ILLINOIS BAR JOURNAL MANUSCRIPT GUIDESHEET

With few exceptions, the Illinois Bar Journal publishes practice-oriented articles for Illinois lawyers. We are not a law review; we are "news you can use" for the Illinois legal community. The ideal IBJ manuscript is written 1) with harried small firm/sole practitioners in mind (they make up most of our membership) 2) in a well-organized, easy-to-digest, cut-to-the-chase style. In fact, we encourage you to use the journalistic inverted pyramid, putting the important information in the opening paragraphs so readers can quickly determine what the article is about. And take a how-to approach. For example, if you write about a new case or statute, don't just describe it. Explain what it means for practitioners and how they should respond to it.

Simultaneous submissions - We will not consider articles that have been simultaneously submitted to or published by another publication, including an ISBA publication. No topic may be reserved for an author. All manuscripts are considered on a first come, first served basis. Also, we reserve the right to edit all manuscripts - heavily, if necessary - for length, clarity, organization, and style.

Pending cases - Unless we commission it, we almost never publish a manuscript that discusses as a major thrust of its thesis a case where a petition for rehearing or leave to appeal is pending or has been granted. We cannot publish an article about a pending case if an author is counsel for plaintiff or defendant or a member of the same firm as counsel for plaintiff or defendant in the pending case.

THE REVIEW PROCESS
Every volunteer-written manuscript goes to a panel of the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board for review. The panel decides whether to accept or reject it, based on the importance of the topic to practicing lawyers, breadth of appeal, timeliness, quality of analysis, clarity, and organization. The panel sometimes requires rewriting or editing as a prerequisite to approval. We reserve the right to reject even manuscripts we solicit if they do not meet our standards.

MECHANICAL REQUIREMENTS

Length - Lead articles should be no longer than 3,500 words, or 10-12 pages, double-spaced on 8 ½" by 11" paper, including endnotes. Longer articles are accepted only under exceptional circumstances.

Editing - articles may be heavily edited by ISBA for clarity and style.

Endnotes and citations - Any citations should be in endnote form, not in the body of the manuscript. Unreported cases should include docket number and court. Note that we use The University of Chicago Law Review Style Sheet as the IBJ's legal citation manual. Consult it as you prepare your manuscript.

Main heading - Compose a five-to-10 word main heading or title for the article; if you cannot convey the essence of your article in ten words or fewer you may need to sharpen its focus.

Summary - Include a very brief summary of your manuscript with the main heading. (See a recent issue of the Illinois Bar Journal for examples - they appear in italics at the beginning of the article.)

Biography - Include a one-sentence biography of yourself.

Copyright - The Illinois State Bar Association requires all Illinois Bar Journal authors to transfer copyright ownership of their articles to the ISBA by signing our copyright transfer form.

HOW TO SEND MANUSCRIPTS
Send the article as an e-mail attachment to Mark Mathewson at mmathew@isba.org. Please include your complete contact information, including e-mail and office and home telephone numbers.