Law Journal Meta-Ranking, 2021 Edition – Bryce Clayton Newell, PhD, JD

Meta-Ranking of Flagship US Law Reviews

This is an updated ranking of the top flagship law reviews at US law schools (updated as of September 29, 2021). The first version of this ranking is available at PrawfBlawg (2016), along with the rationale for why I created the “meta ranking” in the first place (see also: 2020 Edition; 2019 Edition; 2018 Summer Edition; 2018 Spring Edition). The ranking table below includes 193 flagship law reviews from ABA accredited law schools. Even if you ignore the “MetaRank,” the table provides access to the updated rankings from US News (peer reputation and overall rankings, averaged over the 10-year period from 2013 edition through the 2022 edition of US News’ rankings) and the current Washington & Lee Rankings (2016-2020; released on June 30, 2021) and Google Scholar (July 2021) rankings. Each column (ranking) is sortable, and you can use the search box to search for individual law reviews.

Meta-Ranking of Flagship US Law Reviews (2021 Edition), by Bryce Newell

Journal	MetaRank	prRank	usnRank	wluRank	gRank	wlu(IF)Rank
Harvard Law Review	1	1	3	1	1	13
Yale Law Journal	2	2	1	2	2	2
Stanford Law Review	3	3	2	4	5	1
Columbia Law Review	4	4	5	8	3	29
California Law Review	5	7	9	3	7	3
University of Pennsylvania Law Review	6	9	7	6	6	5
University of Chicago Law Review	7	5	4	14	8	15
Georgetown Law Journal	8	14	14	5	4	6
Michigan Law Review	9	8	10	9	11	8
Virginia Law Review	10	9	8	18	10	12
Duke Law Journal	11	11	11	12	14	7
New York University Law Review	12	6	6	22	19	21
Texas Law Review	13	15	15	16	9	16
UCLA Law Review	14	16	16	13	13	4
Cornell Law Review	15	12	13	15	22	8
Northwestern University Law Review	15	13	12	23	14	18
Vanderbilt Law Review	17	17	17	20	11	24
Minnesota Law Review	18	20	20	10	16	14
Notre Dame Law Review	19	23	21	7	16	10
Iowa Law Review	20	29	25	11	16	20
Boston University Law Review	21	25	24	21	20	23
Washington University Law Review	22	18	18	30	29	17
George Washington Law Review	23	24	23	29	21	36
Emory Law Journal	24	21	22	32	24	21
Southern California Law Review	25	19	19	31	32	18
Boston College Law Review	26	29	29	24	22	33
William & Mary Law Review	27	33	35	19	27	11
Fordham Law Review	28	34	39	17	25	43
U.C. Davis Law Review	29	26	37	26	30	27
Washington Law Review	30	35	33	28	28	25
North Carolina Law Review	31	22	36	34	36	31
Indiana Law Journal	32	32	31	35	34	33
Wisconsin Law Review	32	27	32	33	40	26
University of Illinois Law Review	32	39	41	27	25	31
Ohio State Law Journal	35	31	37	37	36	28
Washington and Lee Law Review	36	40	34	41	41	49
Alabama Law Review	36	37	26	43	50	39
Florida Law Review	38	37	43	36	41	29
Arizona State Law Journal	39	41	27	51	44	58
Hastings Law Journal	40	42	55	38	30	46
Arizona Law Review	41	44	44	42	36	33
Maryland Law Review	42	48	48	39	33	39
Cardozo Law Review	43	53	59	25	34	41
Wake Forest Law Review	44	45	40	45	45	57
Georgia Law Review	45	35	30	46	70	36
University of Colorado Law Review	46	43	45	47	50	51
Brigham Young University Law Review	47	49	41	48	48	48
American University Law Review	48	50	75	40	36	43
U.C. Irvine Law Review	49	28	28	84	62	99
Utah Law Review	50	51	47	60	56	62
Connecticut Law Review	51	52	57	49	62	36
Houston Law Review	52	63	56	53	54	54
George Mason Law Review	53	57	46	50	78	51
University of Richmond Law Review	54	70	54	56	54	49
