Washington University Law Review - Commentaries

Spring 2026 Update

The Law Review has concluded its primary selection cycle for Spring 2026. A number of publication slots remain available, and we expect to fill these over the summer and into the fall. Please note that until the August submission cycle begins the Commentaries Team will convene on an ad hoc basis, and authors should expect longer response times.

Each issue of the Washington University Law Review showcases a concise and contemporary piece of legal scholarship, written by members of the legal academy, bench, and bar. After the editing process is completed, commentaries are published in print, cited identically to articles in the Law Review, and featured on our website.

General Submission Guidelines

Submissions of approximately 15,000 words or less (including footnotes) are considered for our Commentaries series. Submissions of approximately 8,000 words or less should be submitted to the Law Review Online Edition portal.

Please include an abstract and curriculum vitae with your submissions. All submissions should conform to the Twenty-Second Edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation and Eighteenth Edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. We do not accept submissions from current law students.

Submission Methods

The Law Review accepts electronic submissions only. We strongly prefer to receive submissions via Scholastica. We also accept submissions directly to our email account (commentaries@wustllawreview.org). Submissions and all attachments should be in Microsoft Word format. It is our policy to apply the same standards of review to all submissions and to judge pieces based solely on their contents. To that end, please provide an anonymized version of your submission.

The Law Review no longer accepts submissions sent by mail or via ExpressO.

Expedited Review

Although it is not always possible, the Law Review attempts to honor requests for expedited review. We strongly prefer to receive expedite requests via Scholastica, although authors may submit expedite requests directly to our email account (commentaries@wustllawreview.org). Please do not send the same expedite request via Scholastica and direct email.

Please provide the following information with any request for expedited review:

• Your name and contact information.

• The title of your submission.

• All publications from which you have received publication offers.

• The date on which your offer or offers expire.

Questions?
Please contact commentaries@wustllawreview.org.