should register for the Thesis courses during the fall
and spring semesters of their degree program. With the permission of the thesis adviser
and notice to the program director, a full-time LL.M. student planning to graduate in
August may take Law 691 in the summer semester. Part-time LL.M. students may enroll
during the summer semester or during the fall or spring semesters of the second year of
their degree program.

Thesis 690, which meets four times during the semester in small group classes, provides
structure and guidance in selecting a thesis adviser and topic; researching and forming a
thesis statement; organizing and outlining; and initiating the drafting process. Thesis 691
meets four times during the subsequent semester and covers early drafting, polishing, and
tips for seeking publication. The course also includes a workshop during which students
engage in peer review. Thesis 691 is a restricted course; therefore the student must seek
written approval from his or her thesis adviser before registering for the course in person
in the Records Office.2

In general, the student is expected to satisfy all requirements established by both the
instructor for Law 690/691 and by the student’s thesis adviser; submission of the material
to one does not alone satisfy any requirements for submission of material to the other.

The Writing Center

Enrolled students are encouraged to make use of the Writing Center, during or after
taking the Thesis courses, for constructive feedback on portions of a working draft up to
15 pages.

To learn about Writing Center offerings visit:

https://www.law.gwu.edu/writing-center

To make an appointment, click on the large blue box labeled “Schedule an

Appointment.”

Additional on-line resources for refining drafts are available via links to numerous
undergraduate writing centers at: https://www.law.gwu.edu/resources-and-support

2
The “Permission to Register for a Restricted Course” form is available in hard copy in
the Records Office.

2
Completing Degree Requirements
The student bears the responsibility to maintain contact with and provide regular progress
updates to the thesis adviser. The student’s work in Thesis 690 will show as credits “in
progress” until the thesis is accepted and graded. However, if the student fails to
complete the thesis by the established deadline and while enrolled in Law 691, the
student must secure an approved extension in writing from the thesis adviser.

With the written approval of the thesis adviser, a student may receive an extension of up
to one calendar year to complete the thesis. During this year or portion thereof, the
student must maintain continuous enrollment; breaking enrollment during this time will
require readmission into the Law School. A student who, due to extraordinary
circumstances, requires time beyond the aforementioned one-year extension to complete
the thesis must seek written approval from the thesis adviser and the program director
before the one-year extension expires. Thesis advisers may establish supplemental
requirements regarding additional time requests.

Once an extension for completion of the thesis has been approved, the student must
contact the Records Office to arrange for continuous enrollment for the next semester. A
student who fails to maintain continuous enrollment will be required to apply for
readmission in order to continue in the degree program. Currently the charge for
continuous enrollment is $35.00; this fee enables continued use of the Burns Law Library
and Lexis/Westlaw passwords. Provision of Westlaw and Lexis access is handled by the
Library's Electronic Services Department and all requests for passwords or password
extensions/reactivation must be sent to eservices@law.gwu.edu for verification of
enrollment status before passwords are extended or reactivated. Emails should state the
student's name, whether they are enrolled as a student or as continuous enrollment for
thesis completion, the semester[s] of enrollment, and the GWID number. Because
continuous enrollment is a semester-by-semester determination, the student must email
Electronic Services to request an extension EACH semester.

An application for graduation must be submitted for each semester in which graduation is
anticipated. The Records Office will not renew prior applications.3 The deadline for
submitting an application for May graduation is February 1. A pdf version of the
graduation application is available at: https://www.law.gwu.edu/forms

3
The LL.M. Graduation Application may be faxed to the Records Office at 202.994.8980.
Questions regarding graduation should be directed to the Records Office at 202.994.6261.
3
Submission of the Thesis to the Electronic Theses/Dissertations System
(ETDS)
The George Washington University Electronic Thesis/Dissertation initiative is an effort
to help LL.M. students create works of scholarship that are interactive, visually appealing,
and readily accessible to a large audience of interested readers. All completed theses must
be electronically submitted to the ETDS at http://www.etdadmin.com/cgi-bin/home
after the thesis adviser has assigned a grade. Students on continuous enrollment as of fall
2009 are exempt from the requirement to submit the thesis electronically.

Specific instructions for how to submit the thesis to ETDS are provided in the Thesis 691
course materials and outlined in the attachments below. The formatting requirements to
which the student must carefully adhere in order for his or her thesis to be accepted for
grading by the thesis adviser and subsequently submitted to ETDS are provided on pages
6 and 7 of this document. Three attachments include sample formatting, as well as step-
by-step instructions for uploading the thesis to ETDS. Attachment 4 is the ETD Approval
form, which must be completed and signed by both the thesis adviser and student before
the thesis can be approved for submission to ETDS. Attachment 5 is the form that the
student must submit via email to ehan@law.gwu.edu, with a credit card receipt from
ETDS, to seek reimbursement from the law school for the ETDS processing fee.

The Portable Document File (PDF) submitted on-line to ETDS must be final and error
free. The ETDS Administrator will not edit the thesis. Students must wait until the thesis
adviser has approved the final draft before submitting the PDF file to ETDS. Any
suggestions or revisions made by the thesis adviser must be incorporated into the thesis
before ETDS submission.

