AUTHOR'S GUIDE

I. About Perspectives

Perspectives is a journal for law librarians, law professors, and everyone else who is intrigued by the challenge of teaching legal research and writing. In three electronic publications each year (fall, winter, and spring), Perspectives provides a forum for exploring a broad array of teaching theories, techniques, and tools. Readers and authors include:

• new and experienced law librarians and law professors;
• practicing attorneys who help associates to develop as researchers and writers or who serve as adjunct faculty at law schools; and
• writing specialists at law schools, law firms, courts, and other legal institutions.

Submissions from authors are generally due in mid-July for the fall issue, in mid-September for the winter issue, and in mid-January for the spring issue. Perspectives articles tend to be short, typically between 1,500 and 5,000 words (between two and eight double-spaced pages). The articles generally examine how teachers can best help law students, young lawyers, and others learn to research and write efficiently, enjoyably, and effectively. The articles do so, moreover, in a relaxed, lightly footnoted, and highly readable prose—more like that of many bar association publications than that of traditional academic journals. Most articles focus on a practical issue, task, or topic, for example:

• the use of wikis as a teaching and learning tool;
• game-based teaching techniques;
• clinicians' insights for research and writing professors;
• student engagement with appellate advocacy assignments;
• incorporation of frequent student-to-faculty feedback;
• collaborations between research and writing instructors; and
• creating and managing online courses.

In addition, regular columns address curricular design, teachable moments, technology for teaching, thorny research matters, and experts' writing tips. Members of the Perspectives editorial board manage these columns. The editors are experts in teaching research and writing in law firms, libraries, and law schools. They have discretion to edit articles, including by shortening them to conform to available space, and the editors are available to advise prospective authors. Perspectives is available in PDF at http://west.thomson.com/journal/perspectives.

II. Submitting Articles to Perspectives

A. How, to Whom, and When to Submit

Submit manuscripts by e-mail as an attachment to:

Mary A. Hotchkiss, Editor
University of Washington School of Law
Tel. (206) 616-9333; Fax (206) 616-5305
E-mail: hotchma@uw.edu

Alternatively, particularly if your article would fit well in a regular column, you may submit an article to a column editor. The editors' names are listed in each issue of Perspectives. Deadlines are generally in mid-July for the fall issue, in mid-September for the winter issue, and in mid-January for the spring issue.

B. Manuscript Form and Length

1. Author Information. Provide only your name, professional title, and institutional affiliation. Place this information immediately after the article's title, not in a footnote.
2. Typeface and Margins. Type in standard-face, double-spaced text with 1.5-inch margins.
3. Length. Articles should run between 1,500 and 5,000 words (two and eight pages). Longer articles may be considered but also may be shortened to fit available space.
4. Footnotes. Use footnotes, not endnotes. Identify notes in the text by superscript numbers.
5. Citation Form. Conform citations to The Bluebook (19th ed. 2010). Follow in particular its "Bluepages," which describe citation form for legal memoranda and court documents and use regular fonts, not LARGE AND SMALL CAPITALS. Use italicizing, not underlining.
6. Ellipses. Treat an ellipsis as a single word, constructed of three periods preceded and followed by a space—for example: "The idea was ... hers."
7. Commas. Use "serial commas." That is, in a series of three or more elements, separate each element by a comma—for example: "The names were Ax, Boxx, and Crux." In addition, do not use a comma to separate Jr. or Sr. from the name—for example: John Kennedy Jr.
8. Word Preferences.
1. Use appendixes or indexes, not appendices or indices.
2. Use citation, not cite, and citing, not "Bluebooking."
3. Generally, do not hyphenate legal writing or legal research.