FAQ for Authors


Click on any topic below for an expanded list of questions and answers.

How do I setup an account to use ExpressO?

To sign up for an account, click on the MY ACCOUNT link in the upper-right hand corner of the site. When prompted, click on the Sign up button under Create New Account. An account consists of a username and a password. Your username is your email address. If your school has an institutional account with us, you should use your faculty email address. After filling out the sign up form, click on the Sign up button.

Note that your new account information will be emailed to the address you provide, and will require that you click on the link in the email message to activate your account.

If you forget your password, please click the Forget your password? link and the system will send you your password immediately by email. If you want to change your password to something more memorable to you, please go to your My Account page and choose the Edit Profile option. Even if you change your password and subsequently forget it, the system will always be able to email it you.

With the Remember Me Next Time option selected, your password and email address are remembered even after closing your browser so you do not need to log in each time you visit the site. To keep others from accessing your account, you must click the log-out option on your My Account page.

Why is my password not working?
If you have trouble logging in, i.e. you think that you have a valid account, but the system will not recognize it or send you your password, please:
  1. Double check you are using the correct email address, with the correct companion password,
  2. Double check that both the username and the password are spelled correctly (passwords are case sensitive).
If the error is not in either of these possibilities, please send an email to for assistance.
Does my school have an institutional account with ExpressO?
Please check the list on our ExpressO Institutional Accounts page, to see if your institution has an account.
My school has an institutional account but when I try to use ExpressO I am not recognized as a faculty member there and ExpressO asks me for my credit card number for payment. What is going on?
  1. Double check you are using the correct email address, with the correct companion password,
  2. Double check that both the username and the password are spelled correctly (passwords are case sensitive)
  3. Please be sure that you are using your school email account as this is used to verify authors' institutional account status.
If you are using your school email address and there is still a problem, contact us at . It is likely that you will need to be added to the list of authorized users.
What will I need to get started?
  1. You will need an email address to set up your account and receive a password.
  2. If your school has an institutional account with us, you should use your faculty email address.
  3. You should have a manuscript ready to upload (a cover letter and CV are optional but strongly recommended).
  4. And, finally, you need to have a credit card handy for payment. If your school has an account, then the charges may be fully covered.
How do I choose where my submission goes?
You select which reviews you would like to send your manuscript to be considered. You can search by title, browse by category and Top 100 ranking (based upon US News & World Report rankings ).
What file formats do you accept?
ExpressO accepts Microsoft Word or WordPerfect files.
When I submit my cover letter, who do I address it to?
The most common approach is to write "Dear Editors".
The law review I would like to send my paper to is not listed. What do I do?
Please tell us the name of the review, and we may be able to add it.
Can I select reviews, save my selection and return later to submit my manuscript?
Unfortunately not. ExpressO will not save the reviews to which you want to send. ExpressO will save the list of reviews that received your manuscript from a completed order. You have access to this list on your My Account page.
Can I individualize the cover letters going to different reviews, or later update the contents or date of a cover letter in a resubmission?
We do not mail-merge cover letters or individualize them. Whether or not ExpressO is used as the delivery mechanism, law review editors are aware that authors are submitting to multiple law reviews simultaneously. Addressing a general cover letter to "Dear Editors" is more than acceptable. Once a cover letter is uploaded, it is part of your submission record and cannot be altered in our system. If you are resubmitting an article to a review and want the current date or new information included, you will have to go through the entire process as a new submission.
How should I sign my cover letter?

You can handle the signature on cover letters in a couple of ways:

  1. You may "sign" the letter by using the digital convention of typing "/s/" and then your name, i.e.:

    /s/ Dan Tocklers

  2. Another method is to scan and make a JPEG file of your signature, and simply insert it into the cover letter file.
An editor tells me my submission file is corrupt. Did ExpressO alter my manuscript in any way?

ExpressO redelivers the submission files unaltered. This is always true of Word files. The only exception concerns Word Perfect submissions. In order to increase the number of law reviews available to authors who use Word Perfect, ExpressO converts such submissions to PDF format. It then delivers that version to law reviews who accept PDF but not Word Perfect. We are not aware of any such files being corrupted in this process.

