ylj-workflow

YLJ Workflow Router (ylj-workflow)

The orchestrator for a Yale Law Journal submission. YLJ is a student-edited, generalist law review

at Yale Law School — not peer-reviewed. Figure out the track and the stage, then send the

user to the matching skill. Unlike a peer-reviewed journal, the piece must already read as a **near-final,

heavily-footnoted, Bluebook-compliant** article when it is submitted, because student editors evaluate a

finished manuscript and then cite-check every footnote.

When to trigger

• Starting a new piece for YLJ and unsure where to begin
• Mid-draft and unsure which skill applies next
• Deciding which track fits (Article / Essay / Feature / Note / Comment / Forum)
• Holding an offer from another review and weighing an expedite (route to ylj-placement-strategy)
• An offer landed and student editing is starting (route to ylj-student-editor-review)

First question: which track?

| Situation | Track | Route to |

|-----------|-------|----------|

| Full original scholarship by a professional author | Article (encourage < 25,000 words incl. footnotes) | normal pipeline below |

| Shorter, more pointed professional piece | Essay (encourage < 15,000 words incl. footnotes) | normal pipeline, tighter scope |

| Curated multi-piece collection / symposium contribution | Feature | ylj-thesis-and-contribution + ylj-placement-strategy |

| Student-authored long-form scholarship (Yale Law student) | Note (first-time cap ~20,000 words) | ylj-student-editor-review (Notes Development) early |

| Student-authored short piece (Yale Law student) | Comment (first-time cap ~7,000 words) | ylj-student-editor-review early |

| Short, timely online response or essay | YLJ Forum (encourage < 10,000 words) | ylj-revision-and-editing (Forum path) |

> Caps are the figures YLJ "strongly encourages"; over-length weighs against acceptance

> (检索于 2026-06；以官网为准). Notes/Comments are written by Yale Law students; outside authors use

> Article/Essay/Feature/Forum.

Routing map (stage → skill)

Is the topic YLJ-worthy?         → ylj-topic-selection
What exactly is the claim?       → ylj-thesis-and-contribution
Has anyone said this already?    → ylj-preemption-check
Does the argument hold?          → ylj-argument-structure
Are the cites pinpointed/Bluebook?→ ylj-sources-and-bluebook
Does the prose read like YLJ?    → ylj-writing-style
Where + when to submit/expedite? → ylj-placement-strategy
Working with student editors?    → ylj-student-editor-review
Ready to upload?                 → ylj-submission
In the edit cycle / Forum?       → ylj-revision-and-editing
Final footnote + cite-check?     → ylj-footnotes-and-cite-check

Default order

`topic-selection → thesis-and-contribution → preemption-check → argument-structure →

sources-and-bluebook → writing-style → placement-strategy → submission → student-editor-review →

revision-and-editing → footnotes-and-cite-check`

Iterate: most pieces loop thesis ↔ preemption ↔ argument several times before the prose polish. The

footnote apparatus is built throughout, not bolted on at the end — ylj-footnotes-and-cite-check

runs both before submission and again during the editorial source-pull.

Generalist fit check (run before routing onward)

| Check | Pass condition | Route if weak |

|-------|----------------|---------------|

| Audience | A generalist legal reader (not just your subfield) can state why the claim matters. | ylj-topic-selection |

| Novelty | The thesis is not preempted by an existing article, student note, or working paper. | ylj-preemption-check |

| Apparatus | Every assertion of law or fact is footnoted with a pinpoint Bluebook cite. | ylj-sources-and-bluebook |

| Posture | The piece is near-final — not a draft you plan to finish after acceptance. | ylj-writing-style |

Anti-patterns

• Treating YLJ like a peer-reviewed journal that will co-develop a rough draft — student editors evaluate a finished article
• Submitting before the footnote apparatus is complete and Bluebook-conforming
• Forgetting YLJ uses its own online submission system (not Scholastica/ExpressO) — see ylj-submission
• Assuming an expedite buys priority — at YLJ expedite gives no competitive advantage (see ylj-placement-strategy)
• Pitching a narrow doctrinal note as a generalist Article without a claim that travels

Output format

【Stage】topic / thesis / preemption / argument / cites / prose / placement / submit / editing / forum / cite-check
【Track】Article / Essay / Feature / Note / Comment / Forum
【Route to】ylj-<skill>
【Why】one line
【Then】the next skill after that

Supplementary resources

• [../../resources/external_tools.md](../../resources/external_tools.md) — legal research databases + citation/Bluebook tooling
• [../../resources/official-source-map.md](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — official YLJ URLs behind every fact in this pack