Fordham University School of Law’s Voting Rights and Democracy Forum welcomes submissions for our online journal and blog (the Forum’s Commentary section). Please see below for details regarding submission guidelines and our selection criteria.
The Forum is an online publication dedicated to publishing timely articles, essays, and commentaries on voting rights and democracy-related issues, as well as how these areas intersect with racial and gender justice, and issues of social equity more generally. The primary focus of the Forum is the United States, however, comparative pieces dealing with other countries are welcome. As one of the first journals exclusively focused on voting rights and democracy-related issues, the Forum publishes pieces on topics including, but not limited to:
The Forum publishes scholarly pieces by law professors and students, judges, legal practitioners, policymakers, and other legal experts. We publish throughout the academic year and accept submissions on a continuous basis. We are currently reviewing submissions for Volume 1 (Issues No. 4) to be published during the 2023 spring academic year. The Forum publishes two types of content in our online journal:
Article and essay submissions to the Forum should be in Microsoft Word (.docx) format, with footnotes, not endnotes, according to the conventions found in the 21st edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.
Prospective authors are encouraged to submit through Scholastica or via email.
Submitting via Scholastica:
Submitting via Email:
To offer a submission via email, please email the Editor-in-Chief at democracyforum.eic@law.fordham.edu with “Article Submission” or “Essay Submission” in the subject line. Authors should submit a C.V. (or resume) with their manuscript. All sources must be sent by the author upon request.
The Forum publishes blog posts (commentaries) from law professors, students, and other legal practitioners. The Forum‘s Commentary section provides a space for immediate reactions and analysis of today’s most pressing legal issues affecting voting rights, civil rights, democratic institutions, elections, legislation, and democracy.
We are seeking commentaries between 400 and 1,000 words for publication with light editing from the Forum staff. Additionally, submissions should contain hyperlinks to sources, but do not need to contain footnotes. Examples of commentaries include:
All contributions should be sent to the Executive Commentary Editor at democracyforum.ece@law.fordham.edu with “Commentary Submission” in the subject line. Current law students should additionally submit a C.V. (or resume).
Election law, voting, and democracy are complicated. The Forum hosts a Resources page that provides succinct explanations of relevant topics. Additionally, the Forum Resources page highlights scholarly articles, opinion editorials, and blog posts by a variety of legal professionals. If you would like your scholarship to be featured, please email our Executive Resources Page Editor at democracyproject@law.fordham.edu with “Resources Page Submission” in the subject line.
To train the next generation of lawyers in the law and practice of voting rights, ballot access, campaign finance, election administration, and democracy protection.