Law Journal Meta-Ranking, 2022 Edition – Bryce Clayton Newell, PhD, JD

Meta-Ranking of Flagship US Law Reviews

I have also analyzed the potential Meta-Ranking for specialty law and technology journals in a separate blog post.

The MetaRank was computed by averaging ranks (using a 25% weighting from each) of the following rankings:

prRank = US News Peer Reputation score ranking (averaged over 10 years);
usnRank = overall US News school ranking (averaged over 10 years);
wluRank = Washington & Lee Law Journal Ranking;
gRank = Google Scholar Metrics ranking (note: “1000” means journal was not indexed).

Meta-Ranking of Flagship US Law Reviews (2022 Edition), by Bryce Newell

Journal	MetaRank	prRank	usnRank	wluRank	gRank
Harvard Law Review	1	1	3	1	1
Yale Law Journal	2	3	1	2	2
Stanford Law Review	3	2	2	3	5
Columbia Law Review	4	4	5	5	3
California Law Review	5	7	9	4	4
University of Chicago Law Review	6	5	4	12	6
University of Pennsylvania Law Review	7	9	7	6	8
New York University Law Review	8	6	6	13	9
Michigan Law Review	8	8	9	8	9
Georgetown Law Journal	10	14	14	7	9
Duke Law Journal	11	11	11	11	12
Northwestern University Law Review	12	13	12	14	16
Virginia Law Review	13	10	8	22	17
Texas Law Review	13	15	15	15	12
Vanderbilt Law Review	15	17	17	18	7
UCLA Law Review	16	16	16	10	18
Notre Dame Law Review	17	22	21	9	12
Minnesota Law Review	18	20	20	16	20
Cornell Law Review	19	12	13	23	29
Boston University Law Review	20	24	21	20	15
Southern California Law Review	21	19	19	26	27
Iowa Law Review	22	29	25	21	18
Washington University Law Review	23	18	18	29	34
Emory Law Journal	24	21	23	33	24
George Washington Law Review	25	25	24	31	23
Boston College Law Review	26	29	30	25	21
UC Davis Law Review	27	26	37	19	25
Fordham Law Review	28	34	39	17	22
William & Mary Law Review	29	33	33	24	31
Indiana Law Journal	30	32	34	27	29
North Carolina Law Review	31	23	31	35	34
Washington Law Review	32	36	38	30	28
University of Illinois Law Review	33	39	43	28	26
Wisconsin Law Review	34	27	32	39	39
Alabama Law Review	35	38	25	36	41
Ohio State Law Journal	36	31	35	37	43
Florida Law Review	37	37	41	32	38
Washington and Lee Law Review	38	41	36	44	42
Arizona State Law Journal	39	40	27	47	51
UC Irvine Law Review	40	28	28	56	55
Arizona Law Review	41	44	45	41	39
Hastings Law Journal	42	43	55	40	32
Georgia Law Review	43	35	29	43	64
Maryland Law Review	44	48	48	45	37
University of Colorado Law Review	45	42	46	46	45
Cardozo Law Review	46	53	59	34	36
Wake Forest Law Review	47	45	42	50	48
Brigham Young University Law Review	48	50	40	55	48
Utah Law Review	49	49	47	49	50
American University Law Review	50	51	77	38	32
University of Richmond Law Review	51	69	52	53	53
Houston Law Review	52	60	56	58	55
Tulane Law Review	53	46	51	73	64
Temple Law Review	54	57	54	64	64
Connecticut Law Review	55	52	57	52	83
SMU Law Review	55	65	50	74	55
George Mason Law Review	57	58	44	59	85
Denver Law Review	58	56	74	75	52
Lewis & Clark Law Review	59	86	90	42	43
Chicago-Kent Law Review	59	75	87	54	45
Georgia State University Law Review	61	64	65	80	53
University of Miami Law Review	62	54	69	81	60
Brooklyn Law Review	62	70	88	51	55
Tennessee Law Review	64	66	60	72	1000
Pepperdine Law Review	65	62	58	83	70
Nevada Law Journal	66	76	66	62	71
Case Western Reserve Law Review	67	68	67	81	61
Florida State University Law Review	68	47	49	98	85
Oklahoma Law Review	68	78	72	68	61
University of Kansas Law Review	70	67	73	85	61
Missouri Law Review	71	71	64	79	75
Seton Hall Law Review	72	88	61	69	73
Nebraska Law Review	73	84	70	78	64
