W&L Law Faculty Top 50 in Scholarly Impact Study The study is considered in the legal academy as the most credible measure of a faculty’s scholarly impact.

By Law Communications
August 29, 2024

The 2024 edition of the Scholarly Impact Ranking by University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) law professor Gregory Sisk and coauthors was released this month. W&L Law reentered the top 50, tied for 47th in the influential study measuring research productivity.

The ranking, produced every three years, is calculated from the mean and the median of total law journal citations over the past five years to the work of tenured faculty members. The Sisk ranking is considered in the legal academy as the most credible measure of a faculty’s scholarly impact, reflecting how much faculty scholarship is read and utilized in the writing of other academics.

“Assessments such as these are broadly reflective of the serious and impactful scholarship that all faculty members at W&L Law produce,” said Dean Melanie Wilson. “We are making a difference in the classroom, in our communities, and across the world.”

Professor Brandon Hasbrouck is director of the Frances Lewis Law Center, the Law School’s independently-funded, faculty research support arm. Professor Hasbrouck sees this accolade as a direct result of the Law Center’s mandate to advance legal reform.

“Our rise in scholarly impact is not surprising given our deep bench of brilliant scholars producing some of the most cutting-edge scholarship in the country,” said Hasbrouck.  “And our bench just got even deeper with our recent tenure and tenure-track appointments of both junior and senior scholars producing extraordinary and transformative scholarship. Together, their work will continue to shape conversations on law, law reform, and legal institutions.”

In addition to citations of longer-serving members of the faculty, W&L’s position in the impact ranking was helped by lateral appointments of scholars already well established in their area of research. The study includes a list of the ten tenured faculty members at each school with highest individual citation counts.

W&L Law last appeared in the study in the 2018 edition, where it was ranked 64^th in scholarly productivity. Visit our law faculty webpage for highlights of recent scholarship. A comprehensive list of publications for all faculty can be found at the Scholarly Commons.

If you know a W&L faculty member who has done great, accolade-worthy things, tell us about them! Nominate them for an accolade.