Characteristics of Canadian Law Journal Scholarship
1.
Predominance of doctrinal scholarship, followed by
normative / critical scholarship
2. Minimal
amount of empirical or interdisciplinary scholarship.
3. Scholarly
role undefined
a. Substantively
b. Methodologically
c. In terms
of audience and authors
4. Scholarly
role contested
5. No
quality control
6. No clear
pedagogical role
Law Journal Format
1. General (30%) v. specialized (70%)
2.
Regional (8%) v.
national/international (92%)
3.
Peer reviewed (84%) v.
editor-reviewed (16%)
4.
Student-edited (28%) v. peer or
professionally edited (72%)
5.
Language (English: 42%; French:
5%; Bilingual: 53%)
6.
Dissemination (30% unavailable
electronically)
7.
Not significant avenue for
student scholarship
8.
Little differentiation between
journals in terms of subject matter
9.
Weighted towards public law
10.
Some major subject areas not
covered
Format of General Canadian Law School Journals
1.
Peer reviewed / exclusive
submission (14)
2.
Student edited (8)
a.
Varying degrees of faculty
involvement
3.
Faculty edited (4)
4.
Mixed editorship (2)
Source: Law Review: Scholarship and Pedagogy in Canadian Law Journals by Neil Craik and Phil Bryden, CALT Annual Conference, 2008 (excerpts).