Publishing the Thesis in a Law Journal

As the author of a thesis, the student will own the copyright to his or her work. By
submitting the thesis to ETDS, the student grants a license to The George Washington
University. The student may wish to “embargo” his or her thesis, making the thesis
unavailable for viewing on ETDS for up to two years, while the student secures a contract
to publish an article or book based on the thesis. For additional information on ETDS and
publication of theses, the student should visit: http://library.gwu.edu/etd/publication-
issues

The Law School must be given credit for material used in the publication of any portion
or adaptation of a student’s thesis. This credit typically appears on the Disclaimer or
Acknowledgements page (see samples in Attachment 1); e.g., “This Article was
submitted to partially satisfy the requirements of a Master of Laws degree at The George
Washington University Law School.”

Materials on how to evaluate a thesis and seek publication in a law journal are provided
in Attachments 6 & 7.

4
Academic Integrity
In writing the thesis, all students must act in full accordance with the GW Law School
Policy on Academic Integrity. Specific provisions of note include, §§ 4.1 (the pledge of
honesty), 5.2 (academic dishonesty), and 8.2 (sanctions). Students are also expected to be
familiar with the Law School’s handbook, Citing Responsibly: A Guide to Avoiding
Plagiarism. These documents can be found by clicking the “Integrity Code” and “Citing
Responsibly” links at: https://www.law.gwu.edu/academic-integrity

If you have any questions concerning the thesis guidelines, please

contact your thesis adviser or the Upper Level Writing Program
Coordinator within the Legal Research & Writing Program.

5
 THESIS SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
FOR LL.M. DEGREE CANDIDATES
Candidates must follow all of the formatting requirements outlined below. Failure to
comply with these requirements will result in rejection of the thesis by the Electronic
Theses/Dissertations System (ETDS) and may delay graduation. Thesis advisers may set
additional guidelines to supplement, but not replace, these minimum requirements.
Supplemental formatting guidelines can be found on the specific LL.M. program
websites.

Formatting

• Preliminary pages must be in the following order (see Attachment 1for specific
layout)
• Title Page (required)
• Dedication (optional)
• Acknowledgements (required)
• Disclaimer (optional)
• Abstract (required)
• Table of Contents (required)
• List of Figures (required if there are figures)
• List of Tables (required if there are tables)
• Word-formatted
• Times New Roman (12 pt.)
• Double-spaced text
• 1.5 inches left margins
• 1 inch margins on the top, bottom, and right
• Footnotes with proper Bluebook citations (no endnotes)
• No blank pages
• Page numbering:
• Lower case Roman numerals for preliminary pages [e.g. title page, table of
contents (see attachment 1 for sample formatting)]
▪ Title page is page i, but is not numbered
▪ Page numbers are to be located at the bottom center
• Arabic numerals beginning with “1” on the first page of text and continue
to the end
▪ Page numbers are to be located at the bottom center
▪ All pages, including appendices or supporting documents, must be
numbered
• See Attachment 2 for a guide to adjusting page numbering.

6
Additional Formatting Requirements for Submission to the ETDS

• The document must be submitted to ETDS as a single PDF file.

• There must be no password protection on the PDF and security settings must
allow for printing.
• Fonts must be embedded in the Word document before conversion to PDF.
• The following tools will convert documents to PDF:
• PDF Conversion Tool in UMI ETD Administrator (RTF and Microsoft
Word documents only)
• Adobe also offers an online service for PDF file creation:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/acrobat/pdf-creator-create-pdf-files.html
• For a tutorial and FAQs on creating PDF files for submission to ETD, visit
http://www.etdadmin.com/GlobalTemplates/ETDAdmin/StudentHelp/faq.htm
l#pdf

7
 ATTACHMENTS

1) Sample Formatting of Preliminary Pages

2) Page Numbering Guide for MS Word

3) Ten Step Process for Uploading the Thesis to ETDS

4) ETD Approval Form

5) Reimbursement Form

6) Scholarly Writing Rubric

7) Scholarly Writing Publication Guide

8
 Attachment 1
Sample Formatting of Preliminary Pages
 The Title of the Thesis
By
Brilliant Law Student {full name - no initials}
B.A., June 1985, Impressive University
J.D., May 1990, Impressive Law School
{List bachelors and all graduate degrees with
dates conferred and names of conferring institutions}

A Thesis submitted to

The Faculty of
The George Washington University Law School
in partial satisfaction of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Laws
May 20, 2018
{or the convocation date on which your degree will be conferred}

Thesis directed by
Your adviser’s name {exactly as it appears in the Law School Bulletin}
Professor of Law {or the title that appears in the Law School Bulletin}
 Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank….

ii
 Disclaimer

Captain ________ serves in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps. This

paper was submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of

Laws in Government Procurement at The George Washington University Law School.

The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author and do not reflect the

official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense or U.S.

Government.

iii
 Abstract

[title of paper] How the Lead Systems Integrator Experience Should Enhance Efforts to
Rebuild the Defense Acquisition Workforce

Over the past nine years…..

iv
 Table of Contents

I. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
II. Background ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

v
 Introduction

[text]

1
 Attachment 2
Page Numbering Guide for MS Word
 Page Numbering Guide for MS Word
(with gratitude to Dan Schwender, LLM ’11)

1. Create your title page.

2. At the end of your title, go to the “Page Layout” tab, select “Breaks” and choose
“Next Page” to create a section break.

3. On the new page, create your table of contents. At the end of your table of
contents, go to the “Page Layout” tab, select “Breaks” and choose “Next Page” to
create a section break.

4. On the new page, write the text for your article.

5. Now, return to your table of content page. Double click the footer area on your
table of content page. It should read “First Page Footer Section 2” and a new
“Design” tab should appear at the top of your screen.

