Commentator's Guide
Welcome to the Commentator's Guide!
The JOLT Digest Commentary section is a new platform for professionals, academics, and students to participate in ongoing discussions about cutting-edge legal issues without the formality of our Notes or the impartiality of our Reports. By removing formalities such as Bluebooking citations, we hope that our Comments can bring forth critical insights and opinions in a timely manner. Indeed, drafting Comments should take at most one month from idea to publication!
Digest Comments are about 2,000 words and can come in several general forms: opinion pieces, primers, or responses. This guide will provide an overview of your responsibilities as the author of a Digest Comment.
Writing Process in a Nutshell
The Commentary writing process can be broken down into the following steps.
Step 1: Getting Started
Step 2: Drafting the Comment
Step 3: Digest Masthead Edits
Step 4: Finalizing the Comment
Step 1: Getting Started
You, the Comment author, are hoping to publish a Comment with JOLT Digest. Your first task is to come up with a topic. Because Comments should be timely and related to law and technology, you can run your topic by the Digest Executive Editor. However, you can also submit a draft without asking us beforehand.
As mentioned in the introduction, Comments come in three forms: opinion pieces, primers, or responses. Below is a summary of each.
Opinion Pieces
Opinion pieces are argumentative. They should clearly indicate the logical progression of the argument, rely on facts, and declare their assumptions.
These Comments can generally be sorted into three types of arguments:
Identifying a new problem;
Proposing a process to solve a problem; or
Advancing a specific solution to an identified problem
If you feel that your piece does not fit cleanly within this description, that is fine.
Primers
Primers should introduce individuals with no knowledge to the topic. They are not argumentative. Instead, primers offer a common language and understanding behind a dispute. For example, several primers might have stemmed from the FBI–Apple dispute: (i) introduction to encryption; (ii) introduction to iPhone security features; and (iii) introduction to the All Writs Act.
A primer can also address several issues related to the topic. For example, you can write a Primer on the FBI-Apple dispute that covers each of the above topics.
Responses
Response pieces must reply to a JOLT publication. We strongly favor responses to articles published in our print edition. Authors should clearly identify the contested article, acknowledge where they agree with the JOLT publication and where they disagree. JOLT Digest will inform the author of the contested article that a response is being drafted so that he or she has the option to draft a rebuttal.
Step 2: Drafting the Comment
If seeking our approval for your topic, you must send us a draft within two (2) weeks of receiving our confirmation. The Comment must be consistent with the Digest Commentary Style Guide.
The final Comment should be around 2,000 words in length. Because Digest’s readership varies in terms of familiarity, you should assume the reader knows very little about the chosen subject. Comments should thus include a brief introduction to the problem, explain why the topic is important, and provide links to foundational knowledge.
You may include a short biography at the end of the Comment, as well as links to your social media accounts.
Step 3: Digest Masthead Edits
Please send your completed draft to the Digest Executive Editor (currently Filippo Raso). The Digest Executive Editor will review the Comment for factual accuracy, compliance with the style guide, and organization. The Digest Executive Editor will only reject claims that are patently untrue, though he may request additional sources to establish the validity of a claim.
Step 4: Finalizing the Comment
The Digest Executive Editor will return the Comment to you for your final review. Please address his comments. With your approval, he will post the final article on the Digest Commentary page.
Thank You!
The JOLT Digest team thanks you for the time you will be putting into creating Digest content. Please feel free to email the Digest Masthead if you have any concerns or suggestions on improving the process!
Last updated