Journal of Free Speech Law: A Report on Published Blind Submissions
Our peer-edited Journal of Free Speech Law publishes a mix of symposia, solicited pieces, and blind-reviewed submissions. Submitters might wonder: Blind though the process might be, can I get my piece published if I'm not a law professor at a top 20 (or even top 50) law school?
I thought I'd answer that by going through all the articles we published via blind submissions. (Recall that we've also published many more articles through other channels, mostly symposia; their authors include tenured faculty at top 10 law schools, tenured faculty at other law schools, faculty in other disciplines, and more.) All the rankings are from the current U.S. News—an imperfect ranking system, to be sure, but one that's adequate for these purposes.
- One of the blind-reviewed accepted articles was from a tenured faculty member at a top 10 law school.
- Six were from tenured faculty at schools ranked in the 30s or 40s.
- Two were from tenured faculty at schools ranked in the second 50.
- Two were from a non-tenure-track faculty member, who had written comparatively few academic articles, but who had very substantial practice experience.
- Two were from practicing U.S. lawyers.
- One was from a recent graduate who was clerking for a judge.
- One was from a fellow at a law school, which is to say someone who has recently graduated and has a temporary position with an eye towards getting a future tenure-track job elsewhere.
- One was from a law professor at a foreign institution.
- Two were from foreign think-tank researchers.
Of course, tenured faculty members tend to be accomplished scholars, and thus tend to produce good work; their jobs also give them time to produce such work. Still, this list shows that excellent articles on free speech law can be written by people who don't have top faculty appointments as well as those who do.