6. Choose the “Page Number” section within the “Design” tab and select the
appropriate positioning of your numbers (i.e. bottom/center). If you are using Word
2011 and encounter a problem inserting page numbers directly into the footer, close
the footer and simply use the insert page number drop down menu.

7. Choose the “Page Number” section again and select “format numbering” and
select the appropriate number style (i.e. lower-case roman numerals “i, ii, iii…”).

8. Now return to the first page of your article’s text. Double click the footer area
on your first text page. It should read “First Page Footer Section 3” and a new
“Design” tab will appear on the top of your screen.

9. Choose the “Page Number” section and select the appropriate positioning of
your numbers (i.e. bottom/center).

10. Choose the “Page Number” section again and select “format numbering” and
select the appropriate number style (i.e. standard numerals “1, 2, 3…”).

11. Your pages should now be correctly numbered. If you used the Multilevel list
(outline formatting) under the “Home” tab “Paragraph” section while writing your
paper, then you can right click the table of contents and update it automatically.
Otherwise, you will have to create a table of contents manually.

* See also a written guide on page numbering for Word 2013 on the Kansas State
University ETD site:
https://www.k-state.edu/grad/etdr/word/word13/pagenumbers.html
 Attachment 3
Ten Step Process for Uploading the Thesis to ETDS
 Ten Step Process for Submitting the Thesis to ETDS

1) Start by visiting www.gwu.edu/~etds.

a) In the left hand navigation bar on that page you will find a link
to the Law School’s Guidelines for Completing the Master of Laws
Thesis, under School-specific Guidelines. These guidelines include
specific requirements for font, margins, and page numbering, as well
as a sample of the preliminary pages of the final thesis document.
b) In the same left hand navigation bar you can also sign up for
Microsoft Word Training at your desktop if you feel you need a
refresher for purposes of formatting your thesis in accordance with
the law school’s guidelines before you upload it onto ETDS.
c) Further down this left hand navigation bar you will find a link
to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about submitting via ETDS, as
well as specific information about Copyright Issues.
d) You must download the “ETD Approval Form,” which can be
found on the left hand navigation bar under Submitting Your ETD. This
form must be signed by your thesis advisor after he/she has graded
your thesis and then submitted to the Thesis 691 course professor
before she can give final approval to your thesis via ETDS. The ETD
Approval Form is also available at Attachment 4 of this Guide.

2) The next step is to create an account at www.etdadmin.com. The first time

you visit the site, you’ll go to the sign in at “Student” in the upper right hand
corner and click “Submit.” In the future, you will login via “Student,” “Revise
my dissertation/thesis” in the middle of the page and use a username and
password. You can come back to the www.etdadmin.com site as often as you
need to complete the uploading process and make revisions. When asked to
identify your institution, click on “The George Washington University.”

3) The first page will present Publishing Options with a set of instructions. You
must select “Open Access Publishing.” The law school will reimburse you for
the cost of Open Access Publishing.4 You may decide whether you want an
“embargo” on your paper to withhold posting on the internet for up to two
years. You may also decide whether you want major search engines like
Google to discover your paper. There is no requirement to register for a
copyright.

4
The reimbursement form is Attachment 5 to this Guide and should be submitted by
email to the Thesis 691 professor with a pdf copy of the credit card receipt provided by
ETDS.
1
4) The next step will prompt you to provide contact information where you can
be reached. Please ensure you provide a permanent mailing and email
address. Do not provide your GW email if you do no plan to use it anymore.

5) Next you will provide details about the title of your thesis, your degree, as
well as your thesis adviser (there is no committee review for LLM theses).
You will be prompted to provide text for a brief abstract, which will appear
on the ETDS page as information for researchers in deciding whether or not
to read your full paper. You may choose to simply use the same language
from the abstract you provide in the preliminary pages of your thesis.

6) Next you will upload the document to ETDS in PDF format. Use the PDF
converter function. FAQs about converting to PDF and much more are
available at
http://www.etdadmin.com/GlobalTemplates/ETDAdmin/StudentHelp/faq.h
tml#pdf

7) Next, you can choose to order bound copies of your thesis at your own
expense.

8) Finally, you will click on “Submit.”

9) Once you have uploaded your document, the ETD administrator and Prof.
Thornton will receive email notification and will review the document for
consistency with the formatting guidelines provided in the law school’s
thesis submission guidelines.

10) In the event that edits need to be made, either the ETD administrator or Prof.
Thornton will ask you to make revisions in your original Word doc. After
making the corrections to your Word doc, you must convert back to PDF and
upload the new document. You will receive email notification when your
thesis receives final approval and is uploaded to ETDS.

2
 Attachment 4

ETD Approval Form

 The George Washington University
Electronic Theses/Dissertations (ETD) Access / Approval Form
The information on this form should match exactly the record entered into the GW ProQuest ETD online system,
(http://www.etdadmin.com) and should be submitted to your school or college’s graduate office at the same time
you submit your thesis or dissertation online.

