Article Selection Process
The East Asia Law Review strives to publish only high quality, original manuscripts. In order to accomplish this goal, every submission that the East Asia Law Review receives is carefully reviewed by three reviewers before an offer of publication is extended.
Submissions are ranked in six categories designed to effectively determine both the potential scholarly impact of any given manuscript and the amount of editorial effort that will need to be put forth to make it publishable. Before extending an offer of publication, we check against the existing literature to ensure that the manuscript has not been preempted - that is, the article is either no longer relevant because of a change in law or policy, or the content of the article has substantially appeared elsewhere. We also assess the relative strength of an author's assertions.
With that in mind, American law reviews typically do not operate like other refereed publications. For example, although we do not consider the author's credentials, we ask for a copy of an author's CV because it allows us to compare a submission to the author's prior works and therefore determine whether the submission is significantly original. Because the selection is performed by the editorial board, it is not a "blind" review. While we do occasionally seek feedback from our faculty advisor or from other professionals in the selection process, we do not always deem it necessary to do so; our board is generally qualified to assess the strength and importance of any particular manuscript.
Because articles are reviewed in the order they are received, it behooves authors to submit their manuscripts as soon as they feel that the manuscripts are of publishable quality. In general, we attempt to complete our initial review of a submission within two weeks of receipt. However, at times it may take us longer, especially in early part of our cycle.
Authors who do not receive an immediate response should note that their submissions are still under consideration; we will respond to all submissions. Because the journal has limited resources, and because we endeavor to put out only the highest quality product, we cannot grant an offer of publication to every piece we receive. Conversely, not every author chooses to accept an offer once made. If you have not heard back it is because we have not come to a final decision, althouhg you are free to contact us to inquire about the status of your submission.
