Publishing in Law Reviews and Journals
The following brief guide is aimed at students who wish to publish an article in a law journal. It describes software that facilitates article submission as well as sources that compare the relative prestige of law journals and law schools. It also suggests a few additional factors to consider when weighing publication options.
For background on finding and developing a topic for an article, writing it, and navigating the process of getting published, see Academic Legal Writing: Law Review Articles, Student Notes, Seminar Papers, and Getting on Law Review by Eugene Volokh, KF 250.V65x 2005 and at Reserve and Reference.
Article Submission Software: ExPressO
ExpressO
The Harvard Law School and Library subscribe to this service from the Berkeley
Electronic Press on behalf of the HLS community. ExpressO is software
that facilitates the submission of articles for publication in law journals.
Over 500 law journals currently accept submissions via ExpressO. (Because
this is not comprehensive for the law literature, see the directories
below to find additional journals.) Most participating journals accept
simultaneous submissions and accept electronic files. All electronic
submissions are paid for under our subscription. For those journals that
require paper submission, ExpressO staff will print and mail copies
for a fee of $6.50 per journal submission. You will need to pay this
personally. (Note to HLS faculty members: your subscription varies. Please
call the reference desk at 617-495-4516 for more information.)
To begin the submission process, go to ExpressO, select Create Free Account. Fill out the electronic registration form as instructed and select a password. (Be sure to use your Harvard Law School email address on the registration form.) When complete, ExpressO will email you a confirmation indicating that your account is ready for use. Follow the link in the confirmation email to begin using your account.
Before getting started with ExpressO, please read the very informative FAQ.
Directories of Law Journals
The following directories are useful for browsing lists of law journals by subject as well as finding journal contact and submission information. Once you have certain journals in mind, it is best to visit the journal's web site for submission and manuscript requirements.
Directory of Law Reviews and Scholarly Legal Periodicals (Also available in hard copy at the Library.)
Lists U.S.-based, scholarly publications that accept unsolicited submissions, including: law reviews and subject-specialized law journals from ABA-accredited law schools; peer-reviewed law journals; selected trade journals; and most university presses. Updated annually. For each journal, provides editorial address, contact information, and frequency. Lists are available in html, pdf, spreadsheet, and label formats.
Ulrich's
Periodical Directory (Harvard ID and PIN required)
Not specific to law, Ulrich's describes periodicals in all disciplines, world-wide. Most comprehensive source for finding law-related serial publications. Includes newspapers, bar journals, and trades. Usually provides a description, contact information, circulation figures, abstracting and indexing services, and links to publishers’ sites. Use Advanced Search to find appropriate journals. At minimum, you may want to limit Country of Publication to United States, Subject to law, Status to Active, and Serial Type to Academic/Scholarly.
Directory for Successful Publishing in Legal Periodicals Reference K 36.J69 1997x
A bit out of date but still useful. Covers about 500 major law journals. Describes the journal's particular focus,
preferred manuscript style; acceptance rates, details
about the review
process, and occasionally explains factors in manuscript rejections.
Comparing Law Journal Impact/Prestige
There are some very good articles ranking law journals with discussions of ranking methods. This search (LexisNexis ID required) yields some articles on the topic.
Law Journal Submissions and Ranking
John Doyle, the Associate Law Librarian at the Washington & Lee Law School Library, produces this site that lists law journals by subject, country and other factors, and allows users to rank journals by impact factor or immediacy index. (Both are based on citation counts more or less, see ranking methodology). Provides contact and submission information. Includes scholarly publications only.
ISI Journal Citation Reports (Harvard ID and PIN required)
Ranks journals in a wide range of disciplines including about 100 law journals. Rankings are based on citation counts in thousands of journals in the sciences and social sciences. From the initial screen, select Social Sciences Edition and View a group of journals by Subject Category (the default). On the next screen, select Law and View journal data by either Impact Factor, Immediacy Index, or Cited Half Life.
U.S. News & World Report: America's Best Graduate Schools
Select Top Law Schools. Ranks 180 ABA-accredited law schools into Top 100, Tier 3 and Tier 4. Rankings are based on 12 factors. See methodology. Site provides lists only. For complete numbers, see the hard copy available at Law School Reserve.
Leiter's Law School Rankings
Professor Brian Leiter at the University of Texas School of Law presents
his law school rankings by faculty quality and student quality.
SSRN Top Law Schools (Harvard ID and PIN required, Registration required)
The Social Science Research Network is a working paper repository where scholars post and view works before they are published. This site ranks law schools based on the number of times visitors download works by authors at a given school. Rankings take into account the number of papers deposited by institution and the number of participating authors by institution. From the initial screen, select Top Institutions then SSRN Top Law Schools. If you have not registered, you will be prompted to do so. Updated monthly.
*Law school rankings are notoriously controversial. These are mentioned not as a nod to their accuracy or validity, but because they are the ones most widely referred to and may help you evaluate where to submit your article, or where to publish if multiple options are available.
Other Factors in Deciding Where to Submit
Is the journal available in places where scholars will find, and hopefully cite to, its contents?
Is it in Westlaw's Journals and Law Reviews Combined (JLR) database? See title list.
Is it in LexisNexis' Law Reviews, Combined (lawrev;allrev) source? Connect and click on the "i" near the source name to retrieve the title list. (LexisNexis ID required).
Is it indexed by Legal Resources Index, aka LegalTrac? See title list.
Is it indexed by Index to Legal Periodicals and Books? Consult publisher's journal directory. Select Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, then Display List.
Is it included in Tables of Contents Services? E.g. Current Index to Legal Periodicals? See title list.
Written by Deanna Barmakian.