WOMEN AND EQUALITY IN PUBLISHING: A STUDY OF FIVE LEADING UK LAW JOURNALS

Abstract This article examines the participation of women as authors in five leading law journals of a generalist nature in the UK. For its data points, it takes each author of an article in the Cambridge Law Journal, the Journal of Law and Society, Legal Studies, the Modern Law Review and the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies. From 2016 to 2020, around 900 authors have published over 700 articles in these five journals. The analysis of these results reveals discrepancies in women’s participation in legal publishing. It shows that those journals which publish fewer articles, publish fewer women authors. The article situates its data in a description of gender patterns within the academy generally and specifically within the UK law school. It draws on the experiences of gender publishing disparity in other disciplines where the debate is more established. It concludes with suggestions for changes in the publication process and further research to develop the picture of women’s publishing in law.