NYU Journal of International Law and Politics Becomes a Peer-Reviewed Journal

NYU’s Journal of International Law and Politics (JILP) has recently announced that it “is transforming from a purely student edited journal into a peer reviewed journal in which all leading articles will henceforth be selected with the assistance of leading academics in the field.” See the announcement here.

Why the change? The announcement explains:

Authors publishing in the new JILP will benefit from additional editorial input and our readers can expect high-quality scholarship in all areas of international law and politics.

This transformation was student-initiated. The JILP will continue to involve students in all respects but will involve legal scholars who are affiliated with NYU (either as members of the permanent faculty or in other capacities) in the selection and substantive editing of articles in their area of expertise. The new JILP will continue to publish student notes and book annotations. It will maintain its broad focus on all aspects of international law and seek the finest scholarship from both established authors as well as younger scholars.

The inaugural issue will have as its managing editor José E. Alvarez…

While JILP will now use peer-review for all articles, it is clear that students will still be involved throughout the process (and as a former JILP Symposium Editor, I’m happy to hear this). The new submissions process will include both student and faculty involvement:

All manuscripts received will be evaluated by our Editor in Chief and the Faculty Managing Editor for that particular issue, by several senior articles and managing editors from its Editorial Board, and by one or two referees from the panel of peer reviewers listed on its mast head consisting of NYU faculty members and other affiliated faculty.

Student-run law journals in the U.S. often turn their law school’s faculty for guidance on whether or not to accept certain articles. What JILP is doing, though, is regularizing and institutionalizing this relationship, as well as placing the faculty in the role of substantive editors and putting a faculty member in charge of the whole process. Whether this is a harbinger of similar shifts by other journals remains to be seen…