Write For Us
Law & Space accepts a wide variety of short blog-style articles written with academic integrity but intended for a broad audience.
What We Publish
We are particularly interested in the following:
- short summaries of ongoing research projects
- contributions from current graduate students
- summaries of your own recent academic publications written for a broad audience
- explanations or discussions of key topics in legal geography
- application of legal geography concepts to timely public issues
- book reviews
- conference-related announcements and calls for papers
- profiles of important figures and thinkers in legal geography
Submissions do not have a word limit, but we aim for articles that are between 500 and 1,200 words. Our tone is intelligent but readable, with short, punchy paragraphs, selective citations, and a clear lede that will attract academic and non-academic readers alike.
If you would like to publish a post through Law & Space, reach out directly to the editorial team at lawandspacejournal[at]gmail.com or Austin Kocher at ackocher[at]syr.edu.
Pitches are encouraged rather than full submissions. Questions are always welcome!
General Remarks on Style
Articles on Law & Space are intended for a broad audience of educated non-specialists, the academic community, and legal geographers. Use the following tips to craft a strong article.
The style of posts should strive to be consistent with best practices in online writing in successful blogs and online news outlets without sacrificing intellectual integrity or appearing click-baity.
Titles should tell a mini-story in themselves.
The first paragraph of the article should hook readers with a key question, fact, or take-away tied to a relevant and timely issue of broad public interest.
Paragraphs should be short, typically 2-4 clear sentences with as few dependent and independent clauses as possible.
Use section headings to allow readers to follow the structure of the article.
Figures are encouraged, including maps, diagrams, photographs, charts, graphs, etc. A feature image will be included in every post. If none of the figures in the article are suitable, one will be chosen from an online source for free images such as Pexels.com.
One way to think about what makes a good post is to imagine writing it so that it stands alone as something that you can assign to an undergraduate class and feel comfortable that you’ve given them enough information to have learned something by the end.
Please provide a list of references in a final “For Further Reading” section of the article. These readings can be academic articles, books, popular articles, videos, reports, or anything that adds value for the reader.