Instructions for Jurimetrics' Referees

Your review helps the editor decide whether to publish the manuscript, and, when appropriate, it helps the author improve the manuscript.  If you believe the paper should not be published, you can limit your comments to the reasons for your view.  If you believe that it is publishable, then your suggestions for revision are more important.

Your report and recommendation should be emailed to the editor who requested your review or to the Managing Editor at jurimetrics@asu.edu.  If attaching your report in a separate file, please use Word or WordPerfect. The report will be cut and pasted as needed to transmit the report to the author while preserving anonymity.  Mailing a hard copy of your report to the address above on a separate sheet with no heading and unsigned is also acceptable. Any remarks you wish to make that you do not want the author to see should be separate from your actual report. Referees should complete the review within three weeks.

Your comments should be specific and seek to answer any of the following questions that are relevant to the article you are reviewing:

  • Is the paper suitable for Jurimetrics' audience?
  • Is it a sufficiently interesting and original contribution?
  • Are there parts of the paper that are unsound, misleading, or dull?
  • Are there parts that are unnecessarily argumentative or unfairly derogatory of other authorities?
  • Are there elements of the paper that you do not feel qualified to evaluate?
  • Does the author give adequate citation to cases and authorities?
  • Are there parts, including footnotes, that should be condensed?
  • Does the writing require improvements and if so, where and how?
  • Are the figures and tables clear, understandable, and properly captioned? Are there more than necessary? 
  • Do you recommend that Jurimetrics publish the paper?
  • If you do not recommend publishing, is the paper worth revising? If so, what revisions do you suggest?

Obviously not all these questions will be relevant to all papers.  Those papers that are quite good or quite poor can be dealt with most easily.  Those that require revision, but are nonetheless good enough to be worth revising, take the most time.

Refereeing is time consuming, and we greatly appreciate your effort.  Without conscientious referees, the editor's job would be impossible.  We thank you for your help.