Prof. Christine Hurt, of Marquette University Law School, writes:
In preparation for sending out my own article on Friday, I was skimming through your book on writing law review articles. Two points that you make in your book instantly brought some examples to mind.
When advising readers on choosing titles carefully, you caution against titles that may be too silly or trite. Yesterday, I noticed a student article title in an email alert that was very jarring.
[Name omitted.] Comment. The third tower: the effect of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the American jury system. 55 Ala. L. Rev. 209-229 (2003).
I’m not a particular sensitive person and have no personal connection to any victim in the 9/11 attacks, but I still felt that naming any collateral damage the “third tower” was a bad idea. The “third tower” would have to be sufficiently discrete and substantial to be considered as important a loss as the twin towers. To assign this weighty significance to any change in the American jury system is probably an exaggeration. I did not read the comment, so I’m not sure what [the author’s] actual thesis is, but I can’t imagine that whatever change he describes can be as devastating as change wrought by the destruction of the World Trade Center. I would have hoped that his Comment Editor would have caught that one.
Secondly, when choosing a title, I think it’s important to make sure key words are in the title to make sure that electronic word searches will find your article. I know that when I’m looking for a secondary source, I sometimes (lazily) go to the “jlr” database and do a title search for key words.
The other point that you make in your book in another section is to cite to the primary source, not a secondary source. I once had a student turn in a seminar paper on NAFTA, and she never cited to the actual treaty. I find this practice very annoying when I am doing research. I might read in an article the proposition that “the SEC expressly prohibits this conduct,” but the attached footnote is to a law review article, or worse, a casebook. I really just want the cite to the statute or the regulation. I think one point to make to student writers is that a citation is a map for your reader. Don’t make it a treasure map with a lot of stops and suspense.
Excellent points, especially about the titles. Many people do judge an article by its title: For instance, when their WESTLAW query gives them 25 article titles, their decision on which ones to read or even skim will turn largely on what the title reveals. Remember that when selecting the title for your piece.
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