Franchise Law Journal
Guidelines for Authors

The Franchise Law Journal, the quarterly scholarly publication of the ABA Forum on Franchising, seeks to inform and educate lawyers and other interested readers by publishing articles, columns, and reviews concerning legal developments relevant to franchising as a method of distributing products and services.

Article Length. Feature articles traditionally are between 5,000 and 7,500 words, or 25-to-30 double-spaced pages in length. Depending on the topic and depth of focus, the Journal also accepts some shorter articles.

Style. The writing should be appropriate for a law review article. To that end, authors should

• Use gender-neutral language
• Avoid long quotations
• Avoid excess verbiage
• Avoid using a long word when a short one will do
• Avoid using a foreign phrase, scientific word, or jargon if you can think of a more common English equivalent
• Avoid overworked figures of speech
• Avoid excessive capitalization
• Avoid excessive use of commas

Endnotes. All references must be completely and accurately cited, using the citation style of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, Eighteenth Edition.

Author Biography. Please include a one-sentence description of your current professional affiliation, including your title, organization, mailing (both USPS and e-mail) addresses, and telephone number.

Manuscript Preparation. All references must be cited. Use endnotes rather than embedded references,  number pages; italicize rather than underline; use Word; and submit the manuscripts as e-mail attachments. Do not use italics or boldface for editorial emphasis.

Prior Publication. Simultaneous submission of manuscripts to other publications is discouraged and must be brought to the attention of the editor of Franchise Law Journal. Unless otherwise clearly noted, all manuscripts are expected to be original.

Copyright. The American Bar Association retains the copyright to all material published in Franchise Law Journal. Authors are asked to sign a copyright agreement that grants to the ABA the exclusive right of first publication, the nonexclusive right to reprint, and the right to use the work in other ABA media—including electronic, print, and other. Special arrangements, although discouraged, can be made for authors who must retain copyright to their articles. Authors will receive a PDF copy of their final articles suitable for posting on their organizations’ websites.

Send Manuscripts to:
Deborah S. Coldwell, Editor-in-Chief Designate, at deborah.coldwwell@haynesboone.com