At Scholastica, we work with law reviews across the spectrum, from top-ranked general law reviews to specialty journals. Despite the vast differences that exist between types of law reviews, some things are pretty standard in law review world. First, needing an easy way to receive and organize article submissions is something all law reviews have in common - and something we have pretty strong opinions about. :)
A second similarity all law reviews share is that they can benefit from regular journal promotion: every law review should develop a strategy to promote their calls for papers and published issues. As important and useful as law review promotion can be to attracting authors and readers, few boards have comprehensive promotional strategies - let alone a board member dedicated to executing promotional activities. In this post we will highlight some examples of the different ways law reviews can promote their publication.
Communicate when authors should submit their articles
A persistent struggle we hear from law reviews that do not have a publication promotion strategy is that they do not receive as many submissions as they’d like to fill their volume. Soliciting submissions is often the first step boards take when working on their volume, so promoting your journal’s call for submissions is a natural starting point for building a publication promotion plan.
The law review submission hashtag #LRSubmissions can expand your reach
Team Scholastica helps promote law review tweets tagged with #LRSubmissions and tweets out law review opening announcements with the hashtag, as well. We tell authors to track the hashtag for updates, so be sure to take advantage of it!
#Volume45 Submissions are officially open - submit your articles for consideration starting today! https://t.co/5zFeVaxK1d #LRSubmissions
— Pepperdine Law Rev. (@PeppLawReview) February 28, 2017
The @nyulawreview is now accepting Article submissions for its next volume! Click here to submit: https://t.co/tjV1O3bytT #LRSubmissions
— NYU Law Review (@nyulawreview) February 15, 2017
Submissions for Volume 20 of the Journal of Constitutional Law are now open! #LRSubmissions https://t.co/sIUqhZRlFk
— Penn Law JCL (@UPaJConstL) February 3, 2017
Potential authors: did you know our Submissions are OPEN for #OSLJ at @scholasticahq? Submit today: we'd love to read it! #LRSubmissions
— Ohio St. Law Journal (@OhioStateLJ) January 24, 2017
Share behind-the-curtain posts to humanize your journal
Behind every law review is a team of hard working law students who deserve some credit for the time they dedicate to making a successful publication - talk about them! A law review can promote itself by helping authors understand what kinds of people are on the editorial board that they might choose to work with.
Incorporate your staff members into journal promotion
You can “add a face” to your law review by introducing the world to the editors who make your publication possible. The examples below show how some law reviews have highlighted the many personalities of their e-board to break up their social media feeds’ stream of articles and essays.
UCLA Law Review’s #HumansOfLawReview:
Syracuse Law Review’s #SLRMemberMonday:
Connecticut Law Review sharing a team outing:
Law review nerds having a blast down in Charlottesville for the UVA softball tournament!! pic.twitter.com/zYowh5SoyJ
— Conn Law Review (@ConnLRev) April 8, 2017
Drake Law Review congratulating their student authors:
Congratulations to the following student notes selected for publication! pic.twitter.com/jUXp3WOO88
— Drake Law Review (@drakelawreview) April 19, 2017
Announce publication milestones
Law review promotion doesn’t only help attract prospective authors; it can help your law review broaden its readership, too. Announcing when your latest issue is published is a way to encourage people to read the articles your board just worked hard to publish. There are a variety of ways to promote upcoming or recent publications, including announcing when new issues will be ready, bragging when new books are in the hands of your editors, and highlighting each individual newly published article.
Showcase publication milestones
Drum up reader interest before your next issue is ready:
Getting close to publication for Issue 1 of Vol. 119 of the #WVaLawReview! In the meantime, check up on WVLRO! https://t.co/F8NUv0CGyV
— W. Va. Law Review (@WVlawreview) October 11, 2016
Help readers understand what your recent articles are about:
Check out this current & relevant article from @cozen_oconnor attorneys Wilkinson & Glazer: https://t.co/dOqgFXenDo pic.twitter.com/Eh0aEK2qwZ
— Villanova Law Review (@VillanovaLawRev) July 25, 2016
If you have a regularly published online component or special issue, share updates (and maybe some puns?) tying your new articles to current events:
Here's to 9 more days until summer. Catch up on 4th Circuit Summaries until then! https://t.co/AlEaQUgMrt #sclr #week20 pic.twitter.com/qPuPWFWNeW
— S.C. Law Review (@SCLawReview) May 22, 2017
Will the new presidency restrict the scope of FOIA requests? Jenny explores in this week's #UMLR #Insights https://t.co/hrIvHcVxMk
— UM Law Review (@UMLawReview) April 30, 2017
How does your team promote your law review?
We want to know! Are you working on a promotion strategy? Are you starting to leverage social media? Building an email list with reader and author subscribers? Trying to figure out where to start?
Let us know! We’d love to share our insights about how law reviews promote their publications online, and we also enjoy hearing about new projects your team might be working on. If your team is working on something neat, tweet us @scholasticaLR or email us at support@scholasticahq.com!