Law-Related Academic Journals

Law Reviews

A comprehensive list of 1,345 law reviews, with links to the journals' homepages and tables of contents. Nearly all law reviews are student-edited.

A guide that compiles word limit policies for law reviews.

An electronic service that submits articles to law reviews (for a fee).

The Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA -UK) has a list of law-related journals in Britain, organized by research area.

Refereed or Faculty-Edited Journals on Law-Related Subjects

Law and Society Review
Peer-reviewed, official journal of the Law and Society Association

Law and Social Inquiry
Peer-reviewed journal of the American Bar Foundation

Journal of Law and Society (UK)
The leading British journal for socio-legal studies

Judicature
Journal of the American Judicature Society

Law, Culture and Humanities Journal
A publication of the Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities, co-sponsored by the Socio-Legal Research Centre at Griffith University (Australia) and Amherst College (USA)

Journal of Empirical Legal Studies
Published by Cornell Law School

Law and Policy
Peer-reviewed journal published in association with the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School

Psychology, Public Policy and Law
Official journal of the American Psychological Association

Journal of Law, Economics and Organization
Interdisciplinary journal focusing on the intersection of law, economics and organizations

Journal of Law and Economics
Published in conjunction with the University of Chicago Law School and Graduate School of Business

Journal of Legal Studies
Interdisciplinary journal on law and social sciences

European Journal of Law and Economics
Studies in law and economics with an emphasis on European and European Community law

Journal of Legal History (UK)
The only British journal devoted solely to legal history

Law and History Review
Official journal of the American Society for Legal History

Legal Theory
Specializing in analytical and normative jurisprudence, doctrinal theory, policy analyses of legal doctrines and critical theories of law

Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
Published on behalf of the faculty of law at Oxford University

Ratio Juris
An International Journal of Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law

Law and Philosophy
An International Journal for Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy

Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence
An international journal of legal thought

Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie
Archives for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy

Res publica
A Journal of Legal and Social Philosophy, co-published with the U.K. Association of Legal and Social Philosophy

American Journal of International Law
Official journal of the American Society of International Law

European Journal of International Law
Leading journal of international law featuring European and international approaches

American Journal of Comparative Law
Official journal of the American Society of Comparative Law

I-Con: International Journal of Constitutional Law
Published in association with the New York University School of Law, I-CON is dedicated to international and comparative constitutional law

The Law and Politics Book Review
Official listserv-based publication of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association offering speedy reviews of books on all law-and-politics-related subjects

Law and Courts: The Newsletter of the Law and Courts Section
Official publication of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association

Constitutional Commentary
Published by the University of Minnesota Law School

Journal of National Security Law and Policy
Official journal of the National Security Law section of the Association of American Law School, published with the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Law and Contemporary Problems
Interdisciplinary journal published at Duke Law School

Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy
On-line peer-reviewed journal of moral, political and legal philosophy, sponsored by the University of Southern California School of Law

Jurimetrics
The Journal of Law, Science, & Technology, published at the Sandra Day O'Connor School of Law at Arizona State University

Law Text Culture
Trans-continental peer reviewed journal which publishes critical thinking and creative writing across a range of genres - from artwork and fiction to the traditional scholarly essay

Legal Studies Forum
Faculty-edited journal that seeks to promote trans-disciplinary, humanistic, critical scholarship

return to top

Professional Associations

Law and Society Association

Association for the Study of Law, Culture and Humanities

American Law and Economics Association

Empirical Legal Studies

Section on Law and Courts
American Political Science Association

American Society of Criminology

American Psychology-Law Society
American Psychological Association

American Society for Legal History

American Society of International Law

Sociology of Law Section
American Sociological Association

Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (POLAR)
American Anthropological Association

Research Committee for Comparative Legal Studies
International Political Science Association

Research Committee on the Sociology of Law
International Sociological Association

Socio-Legal Studies Association (UK)

European Network on Law and Society

American Judicature Society

return to top

Other Centers

This list is intended to help users find research centers and interdisciplinary programs that concentrate on law. Some of the programs listed below grant advanced degrees; others house teams of interdisciplinary researchers. Please check the websites of each center for current information.

The American Bar Association maintains a list of undergraduate legal studies programs in the United States.