Student’s Full Name as on Thesis or Dissertation GWID:

ETD Submission ID#:

Mailing Address:

Email: Phone:

Degree (Official Abbreviation): Planned Graduation Date: ______________

School or College: ____________________________________________________________________
Program: __________________________________________________________________________
Campus: Foggy Bottom Virginia Campus Other: __________________________
Type of Submission: Dissertation Thesis
Exact Thesis/Dissertation Title:

Name(s) of PDF Files(s) Submitted to ProQuest: Date of File:

Thesis or Dissertation:

Supplements, if any:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Student and Thesis Advisor/Dissertation Director Certifications

Research Approvals
I hereby certify that I have obtained the required institutional approvals if my research involves human
subjects, protected health information, animals, radiation or other hazardous materials, and the like (see
http://www.gwumc.edu/research). In addition, this thesis or dissertation does not contain personally
identifiable information that would compromise assurances of confidentiality to research participants.
Part B: Copyright (See Copyright and Patent Issues for more information.) Please select one of the following options:
1. [ ] I own the copyright in the thesis or dissertation as its author. I hereby grant to the George Washington
University and its agents the non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free license to archive and make accessible, under the
conditions specified below, my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known.
I retain all other rights, title, and interest in my thesis or dissertation and may use all or part of my thesis or dissertation
in future works (such as conference presentations or papers, articles, or books).

2. [ ] I have produced my thesis or dissertation for the U.S. Government as an officer or employee and therefore the
thesis or dissertation is not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105).

Further, I hereby certify that, where warranted, I have obtained and attached hereto written permission statements
from the owners of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation, allowing distribution
as specified below.

Part C: Release Statement (See Publication Issues for more information.)

In addition to the unrestricted display of the bibliographic information and the abstract, I agree that the above-
mentioned document will be placed in the GW ProQuest ETD archive with the following status (choose one option from
each of the options below). In all cases, the full text of all theses and dissertations will be available for unrestricted
open access worldwide through the GW Libraries and Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) catalog either
immediately or after the embargo period expires.

1. [ ] Unrestricted Open Access: Release the entire thesis or dissertation for free, open access worldwide.
a. [ ] Immediate Release (Preferred option except in rare situations noted below), or

b. [ ] Embargoed: Keep the thesis or dissertation from public access for a period of
[ ] 6 months, [ ] 1 year, or [ ] 2 years while I pursue a commercial opportunity (such as a book
contract or patent) or to meet research sponsor requirements. I understand that patent applications
must comply with the GW Patent and Scholarly Works Policy.
OR

2. [ ] Traditional Publishing: Release the entire work for purchase through ProQuest.
a. [ ] Immediate Release (Option of choice except in rare situations noted below), or

b. [ ] Embargoed: Keep the thesis or dissertation from public access for a period of
[ ] 6 months, [ ] 1 year, or [ ] 2 years while I pursue a commercial opportunity (such as a book contract or
patent) or to meet research sponsor requirements. I understand that patent applications must comply with
the GW Patent and Scholarly Works Policy.

Thesis Advisor/Dissertation Director Verification of ETD:

I have reviewed the final electronic version of my thesis or dissertation to be submitted to GW ProQuest and have
determined that it is an accurate representation of the document reviewed and approved by the Dissertation Research
Committee or Thesis Advisor.

The undersigned agrees that this ETD Access / Approval Form updates any and all previous statements
submitted heretofore.

Signed:
Student Printed Name Date

Signed:
Thesis Advisor / Dissertation Director Printed Name Date

Signed:
Graduate School Administrator Date
Revision draft: vae/lw/kw/mg/kt Wednesday, July 19, 2013 4818-7559-0419, v. 44818-
 Attachment 5

Reimbursement Form
 THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
LAW SCHOOL
REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST

To: Kasey Brzezanski

Senior Finance Director

From: _____________________________________________________

_____GW Employee _____Non-GW Employee

Subject: Request for Reimbursement

Date: ____________________________

It is requested that I be reimbursed for the following expense:

Amount: ______________________

If more than one receipt is attached, please itemize on a separate

sheet of paper.

Activity:
_________________________________________________________________
(luncheon, dinner, taxi fare, etc.)

Purpose: ________________________________________________________

Attendees: _______________________________________________________

Address to which check should be sent:

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

GWID Number: ___________________________________________

E-mail or Phone Number: __________________________________

Please attach original receipts and other supporting documents.

Please submit other University forms--payment request, etc.--as appropriate

 Attachment 6

Scholarly Writing Rubric

 SCHOLARLY WRITING RUBRIC

Introduction
The student:
o identifies the thesis and includes a hook that captures the reader’s interest
and articulates the scope of the thesis.
o describes the overall argument.
o clarifies fundamental concepts to the extent necessary.
o summarizes the paper’s structure in a roadmap.

Thesis
The student’s thesis is evaluated on the basis of the following elements:

• Issue Statement
o The student identifies a problem and provides a constructive analysis of it.
o If the proposal is procedural, the student provides recommended
substantive standards.

• Legal Significance
o The student presents a thesis that is novel, not obvious, and useful to the
audience.

• Persuasive Argument
o The argument in support of the thesis is clear, logical, and sustained
throughout the document.
o The student makes connections to broader related issues, without tangents
or distractions.

• Balance
o The student offers a proposition and gives sufficient weight to opposing
views and countervailing considerations, by:
▪ taking problems and turning them to his/her advantage.
▪ addressing implications such as resources and policy matters.
▪ acknowledging tradeoffs as necessary.

Analysis: Support of the Thesis

The student proves his or her proposition by:
o analyzing relevant facts, statutes, regulations, case law and policies and
using these sources effectively to support arguments and distinguish
counterarguments.
o synthesizing cases and issues rather than simply presenting a descriptive
summary.
o discussing precedent with an emphasis on binding precedent.
o testing the thesis’ viability using actual facts to avoid unanticipated results

Organizational Choices
 The student:
o structures the sections in a logical order.
o prepares the reader for the in-depth analysis by providing sufficient factual
and legal background.
o coherently connects sections and uses transitions to effect good flow
throughout.
o provides informative road maps and headers to guide the reader.

