Beyond Quantity - Classifying and Evaluating Legal Research in a Trusting Environment

Abstract

In this Memo I have developed a model with criteria to primarily classify legal research through a method of self-assessment. The model chooses to move away from quantity and from determining quality merely based on the place of publication, such as high ranked journals or law reviews or very reputed presses. The model aims at escaping the quantitative tsunami and obsession with impact factors and citation indexes that is terrorizing the science community.

The focus is on the IPW, the Individual Piece of Work, by assessing it as research or not, based on five criteria. One cardinal criterion (Scientific = solid, comprehensive and transparent) and four additional criteria: analytical/comparative, original, critical and clear.

Keywords: Legal Research, Criteria, Classification, Evaluation, Self-Assessment, Scientific

JEL Classification: K00