Call for Papers

AJLM Symposium 2021

Legal Innovations in Response to Public Health Crises

The 2021 American Journal of Law and Medicine symposium will be titled, Legal Innovations in Response to Public Health Crises. In the face of a mass public health crisis, flexibility and innovation are key, while fundamental principles must hold true. This symposium aims to explore the elasticity of the law in response to threats to public health, as well as how institutional structures can proactively prioritize the health of citizens outside of times of crisis.

Priority will be given to papers that explore the following questions:

  • Did the Covid-19 crisis reveal limitations or failures in the law, and how can they be remedied?
  • How can regulators and governments build flexibility into laws and processes for enhanced reactivity and/or proactivity?
  • What fundamental legal principles must be reconsidered or reinforced in light of the public health crisis?
  • Do we have the right institutional structures to promote sound decision making, including scientific insights and democratic accountability, to prevent or mitigate future crises?
  • How should we prioritize the health of citizens outside of the urgency of a pandemic?

This is an open call for papers from any academic perspective, including, but not limited to, law, public health, medicine, economics, bioethics, history, sociology, and anthropology.

Accepted papers will be published in the 2021 Symposium Double Issue #47.2-3 and presented at Boston University on January 29, 2021. Please send a one-page abstract, as well as complete contact information and a resume/CV, to ajlm@bu.edu by August 1, 2020. Selected authors will be notified by August 30, 2020. Full-length articles should be submitted by December 1, 2020 for inclusion in the symposium.

We understand this is a time of exponential change, and as a result paper topics may evolve rapidly over the coming months. We will peer review all papers in late December/early January to ensure that the most up to date information is included, and all authors will have time to update papers accordingly. Publication will be contingent on peer review. Completed articles must be no longer than 7,500 words, including citations, and must touch on health law. AJLM pays for reasonable travel expenses of invited authors, and/or will make appropriate arrangements depending on whether it is safe for none, some, or all of the participants to travel.