The student’s conclusion:

o re-states the thesis.
o provides insightful observations and conclusions (for example, by
discussing the future implications of the thesis or by providing forward-
looking recommendations).
o avoids introducing new, confusing information or propositions.

Writing Style & Polish

The student achieves a polished product by employing:
o correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
o appropriate vocabulary and usage.
o clear and concise sentence structure, avoiding the passive voice where it
would detract from persuasiveness or clarity.
o a professional tone, avoiding idioms and colloquialisms.
o an artful writing style that makes the paper pleasurable (not cumbersome)
to read.

Evaluating the Overall Supporting Research

The student:
o understands how the thesis fits in the context of the existing literature.
o relies, where possible, on primary rather than secondary source authority.
o discusses the hierarchy of law and provides sufficient coverage of various
sources.
o discusses relevant sources of law (constitutions, statutes, treaties,
regulations, cases, administrative materials, and the like) with an
appreciation of their authority relative to one another.
o discusses relevant case law.
o discusses relevant policy-related developments and issues.

Compliance with Citation and Academic Integrity

The student:
o complies with Citing Responsibly and cites to all outside sources.
o places citations appropriately using the formatting guide directed by the
professor (e.g., Bluebook (19th ed.)).
Final Scholarly Paper Rubric in Narrative Form5

Highly Proficient Proficient Developing

Introduction is effectively crafted to grab Introduction is well-crafted, but does There is an introduction attempted,
reader’s attention by gaining and holding not successfully grab and hold reader’s but execution is so poor as to give the
interest. Introduction articulates the attention. This may be due to reader no real sense of what to expect
paper’s thesis, places the thesis in proper underdeveloped context, missing from the paper. There may be parts
context, and lays out the framework of the context, or an otherwise incomplete missing, such as a comprehensive
paper. Hypothetical or real illustration contextual background for the reader. roadmap. Over-quoting or over-
may be used to give context to reader and An example may be used, but fails to reliance on other authors’ work may
develop an interest in the thesis. If a fully connect to the thesis. A dominate the introduction, detracting
quotation is used to begin the paper, the quotation, if used, appears to have no from the sense that the paper topic
quotation is closely connected to the topic obvious connection to the topic of the and thesis is unique to the author.
Introduction

and thesis, attributed to a credible source, paper, giving the impression that the
and makes a good “sound bite.” The author felt a need to include a quote,
introduction includes a roadmap of the but for no good reason.
major subsections of the paper, briefly
describing each part of the paper.
There is a clearly-stated thesis in the There is a thesis present in the paper, There are loose references to
introduction to the paper. The thesis says but it is not well-crafted. The reader multiple possible theses, but no
something, is easily identifiable, and is has to work to find the thesis, and the single sentence states the thesis, and
manageable. The thesis strikes the right reader may have to synthesize multiple the reader cannot uncover the thesis
balance in scope, neither too simple nor partial thesis statements to understand from reading the multiple loose
too complex. Any biases or assumptions the actual thesis in the paper. The references. Even with a thesis
at play in the thesis are fair and thesis may be vague or sentence, the thesis is poorly
appropriately identified, with recognition underdeveloped, possibly resulting designed because it fails to fully
of alternatives where possible. Thesis from the author’s incomplete grasp of satisfy the requirements of saying
results are positive and supportable; to the the thesis, from an over-ambitious something, being easily identifiable,
Thesis

extent there are negative or problematic project (too broad in scope), or other and manageable, though it may
results, those results are addressed and reason suggesting the author has not satisfy one or two of these
defended in the analysis. fully committed to a thesis. requirements.
Based on the analysis, the thesis is valid The analysis is partially There is an attempt at supporting the
and supportable. Analysis addresses underdeveloped, erroneous, or missing, thesis, but the analysis is too thin to
counterarguments, reflecting critical leaving the reader unable to determine convince the reader of the thesis’s
reflection on the thesis. The paper the validity of the thesis. This is more validity. The author’s approach is
Analysis: Support of the Thesis

considers how the thesis would operate in likely due to inadequate research or too cursory, making unsupported
different factual situations to provide effort than to actual substantive gaps assumptions and drawing
further support for the thesis on a broader (meaning, there is analysis to support conclusions without fully engaging in
scale. The analysis presents a solution that the thesis, but the student has not fully the scholarship and other material to
can be implemented or addresses why lack developed it, as compared to there is no support the thesis.
of implementation does not detract from analysis to support the thesis). The
the strength of the proposed solution. analysis fails to fully address
Effective use of hypotheticals or examples counterarguments or implementation
to illustrate analysis help reader grasp challenges, leaving unanswered
complex points. Limitations in scope are questions for the reader. Scope
appropriately identified and addressed. limitations are acknowledged, but not
addressed, or ignored.

