Contribute to the Working Paper Series

The Working Paper Series (WPS) of the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice is seeking to publish innovative papers by established and early-career researchers (including graduate students), as well as practitioners. The WPS works to provide a productive environment for debate about human rights among academics, policymakers, activists, practitioners, and the public, and it provides a platform for supporting authors via interdisciplinary feedback and spotlighting emerging work. To this end, it facilitates the editing and publication of papers, works-in-progress, and other writing projects which address human rights and social justice.

Authors from all disciplines and institutions, as well as at all career stages (including graduate students) are invited to submit papers. Submissions are evaluated by the WPS interdisciplinary editorial committee, which includes graduate and professional students from across the University of Texas at Austin. The WPS Committee provides comments and feedback to authors before the paper is published. Publication in the WPS does not preclude future publication elsewhere; in fact, many of our working papers have since been published in academic journals and edited volumes.

We are currently seeking papers which facilitate ongoing interdisciplinary conversations on a variety of topics. Papers can address any human rights and social justice issues, and we particularly welcome papers focusing on issues and topics affecting the Global South. We are especially interested in the following: reproductive justice and sexual rights; environmental justice and climate justice; peace and nuclear disarmament; inequality; and the future of work. To see examples of previously published papers, please browse our website.

We are currently accepting papers on a rolling basis up to February 15, 2024.

Please submit your papers and questions to rcwps@law.utexas.edu.

Please follow these specifications when preparing your manuscript:

• Use Times New Roman 12-point font, single line spacing, one-inch margins (top/bottom and left/right), and 8.5″ x 11″ (U.S.) paper size
• Center page numbers at the bottom of the page
• Prepare a cover page including your affiliation and email address
• Include a short abstract (up to 250 words) and up to five keywords
• Submit manuscripts as electronic files, in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx)

Please send submissions to rcwps@law.utexas.edu, to the attention of the Editorial Committee. Following acceptance of your paper, you may be asked to contribute a short supplemental item (e.g. summary of your paper in non-academic language, interview with a WPS editorial committee member) intended to spark an online conversation about your paper.

For more information on the Working Paper Series, please click here.