Editing a Law Journal

In one line

Editing a law journal means deciding what gets published, making sure it is true, making sure it is the author's own, and getting the issue out on time.

In exam wording: the editorial function comprises selection, peer review, substantive and technical editing, enforcement of house style and citation format, screening for plagiarism, and production of the issue.

Why this is on a law syllabus at all

Two reasons, one of which surprises students.

Most law colleges run a journal, and the editorial board is made of students. This is one of the few topics in the course that a reader may have to do next month.

And an advocate is expressly permitted to do it. Rule 51 of the Bar Council of India Rules, in the Section headed "Restriction on other Employments", provides that an advocate may review Parliamentary Bills for a remuneration, edit legal text books at a salary, do press-vetting for newspapers, coach pupils for legal examination, set and examine question papers, and, subject to the rules against advertising and full-time employment, engage in broadcasting, journalism, lecturing and teaching.

Read that against Rule 47, which says an advocate shall not personally engage in any business, and Rule 49, which says he shall not be a full-time salaried employee of anyone while he continues to practise. Editorial work is one of the narrow things the Rules carve out. It is legitimate professional activity for an advocate, and chapter 780 explains why the carve-out has to be read strictly.

Who does what

A journal is not one job. Learn the roles, because an exam question on "editing a law journal" is usually asking for them.

Patron or Chief Patron. Usually the Vice Chancellor or Principal. Lends standing; does not edit.

Editor in Chief. Answerable for what is published. Decides in the last resort, sets the direction of the volume, and takes the consequences when something goes wrong.

Editorial Board. Academics and practitioners, often from other institutions. Their names on the masthead are a claim about quality, so a board that never meets is a misrepresentation.

Managing Editor. Runs the process: the calendar, the submissions, the correspondence with authors, the printer. This is the job that decides whether the issue appears.

Peer reviewers or referees. Outside experts who assess a submission on its merits. Usually anonymous.

Copy editors. Style, grammar, citations, consistency.

Student editors. In a college journal, most of the above. In many Indian law schools the journal is entirely student run, with a faculty adviser.

The submission's journey

This sequence is the answer to "describe the editorial process".

1. Submission and acknowledgement. Log it, give it a number, acknowledge receipt with a date. An unacknowledged submission is how a journal loses an author permanently.