The European Journal on Criminal Justice Policy and Research maintains a list of centers involved in criminological research in Europe

American Bar Foundation
Established in 1952, the American Bar Foundation is an independent, nonprofit national research institute committed to objective empirical research on law and legal institutions. This program of sociolegal research is conducted by an interdisciplinary staff of Research Fellows trained in such diverse fields as law, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, history, and anthropology. The American Bar Foundation is the preeminent resource for lawyers, scholars, and policy makers who seek insightful analyses of the theory and functioning of law, legal institutions, and the legal profession. The Foundation's work is supported by the American Bar Endowment, by The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, and by grants for particular research projects from private foundations and government agencies.

Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies
Since its foundation within the University of Oxford in 1972 the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies has become a world leader in conducting innovative, inter-disciplinary research into the interaction of law and society. The Centre consists of a group of scholars and researchers from complementary backgrounds in the law and social sciences with a view to of generating new insights and practical direction on both enduring and cutting edge issues. As a further aim the Centre seeks to disseminate this knowledge to the widest possible audience internationally, to encourage the study of law, legal institutions and wider society, and to develop their practical applications. These activities are complemented by the commitment to the supervision and training of research students. The research staff at the Centre are drawn from the disciplines of Law, Sociology, Anthropology and Political Science. The larger research programmes are currently: Administrative Law and Rights of Citizens; Regulation and Discretion; Business Finance and Law; Human Rights; Comparative Media Law and Policy; and Public Interest Law.

Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program, University of California at Berkeley
The School of Law (Boalt Hall) at the University of California at Berkeley offers a unique program of graduate study in law and society, leading to the Ph.D degree in Jurisprudence and Social Policy (JSP). The program promotes the study of legal and political institutions through the perspectives and methods of criminal justice, economics, history, philosophy, political science and sociology. The JSP program core faculty accordingly consists of humanists and social scientists who combine scholarship and teaching in their own disciplines with the study of law. The general Boalt faculty also contributes significantly to the JSP Program. The Boalt faculty is exceptionally strong in public and environmental law, law and economics, law and technology, and critical race and gender theory, and many members hold doctoral degrees in such fields as American studies, economics, history, and philosophy.

NYU Law and Society Program
New York University's Institute for Law and Society is a center for faculty, graduate students and law students studying law and legal institutions from a transdisciplinary perspective. Scholars at the Institute explore a broad range of law-related issues both domestically and globally. Law and politics, legal anthropology, economic analyses of law, sociology of law, criminology, psychology and law, and legal history are areas of particular focus. Connecting the School of Law with the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University, the Institute's Law and Society Program offers a Ph.D. degree in Law and Society. Students in the Program may also pursue J.D./Ph.D. and J.D./M.A. dual degrees, and NYU undergraduates can enter the Minor in Law and Society. The Law and Society Program is designed for students who are pursuing academic careers in the social sciences and/or law; who seek to work in public policy and policy analysis; and who want to do applied research on law-related issues.

Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
The International Sociological Organisation's Research Committee on the Sociology of Law and the Government of the Basque Country established the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Oñati, Gipuzkoa, Spain in 1988. From the outset, the Institute created academic links and collaborative relations with various European and non-European universities by providing facilities for seminars, workshops, visiting scholars and library research. The Institute has as a result grown into an important base for the global network of scholars who work on law and social science issues. A major activity of the Institute is its year long course leading to an MA degree in the sociology of law. The course now includes 20-25 students annually from about a dozen countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and North, Central and South America. To date, students have come from thirty-eight countries. Faculty members, who each provide two weeks of instruction in their special areas of interest, have come from twenty-six different countries.

The Comparative Law and Society Studies Center, University of Washington,
The Comparative Law and Society Studies Center at the University of Washington is committed to promoting interdisciplinary research and teaching as well as community service regarding law, justice, and human rights throughout the world. At its core CLASS is constituted by an intellectual community of faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students dedicated to cutting-edge socio-legal inquiry. This community is structured around four primary types of endeavor: (1) individual and collaborative academic research; (2) an interdisciplinary Graduate Fellows program; 3) the undergraduate Law, Societies, and Justice program; and 4) community outreach and service.

Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
The Institute was founded in Berlin in 1924 as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) within the framework of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (Kaiser Wilhelm Society). It was re-established in 1949 by the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (Max Planck Society) as the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law) in Heidelberg. Presently, 45 scholars employed under a joint directorship are engaged in researching basic issues and current developments in the areas of public international law, European law, comparative public law and German public law. Their work serves to promote the formulation and development of positive law as well as its conceptual and theoretical permeation. Attention focuses not only on particular substantive questions, but also on the interplay among public international law, European law and national public law. The Institute has intentionally avoided departmental structuring. Instead, it aims at a scholarly elaboration of legal questions, treating their international, European and national components as a functional unity.

The Swiss Institute for Comparative Law
The Institute's practice areas include both questions in private international law (conflicts of law) and the laws of a specific country (e.g., contract, commercial, tort, family, constitutional, administrative, and criminal law). Experts of the Institute perform research and analysis for clients from Switzerland and abroad. The Institute offers training and research opportunities for young jurists and lawyers through the van Calker Scholarship Program, as well as visitors from Switzerland and abroad.

Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, University of Buffalo
The Baldy Center is an internationally recognized institute that supports the interdisciplinary study of law and legal institutions. Over 100 UB faculty members from 17 academic departments participate in Baldy Center research and teaching activities as do an increasing number of graduate students.

Institute for Legal Studies, University of Wisconsin Law School at Madison
In establishing the Institute, the Law School sought to expand and institutionalize its longstanding “law in action” approach, which dates back to the early part of the twentieth century and remains vital to its mission. The Institute was created to foster the interdisciplinary study and teaching of law not only by providing support for its own faculty, but also by explicitly connecting to other departments on campus and by cultivating a network of scholars with similar interests worldwide. The Institute acts as a catalyst and facilitator for scholarly work on sociolegal topics carried out by faculty and graduate students, and supports related studies in dual degree graduate programs and in the undergraduate Legal Studies Program. Over the years, it has promoted and assisted independent and collaborative research in a wide variety of substantive areas in sociolegal studies. Well known work done under the Institute's umbrella includes seminal work on the social context of contractual relationships, litigation and disputing, comparative institutional analysis, poverty law and administrative agencies, family law, feminist legal theory, the legal history of the family, the implementation of law in organizations, Critical Race Theory, the legal profession, and emerging issues in international law and globalization. The Institute currently serves as the base of operations for the Global Legal Studies Initiative and for the Legal History and Law and Humanities programs.

Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum (Research and Document Centre - Dutch Ministry of Justice)
WODC (the Dutch abbreviation for Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum, in English: Research and Documentation Centre) can best be characterised as an international criminal justice knowledge centre. The centre aims to make a professional contribution to development and evaluation of justice policy set by the Netherlands Ministry of Justice.

Department of Criminology, Law and Society, University of California at Irvine
The Department of Criminology, Law and Society (CLS) has established itself as one of the nation's top programs in criminology, criminal justice, and legal studies. Established as a formal department with its own Ph.D. program in 1992 within the School of Social Ecology, CLS faculty have trained numerous undergraduate and graduate students over almost three decades. Graduates work in both the public and private sectors, and at colleges and universities around the country. The CLS curriculum offers a broad array of topics for both undergraduate and graduate study which are central to crime and its control, social policy, and the law. In keeping with one of the main tenets of Social Ecology, faculty and students approach these subjects from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
The mission of the Carr Center, like the Kennedy School, is to train future leaders for careers in public service and to apply first-class research to the solution of public policy problems. Our research, teaching and writing are guided by a commitment to make human rights principles central to the formulation of good public policy in United States and throughout the world. Since its founding in 1999 through a gift from Kennedy School alumnus Greg Carr, the Center has developed a unique focus of expertise on the most dangerous and intractable human rights challenges of the new century, including genocide, mass atrocity, state failure and the ethics and politics of military intervention. In approaching such challenges, we seek to lead public policy debate, to train human rights leaders and to partner with human rights organizations to help them respond to current and future challenges. We also recognize that the solutions to such problems must involve not only human rights actors, but governments, corporations, the military and others not traditionally conceived of as "human rights" efforts. Thus, we seek to expand the reach and relevance of human rights considerations to all who influence their outcomes.