Tulane Law Review	55	46	51	72	67	76
Case Western Reserve Law Review	56	67	64	58	48	79
SMU Law Review	57	65	50	73	62	84
Temple Law Review	58	58	53	64	78	58
Tennessee Law Review	59	61	60	69	1000	54
Missouri Law Review	60	69	64	70	52	77
Florida State University Law Review	61	47	49	82	78	70
Lewis & Clark Law Review	62	83	89	44	43	45
Pepperdine Law Review	63	66	58	68	70	65
Denver Law Review	64	56	73	80	56	79
Chicago-Kent Law Review	64	73	83	57	52	69
Brooklyn Law Review	66	71	85	54	56	65
University of Miami Law Review	67	54	69	81	67	71
Nevada Law Journal	68	80	68	62	67	53
University of Kansas Law Review	69	62	74	83	59	95
Michigan State Law Review	70	92	91	52	45	46
Loyola University Chicago Law Journal	71	75	76	75	62	81
Georgia State University Law Review	72	68	62	102	59	112
Oklahoma Law Review	73	77	70	71	75	68
Seton Hall Law Review	74	87	61	65	87	75
Nebraska Law Review	74	81	72	77	70	84
Seattle University Law Review	76	91	112	54	47	62
San Diego Law Review	77	59	81	88	78	84
Penn State Law Review	78	93	71	61	85	42
Villanova Law Review	79	88	80	76	70	73
Kentucky Law Journal	80	72	63	93	93	90
DePaul Law Review	81	97	116	58	62	61
Buffalo Law Review	82	99	99	74	70	71
Saint Louis University Law Journal	83	98	92	94	59	106
South Carolina Law Review	84	89	95	67	93	62
University of Cincinnati Law Review	85	86	77	98	87	115
Hofstra Law Review	86	100	111	63	76	67
Rutgers University Law Review	87	74	84	115	78	129
Indiana Law Review	88	79	104	87	87	99
Marquette Law Review	89	94	103	78	87	77
Santa Clara Law Review	90	76	110	79	102	54
Arkansas Law Review	91	95	87	100	93	109
UMKC Law Review	92	107	120	66	85	81
Oregon Law Review	93	55	88	120	1000	123
University of Pittsburgh Law Review	93	60	79	122	116	123
New Mexico Law Review	95	90	82	106	1000	88
Louisiana Law Review	96	103	90	97	100	97
St. John's Law Review	97	104	86	109	93	112
Baylor Law Review	98	85	52	129	1000	119
Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review	99	63	67	142	128	137
West Virginia Law Review	99	110	101	96	93	97
Howard Law Journal	99	84	115	103	98	95
City University of New York (CUNY) Law Review	99	111	119	85	1000	60
Syracuse Law Review	103	96	98	104	104	109
Drake Law Review	104	132	112	95	76	93
Texas A&M Law Review	105	113	108	91	1000	90
Catholic University Law Review	106	105	105	112	102	101
Northeastern University Law Review	107	82	78	133	1000	106
Cleveland State Law Review	108	144	118	89	78	83
Dickinson Law Review	109	102	66	150	128	150
Albany Law Review	110	128	121	90	110	103
Vermont Law Review	111	119	135	99	98	90
Mercer Law Review	111	124	122	101	104	129
Drexel Law Review	113	116	109	114	1000	102
Mississippi Law Journal	114	101	107	126	121	139
University of Louisville Law Review	115	108	94	129	116	117
Chapman Law Review	115	142	134	92	87	73
Texas Tech Law Review	117	132	112	107	110	119
University of Hawaii Law Review	118	78	97	150	1000	150
Washburn Law Journal	118	136	123	108	1000	109
Montana Law Review	118	122	127	113	1000	93
Akron Law Review	121	145	136	85	110	88
University of St. Thomas Law Journal	122	139	124	111	104	103
Idaho Law Review	123	117	130	123	110	119
University of San Francisco Law Review	124	123	150	104	116	84
Tulsa Law Review	125	126	93	150	114	150
Wayne Law Review	126	117	95	141	132	139
Maine Law Review	127	106	125	135	1000	115
Pace Law Review	127	132	138	118	100	125
FIU Law Review	127	146	102	124	116	119