5
Excerpted from Jessica Clark and Kristen Murray, Scholarly Writing,: Ideas, Examples,
and Execution (Teacher’s Manual), (2d ed., Carolina Academic Press).
 The paper executes the appropriate large- On the whole, the paper shows signs of There is no clear organizational
scale organizational approach (possibly as thoughtful organizational choices, but approach to the paper, suggesting the
directed by law review or seminar those choices are not effectively author dumped in all information
professor), as well as consistently effective executed throughout the paper, or are without time to assess its placement.
Organizational Choices

small-scale organization. The paper is not as well-executed as they could be. The organization is so poorly
internally consistent, with similarly Some signs of this are imbalanced executed as to detract from the
structured headings and sub-headings, and sections (e.g., a lengthy background analysis of the paper because the
properly proportioned sections. The paper section and a very short solution reader cannot understand how the
is effectively and accurately titled. The section), inconsistent headings and sub- parts and sub-parts of the paper fit
paper shows evidence of thoughtful headings, and an ordering of arguments together or how they support the
organizational choices that support the that does not support the thesis as well paper’s thesis. Lack of organization
analysis. as it could (e.g., starting with on the small scale is also present
counterarguments). here, including poor paragraphing.
The writing is clear, concise, rhetorically The writing contains few, if any, errors The writing suffers from clarity or
effective, and meticulously proofread. For in style or mechanics; these errors do precision issues; substance is
this category, technical accuracy is not detract from the overall substantive sometimes confused or obscured as a
Writing Style and Polish

necessary but not sufficient: the writing strength of the paper. Despite technical result. A more rigorous edit would
also must be fluid and sophisticated. accuracy, the writing lacks some have eliminated technical errors and
When effectively executed, examples of fluidity or sophistication (e.g., overuse mistakes. Use of colloquial or
fluid and sophisticated writing include of the passive voice, mismatching in idiomatic speech is excessive. At the
topic sentences, transitions, subject-verb subject-verb pairs, nominalizations, low end of this category, the writing
agreement, and simplicity and brevity in unnecessary wordiness, etc.). shows a distinct lack of care in
sentence structure and word choice. proofreading and editing. There may
be signs of a need to work on the
rules of standard written English.
The paper accurately and appropriately The paper accurately and appropriately The paper rejects most or all
incorporates feedback, including in incorporates feedback, but does so by feedback with no legitimate basis
Incorporation of Feedback

response to specific comments from merely accepting specific changes or (e.g., the student did not
reviewers and applying specific comments strengthening identified weak areas. communicate disagreement with the
on a global scale. Sophisticated The paper does not reflect a global reviewer, but instead, just ignored the
interpretation and application of feedback application of feedback, leaving the feedback).
is evident throughout the paper, resulting reader to deal with inconsistencies and
in a significantly improved draft. The confusion—the inconsistencies and
improvements are attributable to the confusion stand out because the author
author’s interpretation and application of demonstrated the ability to avoid these
the feedback rather than merely the result problems in other parts of the paper,
of accepting specific suggested changes. but failed to similarly do so in others.
The paper contributes to the scholarly The paper does not advance the The topic is overwritten already and
discussion in a way that suggests it is scholarly literature on the topic or does the utility of another article on the
publishable with little revision. The paper not advance it enough to garner topic is likely low. A paper may also
appears complete and professional, with no publication. The paper does more than fall into this category if it provides
obvious indication it is a student paper. merely restate the literature, but fails to too narrow a view, giving rise to
The topic and thesis are timely, also provide something useful to the many unanswered counterarguments
suggesting likely publication; sources are audience. Despite these shortfalls, the that would make a reader question
appropriately and accurately cited. The thesis is novel and defensible. And the placement of the article in a
style and voice are appropriate for a with revision to answer these shortfalls, scholarly journal. The paper may
scholarly publication read by practitioners the paper could be strengthened to also fail in other areas so much so as
Publishability

or scholars. A paper that meets this become publishable. to prevent publication (e.g., writing
category is not guaranteed to be published, style is ineffective and confuses the
as all publishing decisions are the sole reader). A paper that falls into this
responsibility of the journal editors. category may still be worthy of
academic credit.
 Attachment 7

Scholarly Writing Publication Guide

 Scholarly Writing Publication Suggestions

Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples & Execution is an excellent resource

for information about publishing beyond the law school. Here are some
highlights from the relevant chapter on publication, and some tips gathered
from students’ experiences:

I. Where do you want to submit? Think about your career goals. Who do
you want reading your paper?

a. What are your options? Take note of the journals being cited most
often in the articles you’ve been reading as part of your research.
i. Traditional law reviews are the most prestigious, but also the
least likely to publish work by non-professors
ii. Specialty legal journals – these receive fewer submissions
because of their more narrow subject matter requirements, so
you have a better chance of publication here
iii. Practitioner newsletters (e.g. BNA) – these are often willing to
publish student submissions
iv. Internet-only publications – some journals have “extra”
Internet publication platforms, and others are online only.
These are traditionally less prestigious, but are gaining ground
as we become more internet-focused as a society. Don’t be
deterred by an internet-only publication option!

