Guidelines for Authors

The Journal of The Missouri Bar, previously The Missouri Bar Journal, has been in print since 1930. It continues to be relevant to the more than 30,000 attorneys, judges and law students who comprise its readership.

The primary purpose of the Journal is to provide timely articles that address issues of substantive law for the benefit of practitioners. This is accomplished through submissions by authors who write about developing trends that affect lawyers; new laws or changes in rules, regulations, or jury instructions; or the impact of newly-decided court cases. 

FAQs

HOW TO SUBMIT
If you are interested in writing an article, contact Editor Nicole Roberts-Hillen at nroberts@mobar.org. Please submit your article by e-mail to Assistant Editor Genna Tlustos at gtlustos@mobar.org. A Microsoft Word document is preferred.

FORMAT
Articles should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and should be no longer than 24 pages in length (including endnotes). To the extent possible, all language should be gender-neutral. When writing, do not put citations in the main text of the article. 

ENDNOTES/CITATIONS
The Journal uses endnotes. The first endnote should be a short bio of the author.

Citations should appear only in the endnotes and should be consistent with The Bluebook Uniform System of Citation (20th ed.). Citations are required for all quoted material and other statements requiring attribution (see the Journal’s "Citation Guidelines" for additional information).

FIRST PUBLICATION RIGHTS 
Any submitted article that has been previously published, either in whole or in part, is ineligible for publication in the Journal of The Missouri Bar. For that reason, submission of an article to multiple publications is discouraged.

DISCUSSING ACTIVE CASES/PENDING LEGISLATION
No article submitted for publication in the Journal should focus upon, or draw conclusions from, a case that is still pending. 

Avoid discussion of, and advocacy for or against, any legislation that is pending before the General Assembly at the time of submission. 

REVIEW PROCESS
All articles submitted for publication in the Journal of The Missouri Bar are sent to a Screening Committee. This committee decides whether to accept or reject an article based on the relevance of the topic to practicing lawyers, its timeliness, quality of analysis, clarity, organization, and other factors. The committee may also require authors to rewrite parts of the article as a prerequisite to approval.

This review process normally takes up to one month to complete. The Screening Committee does have the authority to recommend expedited publication if the importance or timeliness of the subject matter so warrants. 

CITE-CHECKING/EDITING
Every article approved for publication in the Journal will undergo a thorough cite-checking and editing process prior to publication. Articles will be edited for clarity, readability, and style (see the Journal’s Style Guide for additional information). In addition, any political commentary will be deleted.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY 
The Missouri Bar Board of Governors adopted the following conflict of interest policy: 1) Authors shall provide notice of any conflict of interest (Author Disclosure Form); 2) The Missouri Bar shall have discretion to reject or revise submissions to avoid the appearance of bias; and 3) Where appropriate, Missouri Bar publications shall provide an opportunity for opposing viewpoints to be considered.

PHOTOGRAPH
Authors are requested to furnish a recent color hi-resolution photograph. It should be formatted as a .jpg with a resolution of no less than 300 dpi, and sent to hkiddoo@mobar.org. We have found that photos taken with a smart phone and e-mailed at “Actual Size” fit those specifications.

(revised Dec. 9, 2024)