University of Memphis Law Review	130	141	146	110	104	112
University of the Pacific Law Review	131	130	143	148	87	146
Stetson Law Review	131	112	106	145	121	148
Loyola Law Review	133	115	142	139	116	132
Mitchell Hamline Law Review	134	149	144	116	104	108
Creighton Law Review	135	135	126	127	128	132
Suffolk University Law Review	136	129	147	131	114	145
University of Baltimore Law Review	137	120	128	137	1000	128
Touro Law Review	137	166	162	116	78	137
University of Toledo Law Review	139	143	139	121	121	129
University of New Hampshire Law Review	140	127	100	150	1000	150
Gonzaga Law Review	141	114	117	150	1000	150
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review	142	108	137	150	137	150
Wyoming Law Review	143	120	129	143	1000	142
Quinnipiac Law Review	144	131	133	138	1000	125
Southwestern Law Review	145	140	154	127	124	132
New York Law School Law Review	146	137	130	150	132	150
South Dakota Law Review	147	147	145	136	124	132
Willamette Law Review	148	125	141	150	1000	150
University of Detroit Mercy Law Review	149	173	162	119	104	103
St. Mary's Law Journal	150	158	159	140	124	132
Duquesne Law Review	151	150	132	150	1000	150
Campbell Law Review	151	171	149	134	128	117
Capital University Law Review	153	175	162	125	124	125
UIC Law Review	153	148	152	150	136	150
Ohio Northern University Law Review	155	168	155	132	1000	139
North Dakota Law Review	156	138	151	150	1000	150
Southern Illinois University Law Journal	157	154	157	150	135	150
Roger Williams University Law Review	158	156	162	146	134	147
Cumberland Law Review	159	155	148	150	1000	150
University of Dayton Law Review	160	151	153	150	1000	150
Northern Illinois University Law Review	161	157	156	150	1000	150
Widener Commonwealth Law Review	161	153	160	150	1000	150
Widener Law Review	163	152	162	150	1000	150
South Texas Law Review	164	159	157	147	1000	142
Belmont Law Review	165	182	140	150	1000	150
Elon Law Review	165	160	162	150	1000	150
Nova Law Review	167	161	162	150	1000	150
Northern Kentucky Law Review	168	162	162	150	1000	150
Golden Gate University Law Review	169	163	162	150	1000	150
Mississippi College Law Review	170	164	162	150	1000	150
California Western Law Review	170	164	162	150	1000	150
Oklahoma City University Law Review	172	167	160	150	1000	150
Charleston Law Review	173	183	162	143	1000	144
University of Massachusetts Law Review	173	169	162	150	1000	150
New England Law Review	175	170	162	150	1000	150
North Carolina Central Law Review	176	172	162	150	1000	150
University of the District of Columbia Law Review	177	174	162	150	1000	150
Florida A & M University Law Review	178	176	162	150	1000	150
Thurgood Marshall Law Review	179	177	162	150	1000	150
St. Thomas Law Review	180	178	162	150	1000	150
Southern University Law Review	181	179	162	150	1000	150
Western New England Law Review	182	180	162	150	1000	150
John Marshall Law Journal	183	181	162	150	1000	150
Faulkner Law Review	184	184	162	150	1000	150
Regent University Law Review	185	185	162	150	1000	150
Appalachian Journal of Law	186	186	162	150	1000	150
Florida Coastal Law Review	187	187	162	150	1000	150
Liberty University Law Review	188	188	162	150	1000	150
Barry Law Review	189	189	162	150	1000	150
Lincoln Memorial University Law Review	190	190	162	150	1000	150
Western State Law Review	191	191	162	150	1000	150
Thomas M. Cooley Law Review	191	191	162	150	1000	150
Ave Maria Law Review	193	193	162	150	1000	150

