Guide to Authors

The basics

1. Opening line

   If there is one sentence you need to spend time on, it's this one. It will set the tone of the piece and entice your reader to read on — or not. It should be informative and interesting without being overly detailed or sensational (don't go 'tabloid'). Its tone should be persuasive enough to bring your fellow experts on side and sufficiently engaging for non-specialists to consider reading it as a general interest piece in its own right.

2. Tell a story

   There is no such thing as a 'dull but important' development; if it's important but it's not immediately obvious why, then make it clear in the first few paragraphs, by providing examples for instance. Tell readers what you think the story is and bring it to life.

   1. So what?

      While it's useful to report what the judge has said in a ruling or what a new Bill is about, bear in mind the chances are our readers — your peers — will already know about it. Instead, they will be interested in your own analysis, thoughts and views. So, make sure you provide the answer to this question: 'so what?' This should make up two thirds of your article.

   2. Be concise

      Readers' time is as precious as yours, so be sharp and to the point and avoid padding out.

   3. What you think

      SJ provides two types of articles: practical insight into current legal issues or personal views. Either way, we want to hear what you think, not what we already know from reading the news or law reports.

   4. Jargon and technicalities

      You can be accurate and avoid ambiguities without having recourse to jargon or technical formulas — they get in the way and are usually not necessary. Remember, even if you are writing for an audience of educated peers, you are not writing a case report, presenting a case in court or writing to the other side.

Submitting copy

Articles should be submitted to editorial@solicitorsjournal.com as attachments (Microsoft Word documents or simple Text documents).

For ease of identification, please ensure the author's name appears clearly at the top of the article. Please also provide:

1. A brief description of yourself/the author(s) (e.g. John Smith is a partner at Smith and Co Solicitors).
2. Your/the author's contact details (postal and email addresses and telephone number).
3. A high-resolution, colour photograph of yourself/the author. If photos are scanned, they should be scanned at least at their original size, at a resolution of 300 dpi and saved in either jpeg or tiff format.

Any queries? Email editorial@solicitorsjournal.com

Word count

Maximum word counts for SJ articles:

1. Opinion/comment — 800 words (one printed page)
2. Business — 1,500 words (two printed pages)
3. Practice Notes — 1,500 words (two printed pages)
4. Features — 3,000 words (four printed pages)

Republishing guidelines

• Authors are free to circulate free links to their papers at any time to their network of contacts, on the condition that they mention the article was first published by the Solicitors Journal.
• We provide contributors with a free subscription for 1 month after their article has been uploaded online.
• We ask contributors refrain from re-submitting SJ content to any other commercial publications.
• Shared content must include a credit back to the original publication and a link to the article on the SJ website.
• All content published by The Solicitors Journal is protected by copyright and owned by The International In-house Counsel Journal Ltd.
• Reproducing, scraping, or using articles for AI training or commercial gain is strictly prohibited without explicit written permission.