brycewang-stanford 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 YLJ is a student-edited, generalist law review at Yale Law School — not peer-reviewed.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— legal research databases + citation/Bluebook tooling../../resources/official-source-map.md— official YLJ URLs behind every fact in this pack