The most common reasons that an editor reports an error in your file is:

  1. you uploaded the wrong file, for example, your CV file as your manuscript file;
  2. you converted the file from WordPerfect to Word, introducing corrupt text (often invisible to you on your computer).
If I want to reach more reviews can't I just convert my file from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word?
We do not recommended this. Your manuscript may be corrupted during the conversion in small but significant ways. It's possible the paper may look fine on your machine, but will not to an editor.
Some law reviews want submissions to be anonymous, while many want to know the identity of the author and even prefer a resume. Does your system have a way to differentiate and deliver accordingly?
Anonymity refers to author identification in the body of the manuscript, not the cover letter or CV. If your submission choices include anonymous submission reviews, we recommend using a cover page for the article, and not to refer to yourself in the article text. Editors can then simply remove the cover page when assigning the article to their reviewers, if they wish.
Does your system provide any indication of which journals are still reviewing articles and which effectively are shut down until next year?
Yes. We mark reviews as full as soon as we learn that a review is closed, either by the review telling us or second hand by an author. You may view which reviews are closed for submissions on the law review selection list (the first step of the ExpressO submission process).
Some law reviews have their own sites for electronic submission, which they say is the preferred method. If I submit to these journals via ExpressO, will you be using those same sites?
A few law reviews have implemented exclusive Web forms, and ask that authors submit their manuscripts directly into these online submission systems. Law reviews that have Web-based submission systems are identified in ExpressO by a double-dagger symbol: ‡. ExpressO does not integrate with these disparate systems, but all of these reviews also accept submissions via ExpressO. Authors who want to reduce the administrative burden on law review support staffs should consider submitting to these journals directly, using their Web forms. Authors will be required to complete a submission form and upload their files separately for each review. In some cases authors will also be required to create a password-protected account and remove their name, institution, and other identifying information from the manuscript.
How do I correct an error on my submission?
Because your article is delivered immediately to your selected law reviews, your submission cannot be modified. However, there are a few options available in case you need to make corrections. If the changes are significant, we generally recommend starting a new submission. This will allow you to include an updated CV and cover letter, as well as incorporate any changes that you may have made in your main text. This does require that you withdraw your initial submission before making a new one, so as not to confuse editors. Of course, if the changes are minor, you may either leave as is or notify editors using the Contact Editors feature available via your My Account page.
How long does it take to have the manuscripts delivered to law reviews that accept electronic submissions?
Electronic submissions are delivered immediately to law reviews.
Are there any exceptions?
Yes. If a law review has asked for submissions to be suspended until a later date then will hold any submissions to that review until the date specified by the law review.
Does ExpressO alter or add content to electronic deliveries?
No. We deliver the same file(s) we receive from you.
Are law reviews aware of which other reviews have received the same submission through ExpressO?
No. When an author submits to several law reviews concurrently, only he or she is aware of the recipient list. The law reviews do not have access to this information.
Will I receive confirmation that the electronic submission was sent and delivered?
Yes. You will receive an electronic receipt via email of your submission from ExpressO, which includes a list of the law reviews you selected. You may also view your delivery information on your My Account page, via the Manage My Submissions link.
Will I receive confirmation from law reviews that they received the manuscript?
This depends on the policy of the law review you are submitting to. Some reviews may choose to contact you as directly as a courtesy.
How do you manage email bounces?
During peak submission periods law reviews mail box can become full. When electronic submissions bounce, we contact the law review and ask them to empty their inboxes, or provide us with alternate email address. Once they have cleared their inbox, we resend all outstanding submissions. For your convenience, we may suspend submissions to law reviews with chronic bounces until they correct the problem.
Will ExpressO keep track of the reviews I sent my article to the next time I log in?
Yes, you may log into your My Account page and access your submission information via the Manage My Submissions link at any time to see a full record of your submissions and deliveries
Can I request expedited review for submissions made through ExpressO?
Yes. On your Manage My Submissions page, click on the appropriate article and check mark which review(s) you wish to send an expedite request to, and click Continue next to the Expedite option. Complete the My Current Offers and Contact Law Reviews sections and click Send.
What does “Preferred # of Simultaneous Expedite Requests” mean? How will this affect my expedite request?
Law review editors now have the ability to set specific preferences for expedite requests that allows them to better manage submissions. This feature includes setting a preferred number of simultaneous requests that an author makes after submitting their article. For example, if a law review sets this number at 50, and the author sends their expedite request to 50 or less law reviews, the request will be placed on the law review’s priority expedite list.
Is there a way to use ExpressO to notify the journals still considering my essay that it is no longer available?
Yes. From your My Account page, click on the Manage My Submissions link and select Withdraw from the drop-down box under Contact Editors. Next, check mark which reviews you wish to withdraw your paper from, and click Continue. Be sure to review your law review selection and click Send to complete the action.
I chose to post my paper to my SelectedWorks site when I made my submission, but now I have a publication offer. Should I remove my paper from my site?
Sharing a "working" version of a paper with other legal scholars rarely interferes with the publication of your paper. There are a few reviews, however, that ask authors to remove all previous versions of their papers. If you receive such a request, you can simply withdraw your article from your SelectedWorks site. A link to your SelectedWorks site is available on your My Account page.