Quick Checklist for Authors
- Focus: In-depth analysis and longer-term trends
- Length: 2,000–5,000 words, including endnotes (generally 5–10 single-spaced, typewritten pages)
- Format and Style: A cross between law review and magazine articles
- Place citations in footnotes or endnotes (not within your text)
- Citations must be complete; strive for good Bluebook style
- Use simple text formatting: Times New Roman, 12 point, single-spaced
- Title and Author(s)
- Provide a suggested title (recommended 6–9 words in length)
- For each author, provide a byline and a 2- to 3-line bio, including an email address
- Complete and return your Author Intake Form to the Managing Editor
- Complete a Publication Agreement
- Warranty: Submission warrants that your article does not infringe on rights of others
- No Publishing Guarantee: Acceptance does not guarantee publication or placement in a particular issue
- Submit Your Article in Word—not as a PDF—via email to:
- Questions and Information on Landslide magazine, all ABA-IPL publications, and use of your article:
1. Focus
Landslide magazine is published digitally in September/October, December/January, March/April, and June/July. Its mission is to provide readers with in-depth analysis and longer-term trends in intellectual property law and related subjects.
2. Length
The length of feature articles may run from about 2,000 to 5,000 words including endnotes. If you think your article will run longer, notify the Editor as soon as possible.
3. General Format and Style
Although Landslide magazine often publishes law review–type articles, the tone of its articles can be conversational rather than formal. However, articles may be scholarly in terms of writing style and tone, and, where necessary, they should contain footnotes or endnotes (not in-text citations). Interesting titles, short headings, and subheadings are highly desirable. Articles in Landslide magazine may not contain text that may be construed as an advertisement or promotion.
Landslide magazine follows the style guidelines of the latest edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation and The Chicago Manual of Style, as well as certain established formatting requirements. Citations must be placed in footnotes or endnotes and should not be embedded within the main text. If possible, the number of notes should be minimized. Please use only one cite; parallel cites are not necessary. Note that all correct citations must be provided by authors.
4. Updates
If major changes occur in legislation, regulations, or judicial interpretation prior to publication, you may update a previously submitted article, if time permits, upon consultation with the Managing Editor.
5. Graphs, Charts, Etc.
The use of charts, tables, photographs, and illustrations will be included at the discretion of the magazine. Graphs, charts, and the like can be accepted only if created by the author of the article or if the author has obtained permission to use them, and the author will be required to represent and warrant that permission has been obtained. In the latter case, credit must be given to the author(s) of the graph or chart.
When an article contains tables, charts, or similar items, these should be submitted as separate files in their “native format”—i.e., the format in which they were created. Native format files enable the magazine to publish them in a high-resolution format.
6. Images
The ABA is careful to use only those images for which it has permission. Permission is always confirmed in writing. If you have images you would like to use in conjunction with your article, notify the Managing Editor and provide permissions and assistance in the researching of licensing options and costs. Note that all images used must be provided to the magazine in a high-resolution format (300 dpi minimum). Use of any images is at the discretion of the magazine and is not guaranteed.
7. Submit Your Article
Please submit your article as a Word file attached to one email addressed to:
8. Acceptance Policy
No single member of the Editorial Board has the authority to commit to the publication of any article before it has been submitted, even when the article has been specifically solicited by a member of the Board. Authors are notified of the acceptance or rejection of articles. In its discretion, the Editorial Board may withdraw an article previously selected for publication, delay publication of a selected article, or reschedule a selected article. The Editor-in-Chief of the magazine reserves the right to refuse to publish any article. Your submission of an article does not constitute official acceptance for publication. An article may not be accepted for publication for a number of reasons, including, for example, the overlap of content with that of past or future articles. For topics previously covered in Landslide magazine, the Index may be found online.
9. Editing
The magazine reserves the right to edit submissions as necessary for clarity, substance, conciseness, style, and length; for Bluebook and Chicago Manual of Style requirements; and for formatting needs. Major editorial revisions affecting the substance of an article will be cleared with you before the article is submitted for publication. Rounds of review must proceed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
10. Author Credits
Authors will receive bylines and a 2- to 3-line biography. Generally, these short bios will include only the author’s name, place of employment or school, city and state, and practice areas. Authors are encouraged to include their email addresses in their bios but may decline to do so upon notification to the Managing Editor. Note that author names will eventually be linked to profile pages on the ABA website. Authors are encouraged to update their profile and add a photo.
The authors named should be only those who have actually written the article. For articles with multiple authors, the authors are encouraged to be identified in an order that reflects their relative contributions to the article, regardless of seniority or stature. Bylines generally should not include individuals whose contributions were purely ministerial, research, or editorial, though acknowledgment of such contributions may be appropriate at the end of the author’s bio (e.g., “The author thanks . . .”). If the article is the project of a committee or group, the author (if a single author) or person designated as the editorial contact (if multiple authors) should so indicate at the time of submission. Only individuals may be authors; a committee or group may not be listed as an author.
11. Disclosure
Each author should disclose any relationship they may have with a firm, company, or person producing any product or providing any service referred to in the article and any financial or other interest they may have in any product or service discussed in the article. Full disclosure will allow the editors to judge the objectivity of the author, determine whether a real or apparent conflict of interest exists, and determine whether disclosure should be made in publishing the article.
12. Warranty and Representation
By submitting an article to Landslide magazine, the author warrants and represents that they have included no material in the article in violation of any rights of any other person or entity, have disclosed to the magazine all relationships with any person or entity producing any product or providing any service referred to in the article, and have disclosed any financial or other interest in any product or service discussed in the article.
13. Copyright / Publication Agreement
When submitting an article to Landslide magazine, the author grants the ABA an irrevocable option to acquire certain property rights in their article. Specifically, the author grants the ABA the exclusive right of first publication and other nonexclusive license rights in accordance with the standard ABA publication agreement. Authors of accepted articles are required to complete a
publication agreement, which includes the author’s warranty that the work is original and does not infringe on the rights of others. A link to the publication agreement will be sent to all authors upon acceptance of each article. A completed agreement for each author must be received by the ABA prior to publication of the article. The ABA will not publish an article without first receiving a signed agreement.
The author retains the copyright in the article, but the ABA and Landslide magazine, on acceptance of the article for publication, shall have:
- The exclusive right of first publication worldwide;
- The perpetual nonexclusive worldwide right to publish, reproduce, distribute, sell, adapt, perform, display, and license the article, or any part thereof, alone or in conjunction with other materials;
- The perpetual nonexclusive worldwide right to use the article, or any part thereof, in any other publication produced by the ABA and/or on the ABA’s website;
- The perpetual nonexclusive worldwide right to use the article to promote and publicize the ABA or its publications; and
- The nonexclusive right to use your name, likeness, and biography in connection with the advertising, publicity, and promotion of the article.
You may post your Landslide article on your personal and/or firm website, but only after the article has appeared in the digital version of Landslide magazine.
14. Multiple Submissions
If an article is submitted or accepted for publication elsewhere before acceptance by the magazine, the author must notify the Managing Editor immediately. As a general rule, the magazine does not accept articles that have been published elsewhere. The submission of previously published material is permitted only with the express permission of the Editor-in-Chief.
15. Payment for Articles
Neither the ABA nor Landslide magazine provides payment for the writing of articles.
16. Employer Approval of Articles
If you are required by the terms of your employment to obtain firm/supervisor approval prior to the publication of an article, please submit the article for approval with sufficient time for review prior to your editorial deadline.
17. For questions about Landslide magazine and the ABA-IPL Section
Mike Winkler, [email protected], Director, ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law