There is an interesting short news blurb in the National Jurist about the shrinking circulation of law reviews. Part of the reason may be due to the availabilty of articles online, but the decrease may also be attibutable to the troubling thought that people may simply not be reading law review articles any more. Any thoughts?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
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I hope people haven't stopped reading law review articles. Because if they have, then what have I been toiling all winter for?!
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a dog bites man story to me. Who cares about circulation? Law reviews are likely as important now as they ever have been, but why would anybody buy a subscription to a general law review when they can get access to all of them through electronic databases. With the availability articles through Hein Online, I now never consult actual volumes of law journals.
ReplyDeleteThe more interesting question is why anybody writes or publishes scholarly monographs anymore. They have a tiny audience and are not searchable. The author is unlikely to reach her potential readership, and because the volume is not electronically available, people writing on the same subject will often be unable to find the valuable insights contained therein.