Download This PaperAffirmative Action in Law Reviews
25 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2018 Last revised: 1 Jun 2021
Date Written: December 2, 2018
Abstract
Policies designed to increase the diversity of law review editors are being challenged in court. The lawsuits claim that, by "illegally us[ing] race and gender as criteria for selecting law students to staff their most elite academic journals," the law reviews have diminished the quality of the articles they publish. We test this claim by using citations as a measure of article quality and studying changes in diversity policies at the flagship law reviews of the top 20 law schools. Using data on the citations of articles published since 1960, we find no evidence that diversity policies meaningfully decrease the quality of articles published.
Keywords: Diversity, Law Reviews, Academic Publishing
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Adam Chilton (Contact Author)
University of Chicago - Law School ( email )
1111 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.adamchilton.org
Jonathan S. Masur
University of Chicago - Law School ( email )
1111 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
United States
773.702.5188 (Phone)
HOME PAGE: http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/masur/
Kyle Rozema
Northwestern University - Pritzker School of Law ( email )
375 E. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
United States
HOME PAGE: http://www.kylerozema.com