University of Pennsylvania Law Review

Submission Deadline

The University of Pennsylvania Law Review will open for submissions at 12:00 AM on Sunday, February 1st, 2026. Based on the previous submission cycle, the Law Review anticipates the volume will fill quickly. To ensure the Law Review has the opportunity to review your submission, please submit your manuscript as soon as possible.

General Guidelines

We strongly prefer Articles under 30,000 words (including footnotes). We will consider manuscripts over 30,000 words, but length will be a factor that weighs against acceptance. We also encourage the submission of Essays of approximately 10,000-15,000 words (including footnotes). However, we do not typically publish Book Reviews.

Citations must appear in footnotes, not endnotes, and should conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (22nd ed. 2025).

We typically extend offers of publication on the phone and give authors 24 hours to decide whether or not to accept such an offer.

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure

Beginning with Volume 175, the Law Review requires authors to disclose any use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the preparation of their submissions. Said disclosure should be provided as a succinct description within or as an addendum to the cover letter, addressing the following:

• Which AI tools, if any, were employed;
• How these tools assisted in the research process; and
• How these tools assisted in drafting or revising the manuscript.

Authors should note that disclosure of AI usage will not, in and of itself, weigh against consideration of their submissions.

Expedited Review

Authors who have received an offer of publication from another law review or journal may request an expedited review through Scholastica. While expedited review provides your submission with no competitive advantage, we make every effort to review expedited material in a timely manner.

Given the high volume of submissions, we are not able to confirm receipt of an expedite request. Additionally, please be aware that publication offers following expedited review expire one hour after the offer is extended.

Exclusive Submissions

Starting February 1st, we will welcome manuscripts that are submitted exclusively to the University of Pennsylvania Law Review for at least seven days before submission to other journals. Authors may send exclusive submissions to submissions@pennlawreview.com. The subject line should read, “Exclusive Submission,” and the body of the e-mail should clearly indicate the submission is exclusive and the date you expect to send the manuscript to other journals.

Author Policy

The University of Pennsylvania Law Review welcomes submissions authored or co-authored by scholars, practitioners, judges, and graduate students (Ph.D. or equivalent), including those co-authored by current J.D. students.

We do not accept independent J.D. student submissions. J.D. students may submit their work to the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online for consideration.