Editor in Chief: Associate Professor Matthew Stubbs
Editor: Dr Michelle Lim

Course Coordinator (S1): Matthew Stubbs

Course Coordinator (S2): Michelle Lim

This course focuses on the following themes throughout the year:

Legal Publishing, its Role in Legal Scholarship and the Adelaide Law Review The first classes of this elective will involve an engagement in the literature as to the role of the law review. Since the 1930s articles have been written announcing the death of the law review or, more recently, the need to kill them off.
We will then acquaint students with the Adelaide Law Review, its history and its place in Australian legal scholarship. We will discuss the importance of peer review, the process of managing a law review article from submission to publication and the role of student assistants and their ethical obligations.

The Skilled Editor The remainder of the course will involve developing practical skills associated with the editing of a journal. Students will work with the editors to review and evaluate work. Students will make suggestions as to style, conformity with the citation guide and accuracy of quotation. They will, under the supervision of the editors, liaise with authors and the publisher.

The Budding Author Throughout the course, students will prepare two pieces of written work: a case note on a selected superior court decision in each semester. Students will have an opportunity to demonstrate writing skills associated with legal publishing. The best case note will be considered for publication in the Adelaide Law Review.

Legal scholarship is at the core of the study of law. The learning objectives of this course are numerous but in general students will be engaged in the review and preparation for publication of original legal scholarship. They will be required to critique and evaluate the writing of leading scholars as well as review and reflect upon their own scholarship.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Develop and demonstrate a detailed knowledge and understanding of the basic principles behind legal academic publishing. This will include the ethical issues relating to peer review and objective assessment of submitted articles to the journal.
2. Demonstrate the skills of assessment and evaluation across the discipline of law. Students will read and critique submitted articles, case notes and reviews.
3. Demonstrate good inter-personal and communication skills. This course specifically seeks to develop students’ abilities to work together in an editorial team, communicate with authors through written correspondence, and report to the course coordinator on their editorial work. In addition, students will submit a series of written work for evaluation.
4. Apply a number of skills associated with the production of an edition of the Adelaide Law Review.
5. Critique their own work in terms of both style and substance.

TEXT BOOK
There is no textbook for this subject. A number of significant articles have been extracted and may be purchased at Image and Copying. They are also available on MyUni.

Students MUST have a copy of the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (third edition). Carry it with you at all times; sleep with it under your pillow at night.

Any further reading to be announced at the appropriate time.

Materials for discussion and editing will be posted on MyUni as the course progresses.

The seminars are central to the learning-teaching process and provide a forum for academic staff and students to engage together with the material.

Seminar Reading

Before attending their weekly seminar, students are required to consider the assigned material and form a view on the arguments and information presented. In the first weeks this material will be provided to you. Thereafter both the editors and the students will be working through submitted articles.

Often students will be required to undertake library searches for references.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. Students in this course are expected to attend all Seminars throughout the semester each week. In addition to seminars, students should allocate time to private study in the course across the 12 week semester – this includes reading the material, preparing for seminars and undertaking the assessment tasks.

Semester 1

	Topic
Week 1	Introduction to course, the place of Law Reviews and the Adelaide Law Review, the role of the Editor
Week 2	Article review and editing
Week 3	Article review and editing
Week 4	Article review and editing
Week 5	Article review and editing (& Case Note Selection)
Week 6	Article review and editing
MID SEMESTER BREAK
Week 7	Article review and editing
Week 8	Article review and editing
Week 9	Article review and editing
Week 10	Article review and editing
Week 11	Article review and editing
Week 12	Article review and editing – Case note and Files Due

Semester 2

	Topic
Week 1	Article review and editing
Week 2	Article review and editing
Week 3	Article review and editing
Week 4	Article review and editing (case note selection)
Week 5	Article review and editing
Week 6	Article review and editing
Week 7	Article review and editing
Week 8	Article review and editing
Mid-semester Break
Week 9	Article review and editing
Week 10	Article review and editing
Week 11	Article review and editing
Week 12	Article review and editing – Case note and Files Due

This is the assessment for Adelaide Law Review (parts A and B combined):

Assessment Task	% of final mark	Due date	Task Type	Length	Redeemable	Learning Outcomes
Editorial Activities (Semester 1)	25%	N/A	Individual	N/A	No	1-4
Editorial Activities (Semester 2)	25%	N/A	Individual	N/A	No	1-4
Case Note (Semester 1)	25%	Case selected week 5 (semester 1) Due Friday Week 12	Individual	2,750 words	No	1-5
Case Note (Semester 2)	25%	Case selected week 4 (semester 2). Due Friday Week 12	Individual	2,750 words	No	1-5

Editorial Activities (2 x 25%)

Fifty per cent of the students’ grade in this course will be taken from their role in individually editing one or more articles, their contribution to class discussion and the editing of other articles in the journal.

Individual editing: Students will, under the supervision of the Editors, be responsible for one or more articles submitted to the journal. They will copy edit the article and place it into style. They will draft letters to authors and assist in the production of the article. The ‘file’ associated with the article(s) will be submitted by Week 12 of semesters 1 and 2 for assessment.

Contribution to class: Each week, students will be expected to assist the students editing the articles set for that week, and engage in discussion and critique of the article.

In respect of editorial activities, each student will:

• Allocate on MyUni a peer assessment mark to the contributions of each other student to the editing of their article;
• Prepare and submit an ‘editing bundle’ consisting of:
  • a copy of the edited document submitted to the class for discussion;
  • a copy of the revised edited document submitted to the Associate Editors for approval; and
  • a copy of the letter submitted to the Editors in Chief for approval to send to the author.

Each student’s mark for editorial activities in each semester will be assigned by the course coordinator taking into account:

• the discussions in the class which considered the edited paper;
• the peer assessment mark;
• the materials in the editing bundle; and
• feedback from the Associate Editors regarding the editing of the article.
  
  

Case Notes (2 x 25%)

Students will submit a case note in each semester.

Semester 1: The case will be selected and announced in Week 5 of Semester 1.

Semester 2: The case will be selected and announced in Week 4 of Semester 2.

The assignments will be a maximum of 2,750 words each. This word limit excludes footnotes, however footnotes must contain references only and not any substantive material. A penalty of 5% will be applied for every 100 words, or part thereof, in excess of the word limit.

The case notes will be due Friday, Week 12 (each semester).

Footnotes: Students must comply with the approved Law School style guide, The Australian Guide to Legal Citation, which can be accessed at http://www.law.adelaide.edu.au/library/research/

All sources must be acknowledged.

The recommended standard Law School penalties shall apply for late submission of written assignments or exceeding word limits (see Section 8 Law School Policies and Procedures).

Courses for which a result of conceded pass has been obtained may not be presented towards the degree requirements for the Bachelor of Laws or the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws programs, or any postgraduate law program, nor to satisfy prerequisite requirements within any law course.

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

• assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
• detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
• sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
• reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
• comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
• automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
• the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

The University Writing Centre provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the University of Adelaide.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program

Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our Facebook page, website and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support

The University’s Student Life Counselling Support service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.

Academic Honesty

Academic dishonesty is a serious act of academic misconduct. All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Honesty Policy.

Academic dishonesty is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic dishonesty (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Academic honesty is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.