Australian Law Journal Centenary Prize
Celebrating emerging legal talent
Showcase your scholarship in the ALJ Centenary Issue
To mark the Australian Law Journal's centenary in May 2027, the ALJ Centenary Prize will recognise outstanding emerging legal talent and provide an opportunity for publication in the Journal's historic Centenary Issue.
Up to five articles will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges, with successful authors sharing in a prize pool valued at $10,000.
What we are looking for
- A topic concerning Australian law, or international law as it relates to Australia
- A high degree of legal scholarship and original thinking
- Original, unpublished work not previously submitted to the ALJ or elsewhere
- A maximum length of 10,000 words, including footnotes
- Compliance with the Terms and Conditions and eligibility requirements
How to enter
The ALJ Centenary Prize is open to:
Anyone who will be 30 years of age or younger on 5 May 2027
Individual authors or joint authors (maximum two authors per entry)
Entries close:
Midnight (AEDT), Friday 11 December 2026
Authors notified:
By 1 March 2027
Publication:
May 2027 Centenary Issue of the Australian Law Journal
How to submit
Email your submission to:
alj@thomsonreuters.com
Subject line:
ALJ Centenary Prize Submission
Include in your email:
Your full name
Your contact phone number
Your age (30 years of age or younger on 5 May 2027)
Your article attached as a Microsoft Word document
Any required AI declaration (if applicable)
ALJ Centenary prize terms and conditions
Open to anyone who will be 30 or younger on 5 May 2027. There is no citizenship or residency requirement.
Up to 5 articles will be selected by a judging panel nominated by the General Editor of the ALJ to appear in the May 2027 centenary issue.
Topic must be on Australian law or international law as it relates to Australia and be written for a generalist legal readership. The article should display a high degree of legal scholarship and original thinking, and be of a standard, as regards both content and presentation, that is suitable for publication in the ALJ. Entries that simply summarise the current law, or that focus mainly on practice without in-depth legal analysis, are unlikely to be successful.
Article must be an original unpublished work of the author (and must not have been previously submitted to the ALJ or elsewhere for publication), with any use of AI disclosed in a formal declaration that accompanies the submission as to how AI has been used and where the results of that usage appear in the article.
Not more than 10,000 words (including footnotes) and comply with ALJ submission requirements and style guide.
A person may not submit more than one entry (whether alone or with other authors). An entry may not have more than two authors.
Must be received by midnight (Australian Eastern Daylight Time) on Friday, 11 December 2026 to the ALJ email address: alj@thomsonreuters.com
Entries will be reviewed on a blind basis. To facilitate the blind review process, entries must not include any information (including in the digital file) that might identify the author. Instead, that information should be supplied in a separate form, which you should submit with your article.
Entrants will be notified of the results of their submission by 1 March 2027.
Successful authors will share in a total prize pool value of $10,000, comprising cash prizes and Thomson Reuters book vouchers. If five articles are selected, each successful author will receive a $1,500 cash prize and a $500 Thomson Reuters book voucher.
Copyright in all entries remains with the author. However, by submitting an entry, author grants TR an exclusive royalty-free licence to publish their article in the ALJ. In the case of any article not selected to appear in the centenary issue, the licence extends to the article being published in a subsequent issue of the ALJ on the basis that authors will be informed if their article is accepted for such publication by 1 March 2027 (i.e. authors will be informed by 1 March 2027 if they are one of the five or if they have been selected for general publication in the ALJ or they are free to submit elsewhere). Successful authors will be expected to agree and sign Thomson Reuters' usual Author’s Agreement which contains additional terms relating to publication.