The AALL/LexisNexis Call for Papers Committee promotes the scholarship of AALL members and of students through its annual “Call for Papers” competition. Papers, which may be submitted by active or retired AALL members, or by students in library, information management or law school, may address any subject relevant to law librarianship. Through the competition, the Committee seeks (1) to promote scholarship of interest to the profession of law librarianship; (2) to provide a creative outlet for law librarians and a forum for their scholarly activities; and (3) to recognize the scholarly efforts of established members, of new members, and of students who are considering a career as law librarians.
ELIGIBILITY
Papers may be submitted in any of the following categories:
- Open Division: Active and Retired AALL members who have been members for five or more years.
- New Member Division: for recent graduates and AALL members who have been in the profession for fewer than five years.
- Short Form Division: for AALL members; articles in this category will be shorter than a traditional scholarly article and may be appropriate for publication in AALL Spectrum.
- Student Division: Those enrolled in library school, information management school or the equivalent, or in law school, during the Fall 2020 or Spring 2021 semester. Entrants in the Student Division need not be members of AALL.
- If the Committee believes that a paper is more appropriately placed in a division other than the one originally selected by the entrant, it reserves the right, with the entrant’s permission, to place it in a different category.
CONTENT & FORMAT
No paper or portion of a paper that has been published or accepted for publication before March 1, 2021, will be eligible for consideration. Before submitting a paper, all authors are responsible for verifying that a substantially similar paper has not been published elsewhere. Papers submitted for courses are acceptable if they otherwise comply with the requirements of this contest.
A paper may address any subject relevant to law librarianship. It may be scholarly or practical in substance and tone, but the subject should be explored in depth with appropriate reference to sources and documentation of assertions.
Co-authored papers are acceptable, but each author who submits a co-authored entry for the Student Division must meet the student eligibility requirements of this category. Papers in the Open and New Members divisions may be co-authored with non-AALL members so long as the AALL member is the primary author of the submitted piece; in this case the prize will be awarded to the AALL member only. When all co-authors are AALL members, the winners will share the $650 award and the Short Form Division winner will receive $300. Entrants may submit more than one paper, but, may win only one prize per year. To encourage as wide participation in the competition as possible, authors may win a prize only twice in the same division.
Papers must be numbered and double-spaced with 1 1/2 inch margins. Past winners in the Open, New Member, and Student Division have typically run between 30-40 pages. Citation and style must conform to the requirements outlined in the Law Library Journal Editorial Policy. Each submission must be accompanied by a short abstract and a completed Application Form.
Submissions for the Student Division must include a supporting letter from an instructor at the institution where the student is enrolled (preferably the supervising faculty member of the paper).
SUBMISSIONS
REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION
- Download the AALL/LexisNexis Call For Papers Awards Application
- Paper (as Microsoft Word or PDF attachments only)
- Abstract (no more than 1 page)
- For Student Division submissions only: an instructor’s letter.
- All submissions must be Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF files and emailed as attachments to the AALL membership services manager.
DEADLINES
OPEN, NEW MEMBER OR SHORT DIVISION
To be eligible for an award in the Open, New Member, or Short Division, papers and all required supporting documents must be received by March 1, 2021.
STUDENT DIVISION
To be eligible for an award in the Student Division, papers and all required supporting documents must be received by May 14, 2021.