The Rand Institute for Civil Justice
The RAND Institute for Civil Justice is an independent research program within the RAND Corporation. The Institute's mission is to help make the civil justice system more efficient and more equitable by supplying government and private decision-makers and the public with the results of objective, empirically based, analytic research. The ICJ facilitates change in the civil justice system by analyzing trends and outcomes, identifying and evaluating policy options, and bringing together representatives of different interests to debate alternative solutions to policy problems. The Institute builds on a long tradition of RAND research characterized by an interdisciplinary, empirical approach to public policy issues and rigorous standards of quality, objectivity, and independence.

The Academy of European Law
The Academy of European Law (ERA) promotes the awareness, understanding and good practice of EU law by providing legal professionals with training and a forum for debate. ERA enables judges, lawyers in private practice, business and public administration, academics and others who encounter legal issues in their work to gain a wider and deeper knowledge of the diverse aspects of European law. Through conferences, seminars, study visits, language courses, training projects and publications, it serves as an interface between the European legal profession and the decision-making centres of Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The ERA team consists of a dozen lawyers specialising in different areas of EU law, supported by a competent and experienced administrative and technical staff. The speakers at ERA events are drawn from a Europe-wide network of experts, leading professionals and lawmakers. Founded in 1992 on the initiative of the European Parliament, ERA is a public foundation whose members include the majority of EU member states. It is based in Trier, Germany and supported by the European Union.

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law
The British Institute of International and Comparative Law exists to advance the understanding of international and comparative law, and to promote the rule of law in international affairs, and to be a leading research institute of international and comparative law and to promote its practical application by the dissemination of research through publications, conferences and discussion. The Institute was created by the merger in 1958 of the Society of Comparative Legislation (founded in 1895) and the Grotius Society (founded in 1915).

The European Academy of Legal Theory
This institute offers summer courses in legal theory in English and French. The institute also publishes proceedings of its congresses and workshops.

Tilburg Faculty of Law and Schoordijk Institute for Jurisprudence and Comparative Law
The Tilburg Faculty of Law and its research institute, the Schoordijk Institute for Jurisprudence and Comparative Law, enjoy a strong reputation in both research and education. For many years now, the national Elsevier ranking has rated both research and education either first or second in the Netherlands. It offers a number of one-year master's programs in English, in fields such as International and European Public Law, International and European Business Law, and Law and Technology. It also offers a two-year MPhil. program for a Research Master in Law, with a special focus on comparative law, legal research methods and interdisciplinary studies.

return to top

Funding for Sociological Research

Law and Social Sciences Program, National Science Foundation
The Law and Social Science Program at the National Science Foundation supports social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules, institutions, processes, and behaviors. These can include, but are not limited to, research designed to enhance the scientific understanding of the impact of law; human behavior and interactions as these relate to law; the dynamics of legal decision making; and the nature, sources, and consequences of variations and changes in legal institutions. The primary consideration is that the research shows promise of advancing a scientific understanding of law and legal process. Within this framework, the Program has an"open window" for diverse theoretical perspectives, methods and contexts for study. For example, research on social control, crime causation, violence, victimization, legal and social change, patterns of discretion, procedural justice, compliance and deterrence, and regulatory enforcement are among the many areas that have recently received program support. In addition to standard proposals, planning grant proposals, travel support requests to lay the foundation for research, and proposals for improving doctoral dissertation research are welcome.

Law School Admissions Council, Research Grant Program
The Law School Admission Council Research Grant Program funds empirical research on legal training and legal practice broadly viewed. This includes the study of precursors to legal training (including demographic variables), all varieties of legal training itself and the work that lawyers, judges, law teachers, and other legal professionals do after they complete their training (“law jobs”). The program welcomes proposals for comparative research proceeding from any of a variety of methodologies, a potentially broad range of topics, and varying time frames. Proposals will be judged on the importance of the questions addressed, their relevance to the mission of LSAC, and the quality of the research designs. Eligible investigators need not be members of law school faculties. Proposals from interdisciplinary teams of law faculty and empirical researchers are strongly encouraged.

MacArthur Foundation, Grants Program for Juvenile Justice
The Foundation supports research, model programs, policy analysis, and public education related to juvenile justice. The goal of this work is to promote an effective juvenile justice system that is linked to relevant agencies, is acknowledged to play a critical role in the community, and is held accountable for public safety and the rehabilitation of young offenders.