b. Develop a list –
i. The Washington & Lee database
(http://lawlib.wlu.edu/LJ/index.aspx), with information for
almost 800 journals, can help you search for journals by
category and subject matter, provides submission instructions
for each journal, and can even help generate a list of e-mail
addresses for electronic submission.
ii. Check out the journal database at Journal Seek
(journalseek.net) and Lexis Nexis
(www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/prodev/lawreview)
iii. The ABA offers a free search engine that searches the free
full-text of over 400 online law reviews and law journals, as
well as document repositories hosting academic papers and
related publications such as Congressional Research Service
reports. This site can also help you in generating your list.
(http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_offices/le
gal_technology_resources/resources/free_journal_search.html
)
iv. Deanna Barmakian at Harvard Law School suggests you
consider:
 1. Is the journal in Westlaw’s Journals and Law Reviews
Combined (JLR) database?
2. Are they in LexisNexis’ Law Reviews, Combined
(lawrev;allrev)?
3. Are they indexed by Legal Trac?
http://solutions.cengage.com/Gale/Database-Title-
Lists/
4. Are they indexed by Index to Legal Periodicals and
Books?
http://www.ebscohost.com/title-lists
5. Are they included in Tables of Contents Services like
Current Index to Legal Periodicals?
http://lib.law.washington.edu/cilp/period.html

v. If you’re interested in shortening your paper into a shorter

piece that might be suitable for a legal looseleaf and its
practitioner audience, check out the LawTRIO database, which
can be accessed from here:
http://law.gwu.libguides.com/content.php?pid=162652&sid=1
373961. You can search by subject and specifically limit your
search to newsletters. The coverage is limited to US legal
newsletters, but also includes online newsletters.
vi. Ulrich's Periodicals Directory is also useful for locating all
types of publications, both foreign and domestic. You can find
the database here:
http://libguides.gwu.edu/content.php?pid=98717&sid=171991
1. In the advance search, students can limit to serial type,
country of publication, and other limiters. This database is
not limited to legal resources.
vii. Also, Bepress’ ExpressO, an electronic submission system (see
more below in para. IV.c.), allows you to select which journals
you would like to send your paper to be considered. You can
search by title, browse by category and Top 100 ranking (based
upon US News & World Report rankings ).
viii. Finally, ask your professor if he or she has suggestions as to
which journals are likely to be interested in your work.

II. Tailor your submission

a. Check the journals’ requirements – what do they want to see in a

submission?

b. Review previously published pieces for each journal to which you

plan to submit your work. Look for average length, subject matter
preferences and stylistic issues.
 c. The format of a piece published by a traditional law review
(generally longer and more academic in tone) will probably differ
somewhat from a piece published by a specialty legal journal (more
to-the-point, for use by busy practitioners), and will definitely differ
from a piece published in a BNA newsletter (much more succinct).
Alter your piece according to the source to which you’re submitting.

III. Time your submission

a. Best bets
i. February and March is the BEST time to submit a piece to a
journal – new editorial boards have been selected, and they’re
looking to fill their upcoming volume.
ii. August through October is your second best option – editorial
boards are back at school, looking to fill up any empty slots.
Sometimes there will be slots that remain unfilled from the
spring, and other times a previously selected author might pull
an article, causing the journal to scramble for a replacement.
iii. Some suggest submitting at the earlier end of each of these
windows.

b. Avoid submitting pieces during December, January, June and July.

Why? There’s no one at school! Editorial boards are either enjoying
their winter breaks or enjoying their summer jobs. June and July are
a somewhat better bet because some editorial boards will continue
to work over the summer, but February-March land August-October
are still a better choice.

c. From here? Winter break is a GREAT time to review your options,

make a list of publication outlets, and edit your note accordingly.
Ideally, you should have someone with a “fresh” pair of eyes take a
look at what you have in January or early February, and then start
sending out submissions!

IV. Making your submission

a. Make strategic decisions

i. Send out a “first wave” of submissions – the journals in which
you’d most like to publish.
ii. Then send out a “second wave” -- to journals in which you’re
less interested, or to newsletters and internet outlets – about
three weeks later.
b. What to send

i. Cover letter – they don’t all require one, but you should send
one unless the journal specifically asks you not to. EICs do
read them.
1. Use letterhead
2. Make it interesting – include an compelling fact or idea
from your paper. Emphasize freshness.
3. But keep it short! Save the details for the abstract and
make the themes consistent.
4. Include word count.
5. Mention your qualifications and any past articles and
where you placed them.
6. Proofread your cover letter within an inch of its life!
7. If e-mailing (more on this in a minute), put the cover
letter IN the body of the e-mail and not as an
attachment.
8. Professor Larry Cunningham offers advice about writing
an effective submission cover letter at
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2009/08/
sample-law-review-submission-cover-letters.html

ii. Abstract – some journal editors ONLY review abstracts, and

then read the full submissions of a few “finalists.” Without an
abstract, you’re out of the running!
1. About 200-250 words summarizing your paper, its
implications, and why a journal should be interested in
it.
2. The abstract is very important because if you use
ExpressO (see para. IV c) the receiving editors see only
your name, school affiliation, title, and abstract.
3. Frame it for an editorial audience by focusing on the
impact and urgency/freshness of your contribution to
the current literature.
4. Draw from your intro and conclusion to do this.
5. Review some samples on SSRN.
6. Professor Eugene Volokh of UCLA offers some advice
about writing an effective abstract at
http://www.volokh.com/2010/02/08/writing-an-
abstract-for-a-law-review-article/

iii. Resumé – update your resumé! Some journals want to see a

resumé or CV. Tailor it to your audience, and remember this
isn’t a job search! Emphasize scholarly achievements (awards,
etc.) and previous publications over work experience.
 iv. Check your formatting – some journals have very specific
requirements, and others don’t. Generally speaking, your
work should be:
1. Left-aligned, double-spaced, 12 point Times New
Roman.
2. Footnoted (not endnotes), in 10 point font.
3. Stellar bluebooking = happy editors.
4. Consider using Prof. Volokh’s journal article template to
make your work look professional:
www2.law.ucla.edu/volokh/writing/article.dot
v. You may consider sending a follow up letter to your top
choice journals, particularly if you relied on the journal in
your paper or if the school has a program in their
curriculum that focuses on your paper topic.

