Definite Articles: Using the Law Review Article Type Indicator® to Make Law Review Publishing Decisions

Abstract

Each year close to two thousand law review articles are circulated among about two hundred student-edited law journals. As a result, Law reviews around the country spend upwards of three thousand hours a year screening potential articles for publication. This process is exhausting for both authors and editors alike. The core problem in the law review article selection process is the information asymmetry between authors and law reviews. This article presents a tool, the Law Review Article Type Indicator (LRATI) that aims to reduce the information disparity, in turn making the article selection process less time consuming, more fruitful, and generally more pleasant for law review editors and authors. To achieve this end, the LRATI employs four bipolar scales that systematically evaluate both the author and the submission in an effort to ensure that law reviews only publish author's who are "stars" or "keepers", or at the very least "fillers" while eliminating with ease any and all "losers." This article argues that if law reviews implement the LRATI, the selection of law review articles will be quicker, more accurate, and will take place with less rancor and fewer interpersonal conflicts than ever before.