Villanova Law Review	74	82	75	77	64
Penn State Law Review	75	92	68	61	80
Michigan State Law Review	76	91	92	48	75
Kentucky Law Journal	76	72	63	86	85
Buffalo Law Review	78	99	101	60	55
South Carolina Law Review	79	85	94	66	72
Seattle University Law Review	80	93	115	67	45
Loyola University Chicago Law Journal	81	73	76	89	83
Oregon Law Review	82	54	86	96	1000
San Diego Law Review	83	59	81	115	85
Saint Louis University Law Journal	83	98	91	87	64
University of Cincinnati Law Review	85	89	79	98	79
Texas A&M Law Review	86	105	100	71	1000
City University of New York (CUNY) Law Review	87	112	122	57	1000
Hofstra Law Review	88	101	114	63	73
Marquette Law Review	89	95	103	75	80
Rutgers University Law Review	90	74	82	126	75
Santa Clara Law Review	91	80	113	70	102
Baylor Law Review	92	87	53	113	1000
Indiana Law Review	93	81	104	101	85
University of Pittsburgh Law Review	93	63	80	121	107
Arkansas Law Review	95	94	84	103	91
Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review	96	61	71	132	110
UMKC Law Review	97	108	117	65	91
New Mexico Law Review	97	90	83	104	1000
Louisiana Law Review	99	104	93	95	91
Syracuse Law Review	100	96	99	97	101
Howard Law Journal	101	79	112	107	98
St. John's Law Review	101	103	85	111	97
DePaul Law Review	103	97	119	84	101
Northeastern University Law Review	104	83	78	122	1000
Dickinson Law Review	105	100	62	150	95
West Virginia Law Review	106	111	104	106	97
Montana Law Review	107	120	121	94	1000
Drake Law Review	108	131	111	92	97
University of St. Thomas Law Journal	109	138	126	91	80
Wayne Law Review	110	117	89	124	110
Washburn Law Journal	111	133	120	88	101
Drexel Law Review	111	113	109	110	1000
Vermont Law Review	113	121	135	90	98
Mercer Law Review	114	127	124	100	97
Akron Law Review	115	147	137	93	75
Albany Law Review	116	128	123	102	101
Cleveland State Law Review	116	144	116	109	85
Mississippi Law Journal	118	101	108	129	123
University of Louisville Law Review	118	109	98	144	110
FIU Law Review	120	140	102	119	101
Catholic University Law Review	121	107	106	130	120
Chapman Law Review	122	145	133	105	87
University of Hawaii Law Review	123	77	95	150	1000
Texas Tech Law Review	124	131	110	117	120
Maine Law Review	125	106	125	125	1000
Suffolk University Law Review	126	129	144	118	95
Stetson Law Review	127	114	107	147	121
Pace Law Review	128	130	136	133	91
Loyola Law Review	129	115	141	119	116
Tulsa Law Review	130	124	97	150	126
Idaho Law Review	131	118	132	138	110
University of San Francisco Law Review	132	125	153	108	116
University of Memphis Law Review	133	140	144	112	107
Touro Law Review	134	167	163	114	64
University of New Hampshire Law Review	135	123	96	150	1000
University of Baltimore Law Review	136	119	129	136	1000
Mitchell Hamline Law Review	137	150	148	116	110
University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review	137	109	138	150	127
University of Toledo Law Review	137	143	142	123	116
Creighton Law Review	140	136	127	139	123
University of the Pacific Law Review	141	134	147	146	101
Wyoming Law Review	142	122	128	140	1000
Gonzaga Law Review	143	116	118	150	1000
South Dakota Law Review	144	148	143	128	116
New York Law School Law Review	145	137	131	150	132
Quinnipiac Law Review	146	135	134	143	1000
University of Detroit Mercy Law Review	147	166	155	133	104
Southwestern Law Review	148	142	163	130	124
Willamette Law Review	149	126	140	150	1000
Ohio Northern University Law Review	150	170	152	137	110
St. Mary's Law Journal	151	158	158	148	107
Campbell Law Review	152	172	149	135	116
Duquesne Law Review	153	149	130	150	1000
