Student Note Submission

JOLT Student Note Competition

OVERVIEW

The Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (JOLT) is excited to announce our student note competition for the 2025–26 academic year for publication in Volume 39, Issue 1!

Submissions should engage with novel issues at the intersection of law and technology. Topics may include, but are not limited to: cybercrime, biotechnology, space law, entertainment and news media, comparative legal approaches to intellectual property, the law of the Internet, and technology in the public interest.

Each winner will receive a $1,000 cash award, and each winning note will be invited to publish in JOLT’s Volume 39, Issue 1. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on July 15th, 2025.

We encourage creative approaches to law and technology, and we encourage individuals with underrepresented perspectives and backgrounds to submit.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for the competition, both the author eligibility criteria and the note eligibility criteria must be satisfied.

Authors

Student note authors must fulfill the following conditions:

  • Authors must be one of the following:
    • a current law student enrolled in either 1) a program at an ABA-accredited law school, or 2) a law degree program at any non-U.S. university;
    • an alumnus within one year of graduation from any of the programs above; or
    • a current student supervised by a faculty member at an ABA-accredited law school or by the law faculty of an international university.
  • Authors must not have won a previous JOLT competition.

Notes

Notes must fulfill the following conditions:

  • Notes must be 4,000–8,000 words, not including footnotes.
  • Notes must not be simultaneously submitted for consideration at another publication venue.jolt.law.harvard.edu

Sample student notes are available on jolt.law.harvard.edu. Please feel free to consult them as you prepare your submission.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

To submit, please send the following two documents to joltstudentnotes@gmail.com. Your email subject line should read “JOLT STUDENT NOTE SUBMISSION”.

  1. Your completed Student Note Application, filled out from this document, titled Lastname_Firstname_Fall_v39_NoteApplication. Ex: Doe_Jane_Fall_v39_NoteApplication.docx
  2. The most complete draft of your proposed note, in Microsoft Word format, titled Fall_v39_NoteDraft_Title. Because our review process is blind, your name, school, or any other identifying information should not appear anywhere on your draft. Including any such information may lead to disqualification. Ex: v38_NoteDraft_Super_Awesome_Student_Note.docx

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM Eastern Time on July 15, 2025.

AWARDS

Winners will receive $1,000 and an invitation to publish in JOLT’s Volume 39.

USE OF AI POLICY

Authors may use generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in the writing process, so long as all such usage is disclosed. Authors must document any use of AI tools in the title page footnote, e.g., “ChatGPT was used for copy-editing.” Please disclose both the tool(s) used (e.g., ChatGPT) as well as all functions for which those tools were used (e.g., copy-editing, drafting, figure generation, citation formatting, research, etc.). Failure to disclose the use of such tools may be considered against a submission.

All authors are ultimately responsible for the content of their submissions, and all submissions are subject to our evaluation criteria as described below. Thus, submissions that cite non-existent sources or are missing citations/sources, that insufficiently engage with the current literature, that are not stylistically effective, that plagiarize from other sources, etc., will be evaluated accordingly.

EVALUATION

JOLT’s evaluation criteria include:

  • rigor and quality of argumentation/analysis;
  • effectiveness and quality of writing;
  • novelty, creativity, and contribution to the field of law and AI;
  • organization and structure;
  • engagement with current literature (including the quality of the preemption check);
  • accuracy and quality of citations and sources (must be in accordance with the 21st Edition of The Bluebook);
  • appropriateness of the topic to JOLT;
  • eligibility criteria, as specified above.

JOLT reserves the right to revoke the acceptance of any submission for any reason, including due to a finding of plagiarism at any stage of the submission or editing process.

If accepted, you must be able to comply with the editing and revision process, which may extend through the Fall 2025 academic semester.

THANK YOU! Your interest in publishing with us is an honor to the JOLT community, and your time spent completing this application is deeply appreciated. Please contact joltstudentnotes@gmail.com with any questions.