Why make the Meta Ranking? (see more information, and the first edition of the ranking here)

In short, as an interdisciplinary scholar who publishes work in both peer-reviewed social science journals and law reviews, it strikes me as odd that legal scholars would discount measures of journal impact completely when choosing where to submit and which offers to prioritize. To be sure, all of the plausible contenders for ranking law reviews have their flaws (in methodology and/or coverage). Regardless, though, it appears important that some measures of citation or impact are taken into account, as direct correlations between US News rankings of law schools and law journal importance seem a bit weak as the primary (or only) measure to evaluate.

So, to get to the point, I decided to create a meta-ranking of the possible contenders for gauging the relative importance of journals and offers: US News Overall Ranking (rolling average over the most recent ten years), US News Peer Reputation Ranking (also averaged over the previous 10 years), W&L Combined Ranking (at default weighting; June 2021), and Google Scholar Metrics law journal rankings (July 2021 update; averaging the h-index and h-median of each journal, as proposed here by Robert Anderson). I’ve ranked each journal within each ranking system, averaged these four ranks using a 25% weighting for each, and computed and ranked the final scores. I think this approach benefits from incorporating a couple different forms of impact evaluation (W&L + Google) while not disregarding the general sentiment that law school “prestige” (something involving one or both of US News’ combined rank or Peer Reputation rank, each averaged over the most recent 10-year period, is an important factor in law review placement decisions. (Note that I have also included a ranking by the Impact Factor reported in the W&L data, but I have not included it in the meta rank.)

Additional notes about method:

Google Scholar Metrics are currently based on the most recent Google index (updated in July 2021, with data collected in September 2021; if a school has not been listed in Google Scholar Metrics within the past 2 years (2020-2021), I have used its most recent W&L score twice rather than rely on old Google Metrics). Otherwise, I have used the most recent Google Scholar metrics.

W&L: The W&L rankings changed recently. Their rankings now only include calculated scores and ranks for the top 400 ranked law journals. W&L’s ranking methodology is described here. If a journal is not ranked, I have given a score of “150.”

Because the US News Ranking has changed how it reports 3^rd and 4^th Tier schools over the relevant period, I have done the following: for 2012-2017 editions, I assigned all unranked schools (those not ranked 1-149) to 150. All Tier 2 schools are now ranked at 150 in my calculations.

* As some schools were not included in the US News Rankings for all 10 years (e.g., UC Irvine was only in the 2016-2022 rankings), I have averaged the ranks over just the years they appear, rather than by 10.

** Rutgers and Mitchell-Hamline each recently consolidated two law journals into one and Penn State now also has two ranked law schools and two separate law reviews (but only had one flagship law review for a portion of the relevant period). For each of these schools, I have used the rank in each category (W&L/US News, etc.) that is the highest when the school/journal is shared. Similarly, Widener split and was ranked separately in 2017 by US News (each school taking a separate flagship journal). As such, I have used the separate 2017-2022 ranks from US News but shared the single Widener school ranking reported in US News in its 2013-2016 editions of the rankings.

*** In the 2019 US News rankings, Pepperdine received a peer score of 2.6, but was listed as unranked after originally submitting incorrect data about incoming JD students (see Paul Caron’s note about this for more about this). As such, I used the 2019 peer score and the 2018 overall rank for Pepperdine for that year.

Last note: I still cannot locate the 2015 US News Peer-Reputation score (or rank) for Loyola-New Orleans (it is missing from Paul Caron’s annual posting at TaxProf, and I don’t have access otherwise). If someone has that information and could pass it along, I would appreciate it.