Directed Research Projects

1. Research Possible Journals to Submit your Article

Step 1: Factors

When you are considering which journals you want to submit your article to, there are a variety of factors to consider. The weight of the factors will vary by your own preferences and goals with the article, and those decisions will impact how you research the journals. So, take a moment to think about and weigh the following factors in choosing a journal:

• Audience
  • Who do I want to read my article? Do I want it to be more likely to reach a law audience or to an interdisciplinary audience? Do I want it to be open access or is it ok if it's behind a paywall?
• Topic
  • Is my article more general or niche? Do I want to publish in a subject-specific journal or a general law review-type journal?
• Rank
  • Is the ranking of the journal important to me? Which ranking system should I use, if so?
• I just want to publish it!
  • Some of the above may matter less to you than simply getting your article published, and that's fine! If getting published is the most important factor to you, then the topic of the journal will matter most in deciding which journals to submit to.

Step 2: Research possible journals, keeping the above factors in mind

Once you've decided what's most important to you in deciding which journal to publish in, you can begin researching journals. Below are various ways to research acceptable journals, based on your preferences.

• Audience & Topic
  • For law-specific journals, HeinOnline publishes the Current Index to Legal Periodicals, which categorizes recently-published articles by subject. Though not journal specific, you can navigate to your topic and see which journals have published articles in that topic.
  • BYU maintains a list of foreign and international law journals (including both general and subject-specific).
  • If open access is important to you, Law Review Commons maintains a list of journals (both general and subject-specific) that provide open access to their articles. You can also check out the Directory of Open Access Journals (though it doesn't have many law journals).
  • If your topic is more interdisciplinary and not as focused on law, check Google Scholar's Top Publications -- though designed as a ranking system, you can also use it to identify journals in a specific area. Click Subcategories to see more granular information.
    • Web of Science, JSTOR, and Academic Search Premier (click By Subject & Description, then enter search terms) also provide lists of subject-specific journals.
    • Reach out to a reference librarian if you'd like additional suggestions or help identifying journals by topic/audience.
• Rank
  • First, it's important to recognize that journal rankings systems are subjective and depend on what factors the ranking system considers (e.g. citation count, author reputation, reputation of citation, etc.), so review the ranking system you choose carefully to be sure you understand the metrics.
  • Many authors consult Washington & Lee's Law Journal Rankings, which allow you to specify both the type of ranking (e.g. impact) and the type of journal (e.g. subject-specific v. general) and then run a search to determine the top journals given those parameters. Be sure to review their How to Use and Methodology sections so that you understand what you're searching and the limits of their ranking system.
  • Google Scholar ranks journals by the citation count from the previous five years, and they have a specific list for law journals (you may also be interested in the broader social sciences ranking, too).
  • Scopus also provides metrics for ranking journals, though its focus historically has been on the science fields (it has been expanding to social sciences, arts, and humanities, in recent years).
  • For a comprehensive overview of several scholarly articles about rankings, see the University of Washington Gallagher Law Library, Measuring Journal Quality.
• Just publish it!
  • Identify topical journals (see above).
  • Review Nancy Levit et al., Submission of Law Student Articles for Publication (2016), about which law reviews accept student-written papers from other schools.
  • Review Michael Goodyear, Information for Submitting Articles to Specialty & Non-Flagship Law Journals (2021), which, while more broadly targeted to non-students, does include a section on whether the journal accepts student submissions.

Important note: there are predatory/pseudo-journals out there, so do be aware of them if you find a journal that's not listed in one of the above databases. Think, Check, Submit has a good checklist to run through to evaluate potential journals.

Step 3: Timing

There are various schools of thought about when is the best time to submit your journal article. Traditionally, law journals opened for submissions in the late summer (August) and mid-winter (January/February), and those were considered the best times to submit an article. These practices are changing, however, so the timing of your submission will more likely depend on when you've finished the article, and whether the journals you've identified are open for submissions.