What Is Law Review? How It Works, Start to Finish

What Is a Law Review?

A law review is a scholarly journal, run and edited by law students, that publishes in-depth articles about the law. Nearly every accredited US law school produces one as its flagship, general-subject journal — the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, and so on. What makes law reviews unusual among academic journals is that students, not faculty, decide what gets published and do the editing. Their articles are cited by courts and scholars as secondary authority: not binding law, but persuasive analysis of what the law is and where it is heading.

A single school often runs several journals. The flagship review covers any legal subject, while specialty journals focus on one field — technology, international law, civil rights, or business law. You can see how they fit together in our legal journals directory.

Is It a Big Deal to Be on Law Review?

For many students, yes. Making the flagship review is a competitive credential that employers read as shorthand for strong analytical and writing skills. It matters most for two paths: judicial clerkships, where judges often expect it, and academia, where a publication record starts here. It can also help with competitive firm hiring. But it is not the only path to a good legal career, and the weight it carries depends heavily on the job. Plenty of excellent lawyers were never on law review; plenty of law-review editors go on to ordinary practice.

What It Means to ‘Get On’ Law Review

“Getting on” law review means being selected as a member, which usually happens after the first year. Schools use a few methods. The write-on competition asks candidates to complete a timed exercise — typically an edited note or case comment plus a technical editing test — over a set period after final exams. Some schools also admit students by grades (a grade-on), and many blend the two. Once selected, new members usually serve first as staff editors who cite-check and edit, then some are chosen for the editorial board that runs the journal the following year.

Are Law Reviews Peer Reviewed?

Generally, no — at least not in the way scientific and social-science journals are. In most fields, submissions go to anonymous expert reviewers who recommend acceptance or rejection. US law reviews instead rely on student editors to select and edit articles. A handful of faculty-edited and peer-reviewed legal journals exist, and some student journals seek outside reader input, but the dominant model is student-run and student-edited. That structure is frequently debated, but it is also why law reviews can move quickly and publish ambitious, wide-ranging scholarship.

How Articles Get Selected and Edited

Two kinds of writing fill a law review. Articles are written by professors, practitioners, and judges and submitted to journals for consideration. Notes and comments are written by the journal’s own student members. Submissions arrive in concentrated windows each year, and editors read for originality, the strength of the legal argument, and how well the piece fits gaps in the literature. Once an article is accepted, it enters a demanding editing process: students verify every factual claim and legal citation against its source, enforce citation format, and work with the author through multiple drafts before publication. To submit your own work, see how to get published in a law review.

Law Review vs Other Legal Journals

“Law review” and “law journal” are often used interchangeably, and a school’s flagship may carry either name. In practice, the flagship review is general-subject and student-edited, while specialty journals narrow the topic. Both differ from bar journals — practical magazines published by bar associations for practicing lawyers — and from county legal journals, which are official newspapers for legal notices. For rankings and a school-by-school list, see law review rankings and directory.