The Dalhousie Law Journal (DLJ)

The DLJ was established in 1973 by then Dalhousie Law School Dean Ronald St John Macdonald (1928-2006). It is one of North America’s few faculty-run publications with an editorial board composed exclusively of full-time professors and professional librarians at the Schulich School of Law.

The DLJ’s aim is to enhance dialogue, analysis, and policy reform across a variety of legal areas through the publication and dissemination of new knowledge. We publish work on all legal topics, but the DLJ is commonly a venue for evidence-informed, policy-relevant contributions. It is published twice a year.

We especially encourage submissions from emerging scholars and welcome submissions in English and French.

Beginning in 2020, the DLJ is published online and free of charge on Schulich Law Scholars. Schulich Law Scholars is an open access institutional repository for gathering, indexing, storing, and making widely available the scholarly output of the Schulich Law community. It is a service of the Sir James Dunn Law Library in conjunction with the Schulich School of Law Faculty Research Committee.

Information for Contributors

Additional information on submissions can be located on the DLJ's website.

Submission Standards

When assessing submissions, the DLJ editor considers the following elements:

• Quality of scholarship: quality and depth of research, originality of the author’s contribution, analytical richness, clarity of the author’s claims, and persuasiveness of the author’s argument;
• Literary style: writing style, organization/logical coherence;
• Use of citations: over/under references, accuracy of sources, relationship and relevance to the text, conformity to the McGill style guide or the Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide(COAL);
• Relevance: relevance to Canadian readership, timeliness, currency.

Content

The Dalhousie Law Journal accepts submissions from anywhere in the world, in either English or French, from academics, practitioners, judges, and students. Where possible, the DLJ prioritizes promising papers by emerging scholars. Submissions on any law-related topics are considered, but the DLJ generally does not publish articles devoted exclusively to the law of foreign countries.

Format

The Dalhousie Law Journal does not accept articles over 15,000 words (including footnotes). Submissions must include a 150-300 word abstract and approximately 5 keywords. The DLJ accepts submissions that use either the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill) or the Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide (COAL). The DLJ is committed to open access legal scholarship and as such is moving towards the full adoption of COAL however, will continue to accept articles using the McGill guide. Authors should also familiarize themselves with Best Practices for Writing About Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Legal Context: An Evolving Style Guide. Please send submissions via email in Microsoft Word format only.

For more information please visit the DLJ's website.

Indexing

The DLJ is indexed in Index to Legal Periodicals, Index to Legal Periodicals Retroactive, HeinOnline Law Journal Library, LexisNexis Academic, ProQuest Agricultural & Environmental Science Database and ProQuest CBCA Database.