Articles
The Berkeley Journal of International Law invites submissions of original manuscripts on novel issues relating to public or private international law, broadly defined.
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We will accept submissions to BJIL, Volume 45, Issue 2, which will be published in Fall 2027, between July 15 and September 2, 2026. Please review our Submissions Guidelines before submitting.
Submission Guidelines
A complete submission must include the following three materials:
1. An original manuscript of an article relating to a matter of public or private international law.
The article must comply with the following guidelines:
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Length: Submissions should be between 25,000 and 30,000 words, including footnotes, and in compliance with our attached AI-use policy.
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Format: All manuscripts must be in Microsoft Word-compatible format. Citations should conform with the most recent edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (most recent edition). Authors should be prepared to supply any cited sources upon request.
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Abstract: The article must include an abstract between 250 and 400 words.
2. CV of author(s)
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The CV must include an exhaustive list of current publications of each author
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The CV must include the active e-mail address and phone number of each author at which they can be reached throughout the review period.
3. AI-use disclosure statement which can be downloaded here.
This must be signed and dated by all authors.
Please note that, due to the high volume of submissions, we cannot consider articles that do not satisfy these requirements. We are also unable to offer feedback on articles not accepted for publication.
Information for Authors
Submissions Process
BJIL only accepts submissions through Scholastica.
If this poses a barrier to you, please email our Senior Submissions Editors with your complete submission packet titled “Fall 2027 (or Spring 2028) Article Submission_last name” at bjilsubmissions@berkeley.edu.
Author Eligibility
We welcome submissions from academics, PhD students, and legal practitioners who acquired their primary law degree at least five years before the projected publication date.
Current J.D. and LL.M. students, and those who have graduated in the past five years, are not eligible to submit pieces as regular articles and should instead submit pieces to our blog, Travaux, or to the Student Note contest.
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BJIL’s Publication Timeline
BJIL publishes twice a year—the fall issue in December and the spring issue in May—under a single masthead. The 2026-27 editorial team will publish four full-length articles and one student note in each of its two issues.
Beginning with the summer of 2026, we will only be accepting full-length article submissions during our two open windows.
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Fall 2026: Submissions open on July 15 and closes on September 2. We will make offers of acceptance no later than December 15, 2026.
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Spring 2027: Submissions open on January 15 and closes on March 2. We will make offers of acceptance no later than May 15, 2027.
Successful articles go through three semesters of review.
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Expedited Review
On a case-by-case basis and upon request, BJIL will provide expedited review for authors who have received an offer of publication from another journal. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to review your article if you request an expedited review.
Please direct requests for expedited review to the Submissions Editors at bjilsubmissions@berkeley.edu with the subject line “EXPEDITED REVIEW_last name_article title”.
Requests should specify: (1) the journal that has accepted the article AND (2) the deadline that journal has given to respond. While we work to accommodate requests for expedited review, we generally cannot guarantee a response within a specific deadline and may ask for extensions as needed.
For our Fall 2027 intake cycle, we will only consider expedited review requests after September 2, 2026.
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Use of AI
BJIL does not accept scholarship authored or co-authored by AI. BJIL's editorial board will release its AI use policy on July 15, 2026. Authors submitting articles for consideration in the 2026-27 cycle must be in conformity with this policy. ​​​​​​