Image credit: [Wesson Wang](https://unsplash.com/@wesson)
Image credit: [Wesson Wang](https://unsplash.com/@wesson)

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!

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:

Meet Michael Corelli! #SLRMemberMonday #PeopleBehindThePrint #LawReview #SyracuseLaw • • • ⚖️ Year: Rising 3L 🏠 Hometown: Utica, NY 🎓 Undergrad: Utica College (Psychology) 👥 Law Review Position: Business Editor 💻 2L Summer: Harter Seacrest & Emery LLP in Buffalo, NY 📚 Favorite Classes: Constitutional Law 1 💭 Best Law Review Memory: Handing in my Law Review Note! 🌎 Dream Job: General Manager of the Green Bay Packers 🔌 Shameless Plug: I am the "business man," and I oversee all of our financial operations and fundraisers, in addition to planning and coordinating our end-of-the-year Banquet. Interested in donating, helping us fundraise, or subscribing to our Law Review? Send us an email!

A post shared by Syracuse Law Review (@syracuselrev) on

Connecticut Law Review sharing a team outing:

Drake Law Review congratulating their student authors:

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:

Help readers understand what your recent articles are about:

If you have a regularly published online component or special issue, share updates (and maybe some puns?) tying your new articles to current events:

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!