Fellowships for new law school graduates

return to top

Law-Related Blogs

Metablogs

The Law Professor Blogs Network
Resources, News & Information for Law School Professors

The Jurisdynamics Network
Exploring law amid societal and technological change

Juris MetaNovus
Directory of law blogs

Law Blog Central
A gateway to the Jurisdynamics Network and other leading law-related weblogs

Blogs

American Constitution Society blog
The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations

Althouse
Ann Althouse, Wisconsin Law School

Balkinization
Jack Balkin, Ian Ayres, Mark Graber, Stephen Griffin, Scott Horton, Marty Lederman, Sanford Levinson, David Luban, Kim Scheppele, Dan Solove, Brian Tamanaha, Mark Tushnet

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Blog of the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

Becker-Posner Blog
A Blog by Gary Becker and Richard Posner

Bench Memos
The National Review Legal Blog

Blackprof
Paul Butler, Christopher Bracey, Devon Carbado, Richard Delgado, Sherilyn Ifill, Shavar Jeffries, Tracey Meares, Spencer Overton, Terry Smith, Adrien Wing on race, culture and society

Brian Leiter's Law School Reports
News about law schools

Chinese Law Prof Blog
Edited by Donald C. Clarke, George Washington School of Law

Concurring Opinions
The Law, the Universe, and Everything

Conflict of Laws .NET
In association with the Journal of Private International Law

Disability Law
Sam Bagenstos writes periodic updates on developments in disability law and related fields

Election Law Blog
The law of politics and the politics of law

Empirical Legal Studies
Bringing Methods to Our Madness

Essentially Contested America
Robert Justin Lipkin, Widener Law School

EU Law Blog
About European Union law for students, academics, practitioners and anyone else who may be interested

Feminist Law Professors
Group blog featuring dozens of feminist law professors

First Movers
Tomorrow's legal scholars ... today.

Georgetown University Law Faculty Blog
Group blog of the Georgetown Law faculty

Grotian Moment
International war crimes trial blog

How Appealing
The Web's “First Blog Devoted to Appellate Litigation”

Human Rights Blog
Human rights news, actions, announcements, opinions and miscellanea

Intel-Dump
Military life and military law

IntLawGrrls
Women's voices on international law, policy, practice

Is That Legal?
Eric Muller, UNC Law School

Law and Econ Prof Blog
Blog emphasizing law and economics topics

Law and Society Blog
Notes from the intersection of law, society, technology, economics, and culture

LawCulture
Law, culture, politics and life inside and outside the legal academy

Legal History Blog
Mary Dudziak: scholarship, news and new ideas in legal history

Legal Theory Blog
Gary Solum: “All the theory that fits!”

Discourse.net
Michael Froomkin, Miami Law School

Mirror of Justice
A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory

National Security Advisors
A national security law blog

Obsidian Wings
"This is the Voice of Moderation. I wouldn't go so far as to say we've actually SEIZED the radio station . . ."

Orin Kerr
The law, the legal academy and the legal profession

Prawfsblawg
"Where Intellectual Honesty Has (Almost Always) Trumped Partisanship Since 2005"

Ratio Juris
Empirical, analytical, and comparative perspectives on judicial decisionmaking and the legal process

SCOTUSblog
Supreme Court of the United States Blog

Sentencing Law and Policy
Edited by Douglas Berman, Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University

University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog
Group blog by the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School

The Volokh Conspiracy
Dale Carpenter, David Kopel, David Bernstein, David Post, Erik Jaffe, Eugene Volokh, Ilya Somin, Jim Lindgren, Jonathan Adler, Kevan Choset, Orin Kerr, Randy Barnett, Russell Korobkin, Sasha Volokh, Stuart Benjamin, Todd Zywicki, Tyler Cowen

Wall Street Journal Law Blog
On law and business and the business of law

return to top

Sites for Legal News

JURIST — Legal News and Research
FINDLAW — News for Legal Professionals
FINDLAW — US Legal News
FINDLAW — Legal Commentary
FINDLAW — Terrorism-related News
Above the Law — legal gossip about lawyers and judges

return to top