English lit journals publishing graduate-level works As an MA student interested in pursuing the academic career, I am well aware that it's advisable to have papers published as soon as possible in order to boost one's CV and eventually gain admission to a PhD programme.

Therefore, here's my question: are there any academic journals which routinely publish graduate-level papers about English literature, or at least are willing to accept and assess such submissions? I am thinking of something like those lower-tier journals, often funded by departments, which are able to publish relevant contributions from non-previously established researchers.

Thanks for your contribution.
Theoretically, your status as student, senior lecturer or professor should not matter in terms of publish in a journal. If your idea is original and your research is relevant and situated in the current debates of the scientific community, then try to publish your texts. Talk to your professors or supervisors about it and tell them about your plan. Maybe, they have suggestions and can give you feedback on the text that you have in mind for submission.  Nevertheless, keep in mind, that your term paper or master thesis is not a journal article. I guess, you have to do a lot to rewriting and re-structuring your text that it will eventually become a published article. Moreover, publishing a text takes a lot of time (from submitting to the final version to get an onlinefirst publication, it can take 1-2 years). I don't know in which year of your master program you are, but eventually, the publication might happen after you are already accepted as a PhD candidate ;) 

There are probably student-run journals who especially address young scholars to submit their papers. For this, just google... 
 Literally, I just searched for it and found 2 websites which might be relevant for you: https://complit.fas.harvard.edu/journalsconferences-graduate-students and http://www.highpoint.edu/urcw/student-journal-publishing-opportunities-politics-international-affairs-law-2/