Submissions

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Author Guidelines

To submit a proposal to author a contribution to the Before the High Court column, see our BTHC Guidance for Authors.

How to Submit an Article
To submit an article, you will first need to register as an author. If you're already registered, you can simply log in and begin the five-step process. Our online journal management system lets you track the progress of your submission through the editorial process. If you have difficulties, please email your article to the Publishing Manager.

End-of-year arrangements: If you submit your article after mid-November 2024 and it is approved for peer review, we will seek timely review. Please note, however, that with many reviewers on leave in January, the review period may be longer than usual.

Submission Requirements
1. Your article must have a substantive connection to the Australian legal system.

2. Your article must be 10,000–15,000 words in length (including abstract and footnotes).

3. We do not consider submissions that are currently under consideration with, or have been substantially published in, any other publication. This policy includes online publication of a finished piece (including institutional repositories and SSRN). If an exposure or comment draft has been published online, we will only consider the piece for publication if it has been substantially rewritten since.

4. We do not usually accept submissions originally written as assessments (such as Honours theses or essays written for a coursework LLM unit) as these do not generally meet the Review’s requirements for originality and substantial contribution to legal scholarship.

How to Prepare your Manuscript
1. Your article must be in Microsoft Word format.

2. Please use Title Case (not FULL CAPITALS) for the article title, and all headings.

3. Include all author names under the article title. Add a biography footnote giving each author's present position and any ORCID iD, and a contact email address.

4. Acknowledge any relevant ethics approval at the end of the biography footnote. Cite the approving body or person, and the approval number and date.

5. Acknowledge any relevant research grant or funding at the end of the biography footnote. Cite the funding body or person, and any grant number and title.

6. Include an abstract of 100–200 words that clearly indicates the original contribution to legal scholarship made by the article.

7. Provide 4–6 keywords that accurately describe the content of the article.

8. Ensure that all citations conform to the latest edition of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

9. Provide titles for any tables and figures. Supply figures in an editable format, using font Times New Roman 9pt or 10pt, and in grey scale.

10. For the article's body text, use 12pt font and 1.5 spacing. For the footnotes, use 10pt font and single spacing.

11. Do not include a bibliography.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • The manuscript is an original work and is not under consideration with, or substantially published in, any other publication.
  • The authors agree to the terms in the Author Agreement. (Note: You do not need to complete the Agreement at this stage.)
  • The authors acknowledge that the journal may use plagiarism detection software to check the manuscript.

Privacy Statement

The University of Sydney uses Open Journal Systems (hosted by the University Library) for the purpose of facilitating the Sydney Law Review.

If you submit an article for publication using the online process, we will collect the following personal information about you:

  • author name
  • email address
  • academic institution, and
  • ORCID iD number.

We will collect technical information, which may include personal information about you, when you use the platform including IP address and cookie-based information. 

We will use your personal information to administer your account and for the purposes of publishing to acknowledge and reference your journal submission. 

We will not disclose your personal information to anybody else, unless you have given consent, or we are authorised or required to do so by law.

More information regarding the Sydney Law Review including publication information and the Author Agreement can be found under About this Journal or you can contact [email protected].

For more information about how we will handle your personal information, how you can request to access or correct the personal information we hold about you, and who to contact if you have a privacy enquiry or complaint, please see our webpage: Privacy at the University - The University of Sydney.