Audit Culture: Why Law Journals are Ranked and What Impact this Has on the Discipline of Law Today

(2013) 23(2) Legal Education Review 291-312

15 Pages Posted: 13 Oct 2014

See all articles by Kathy Bowrey

Kathy Bowrey

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Date Written: October 22, 2013

Abstract

This article offers a site-specific study of neoliberalism in practice in the discipline of law. It documents how research assessment policies were imposed on the discipline of law leading to the creation of law journal ranking lists. It is a story about how law gradually lost autonomy over design of the methodologies for research assessment, whilst seeming to continually and steadfastly oppose that movement. The article concludes with some observations about strategic thinking around sector research policies and the need for law to focus efforts on forestalling further erosion of traditional, scholarly values and power distributions within the legal academy.

Keywords: Neoliberalism, legal research, journal ranking, research assessment

Suggested Citation

Bowrey, Kathy, Audit Culture: Why Law Journals are Ranked and What Impact this Has on the Discipline of Law Today (October 22, 2013). (2013) 23(2) Legal Education Review 291-312, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2489704

Kathy Bowrey (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Kensington, New South Wales 2052
Australia

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