Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
An author submits a 20,000-word Article through the review's electronic system; at least three student editors read it anonymously before any further committee or full-body vote.
- Is an instance
A scholar cites an article from the review in Bluebook form as Harv. L. Rev.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A journal that sends every manuscript to external, subject-expert referees and uses their reports as the basis for the decision.
Editorial commentary
The Harvard Law Review is a student-edited legal journal, and its selection process is editorial rather than external peer review. Second- and third-year Harvard Law students make all editorial and organizational decisions, and the review states it is independent of Harvard Law School (Organization and History page, read 2026-11-07). This entry explains how that model works, how submissions are handled and how to read the journal’s standing without a Journal Impact Factor.
What the Harvard Law Review is
The review publishes monthly from November to June. Its November issue is the Supreme Court issue, and its April issue is the Developments in the Law issue. Members are chosen after an annual writing competition, and all pieces go through an editorial process run by those student members. Print publication carries Articles, Essays and book review proposals; the Forum carries Responses and Commentaries; the website also takes blog posts by email (Print and Forum Submissions page, read 2026-11-07).
Is the Harvard Law Review peer reviewed?
Not in the sense used by most scientific journals. Student editors conduct the review. Each submission is read anonymously by at least three editors. Many pieces then continue through a further sequence that can include an Articles Committee vote, a preemption check, faculty peer review and a vote of the full body of editors. Faculty peer review is therefore one possible stage in the review’s own process, not an external double-blind refereeing system run by an editor with subject-matter peers. When a form or database asks whether an item is peer reviewed, describe the process as above and let the receiving body decide how to classify it. For the general concept, see peer review.
Harvard Law Review submissions
The review stated on 2026-11-07 that it was accepting submissions for Volume 140, with no closing date and no best time to submit. Submission is through an electronic system. Requirements stated on the page:
| Piece | Stated word limit (including footnotes) |
|---|---|
| Article | 25,000 (over 30,000 weighs against selection) |
| Essay | 12,000 to 17,500 |
| Response (Forum) | 8,000 |
| Commentary (Forum) | 6,000 |
| Blog post | 750 to 1,500 |
- Manuscripts are anonymized and follow the Bluebook, 22nd edition.
- Authors disclose any AI-drafted text at submission.
- Authors of empirical articles provide a replication package on request.
- An author who receives an offer has at least seven days to accept. The review suggests submitting at least two weeks before other journals. Expedite requests skip no review stage, and unselected pieces are held for the next volume.
For how authorship and credit are handled across law reviews, see law review authorship norms.
Abbreviation and citation
The common Bluebook citation abbreviation is Harv. L. Rev. The review’s own pages do not state an abbreviation, so use the Bluebook form when citing.
Impact factor and metrics
This entry gives no Journal Impact Factor figure for the Harvard Law Review. The review’s pages describe selection by student editors, not citation metrics, and a figure should only be quoted from the Clarivate Journal Citation Reports with its data year. For what the measure is and how it is calculated, see Journal Impact Factor, and for a worked journal-level entry see Scientific Reports’ Journal Impact Factor.
A caution on using prestige as evidence
Standing in law is usually discussed through reputation and citation-based rankings, which differ from one another and from the Journal Impact Factor. A journal’s name says little about the quality of a single article in it. Assessment guidance such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) advises against using journal-level measures as a substitute for judging the work itself.
Sources
Harvard Law Review, Print and Forum Submissions and Organization and History pages (harvardlawreview.org), read 2026-11-07. Rules and volume numbers change, so the review’s current submissions page governs.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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