c. How to send it
i. Bepress’s ExpressO (http://law.bepress.com/expresso/)
1. Bepress makes a “blast” release of your paper to law
reviews of your choice. Your paper can be delivered to
your choice of 550+ law school journals, simply by
uploading the electronic file to the site. (see the
ExpressO FAQs at
http://law.bepress.com/expresso/faq_authors.html).
2. GW Law has an institutional account for current
students and recent graduates. Contact the Scholarly
Writing Coordinator within the Legal Writing Program
to get added to the account so you can use the
service for free.
3. This process is less personalized than e-mailing yourself,
but many journals use it as their primary delivery
method. You can upload a cover letter, abstract, and
resume to accompany your paper when it gets sent.
Note: because you are submitting under a student
account, even if you submit after graduation, you may
be blocked from some journals that don’t accept
student papers. Instead, you can submit directly to
those journals by email with a copy of your CV.
4. GW Law’s ExpressO Institutional Student Account is
setup under the Complete Prepaid Plan, which allows
for unlimited submissions, but it is restricted to a single
subject area, which means students can only select one
subject area per submission. You can however, combine
more than one (eg banking AND corporate) subject area
for greater specificity. The system will also identify
which journals are “full,” meaning they are no longer
accepting submissions.
 5. You can submit in your paper in "waves" – in other
words, you can submit to 15 journals that are "sure
things," and then whether you get offers or rejections,
you can submit another 10-15 and put in expedite
requests. When you submit to ExpressO you can print
out a log of when you upload to help you keep track,
but the system can automatically seek expedited review
if you can an offer and want to see of other journals
will match it (more on this in para. V. below).
6. The ExpressO website has good pointers to review. The
"2007 Expresso Submissions Guide" links to blurbs about
when to submit, submission strategies, rankings of the
journals they submit to most, what to put in your cover
letter and resume, etc.
7. They have, aside from their pure "most popular law
reviews" list, several subject-specific lists such as
environmental law, science & technology (IP law), and
international law. Note that these are all law school
journals.
ii. Scholastica (https://scholasticahq.com/law_reviews)
1. In recent years, law journals have become overwhelmed
with submissions, likely because ExpressO makes
submitting so easy, and relatively inexpensive ($2.20
per submission for those without an institutional
account). To weed out frivolous submissions, some
journals have begun accepting via Scholastica, which
charges $5 per submission.
2. From the author’s perspective, Scholastica works
exactly the same as ExpressO.
3. For the most part, journals that have chosen Scholastica
over ExpressO still accept submissions by email, as a
means of avoiding the $5 charge.
iii. E-mail:
1. The Washington & Lee website (see para I.b) can e-mail
articles for you
2. By yourself (to journals not on the W&L website)
3. The main drawback of this approach compared to
ExpressO is that you’ll need to maintain a carefully
organized Excel spreadsheet to keep track of offers,
rejections, and expedited reviews.
iv. Snail Mail:
1. Only if the journal REQUIRES hard copy submission.
Many limit submissions to electronic only.
2. Otherwise, you waste postage and kill trees, and run
the risk of having your work lost amid the wreckage of a
student journal office.
V. Dealing with offers

a. When you get an offer:

i. Request an expiration date and any additional terms – seeking
guidance from a professor might be a good idea at this point,
to make sure you don’t agree to something that’s problematic.
ii. Then shop around armed with an offer! Call other journals
where you’d prefer to publish and say that you have an offer
from X journal but would rather publish with them, and see if
they’ll give you an expedited review before the expiration
date from your initial offer expires.
iii. ExpressO creates a template so you can update journals of any
acceptances you receive. You might tailor the template to
express your gratitude in receiving the offer. Some law
reviews will not give an initial response until they learn you
are holding another offer. Note it is considered unethical to
submit your paper to a journal where you would never agree
to be published, only for the purpose of being able to seek
expedited review from more prestigious journals.
iv. Also negotiate with editors to post your paper on the Social
Sciences Research Network (SSRN). Editors may want only the
abstract visible until the issue goes to press. SSRN will get you
attention outside the legal field and may result in offers to
speak or present about your topic and thesis.
b. When you accept an offer, notify other journals to withdraw your
submission from consideration.
c. If no offers, change the title, do another round of revisions, and
prepare for another round of submissions.
i. Submit to less prestigious journals
ii. Scale back the length and scope of your paper and seek
publication of an excerpt in a newsletter or other format
iii. Don’t take rejection personally!

VI. Working with editors – once you’ve accepted an offer, you’ll embark on
the very exciting publication process as an author working with 3L
editors!

a. Do NOT take edits personally. Allow yourself a day or two to digest

suggestions before firing back a response.
b. You don’t have to accept all changes (it’s your name on the article!)
but do consider them and take them seriously.
VII. The Dark Horse: Writing Competitions!

a. There are a surprising number of writing competitions that offer both

publication AND cash prizes to the winning authors, in addition to
perks like trips to conferences or gala events.
b. Check requirements: some will accept any submission, some accept
only one per school. You may be the default “winner” from your
school if no one else wants to enter the competition!
c. Places to look for competitions:
i. ABA section websites
ii. Writing Center home page
(http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/EL/Writing%20Center/P
ages/Competitions.aspx)
iii. Journal websites
iv. Prof. Kathryn Sampson’s blog
(http://legalwritingcompetitions.blogspot.com/)