UIC Law Review	154	146	158	150	127
Southern Illinois University Law Journal	154	153	155	150	123
Roger Williams University Law Review	156	157	163	149	120
North Dakota Law Review	156	139	150	150	1000
Capital University Law Review	158	176	163	141	116
South Texas Law Review	159	159	155	142	1000
Charleston Law Review	160	183	163	127	1000
Cumberland Law Review	161	155	146	150	1000
University of Dayton Law Review	162	152	151	150	1000
Northern Illinois University Law Review	163	156	153	150	1000
Widener Law Review	164	151	163	150	1000
Widener Commonwealth Law Review	165	154	161	150	1000
Belmont Law Review	166	182	139	150	1000
Elon Law Review	167	160	163	150	1000
Nova Law Review	168	161	163	150	1000
Northern Kentucky Law Review	169	162	163	150	1000
California Western Law Review	170	163	163	150	1000
Mississippi College Law Review	171	164	163	150	1000
Golden Gate University Law Review	172	165	163	150	1000
Oklahoma City University Law Review	173	168	161	150	1000
University of Massachusetts Law Review	174	169	163	150	1000
University of the District of Columbia Law Review	175	171	163	150	1000
North Carolina Central Law Review	176	172	163	150	1000
New England Law Review	177	174	163	150	1000
Florida A & M University Law Review	178	175	163	150	1000
Southern University Law Review	179	176	163	150	1000
Thurgood Marshall Law Review	180	178	163	150	1000
St. Thomas Law Review	181	179	163	150	1000
Western New England Law Review	182	180	163	150	1000
Regent University Law Review	183	184	160	150	1000
John Marshall Law Journal	183	181	163	150	1000
Faulkner Law Review	185	185	163	150	1000
Appalachian Journal of Law	186	186	163	150	1000
Liberty University Law Review	187	187	163	150	1000
Barry Law Review	188	188	163	150	1000
Lincoln Memorial University Law Review	189	189	163	150	1000
Thomas M. Cooley Law Review	190	190	163	150	1000
Ave Maria Law Review	191	191	163	150	1000
Western State Law Review	192	192	163	150	1000

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: 2021 Edition; 2020 Edition; 2019 Edition; 2018 Edition). The ranking table below includes 192 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 2014 edition through the 2023 edition of US News’ rankings) and the current Washington & Lee Rankings (2017-2021; released on July 15, 2022) and Google Scholar (June 2022) rankings. Each column (ranking) is sortable, and you can use the search box to search for individual law reviews.

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), and Google Scholar Metrics law journal rankings (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.

Additional notes about method:

Google Scholar Metrics are currently based on the most recent Google index (updated in June 2022, with data collected in September 2022; 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 (1-year-old) Google Scholar metrics.

W&L: The W&L rankings changed several years ago. Their rankings now only include calculated scores and ranks for the top 400 ranked law journals (including all specialty 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 2014-2017 editions, I assigned all unranked schools (those not ranked 1-149) to 150. All Tier 2 schools are 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 2016-2023 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 2017-2023 ranks from US News but shared the single Widener school ranking reported in US News in its 2014-2016 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.

Meta-Ranking of Flagship US Law Reviews

About the Meta-Ranking