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Faculty: Law Library Services: Getting Published

Where to Submit

Washington and Lee Rankings

The law library at Washington and Lee University maintains a database of law reviews with information about how often they are cited. 

There is some correlation between a law school's ranking in the U.S. News and World Report rankings and in the ranking of its flagship law review. 

Other Disciplines

The law library can help you develop a list of other journals from other disciplines to target with your submission. For further information, please contact Craig Eastland (c.eastland (at) northeastern.edu)

Format

Allen Rostron and Nancy Levit have compiled a list of submission information and preferences for more than 200 law reviews. The report is available on SSRN at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1019029. The authors usually update this report once or twice every year.

Scholastica

Scholastica is a submission acceptance platform used by more than 700 law reviews.The law library has an institutional account for use by faculty and staff. For further information, please contact Craig Eastland (c.eastland (at) northeastern.edu)

The Author Agreement

Transfering Copyright vs. Granting a License

It is preferable to keep your copyright on an article, but a number of journals, especially from commercial publishers, require that you transfer the copyright to them. If you do transfer your copyright, look for language about the rights the journal licenses back to you, especially the ability to re-use your work in other publications. Actively negotiating for the right to publicly post your article, or at least a pre-publication version of your article, is the best way to increase its visibility.

Permissions to Post Your Article Elsewhere

Even if you keep your copyright, you will likely be granting the publisher a license to disseminate the work in various formats. Be cognizant of contract terms granting an exclusive license.

However you structure your agreement, it is a good idea to have specific language about what can be posted to an institutional repository, and what can be posted to SSRN, and when it can be posted.

 

For further help, please contact Craig Eastland (c.eastland (at) northeastern.edu).