American Journal Of Legal History

The ''American Journal of Legal History'' is a peer reviewed, peer edited legal periodical. It has appeared quarterly since 1957. It was the first English-language periodical devoted solely to legal history. Since 2016 it has been published by Oxford University Press.

Founding

The ''American Journal of Legal History'' was founded by Temple University law library director Erwin C. Surrency. The first issue appeared in February 1957. From its inception until 1982, the ''Journal'' was the official publication of the American Society for Legal History.

Purpose

According to Professor Surrency, the ''Journal'' was created to provide legal historians with a forum for their work and as a means of advancing the "law through a study of its history." As a peer publication, the ''Journal'' provides authors with "a more experienced editorial hand nd itsarticles often are shorter, filled with less publish-or-perish tenure pieces than with an exchange of ideas between scholars."

The ''Journal'' was the first English-language periodical devoted solely to legal history. The ''Journal'' publishes articles, essays, and book reviews on all aspects of legal history. Although a popular misconception is that the ''Journal’s'' coverage is limited to “American legal history,” the editors make it a point to regularly publish works on non-American legal history. The "American" part of the title denotes the journal's original location—in the United States—not the subject matter it publishes.

Personnel

The ''Journal'', which was published from its founding in 1957 through 2015 by the Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had four editors during that time, all of whom were with Temple University’s law school: Professor Surrency (1957–81); Professor Diane C. Maleson (1982-2002); Mr. Lawrence J. Reilly (2008 to 2014), and Professor Harwell Wells (2015).Alfred L. Brophy and Stefan Vogenauer, Introducing the Future of Legal History: On Relaunching the American Journal of Legal History, ''American Journal of Legal History'' 56:1, 4 (2016) Beginning in 2016 the editors are Stefan Vogenauer and Alfred Brophy. The book review editors are Lee Wilson and Matthew Dyson.
The ''Journals international editorial board has more than twenty prominent legal historians. From 1957 to 1974, the honorary chair of the advisory board was Earl Warren, the former Chief Justice of the United States.Robert M. Jarvis, A Brief History of the American Journal of Legal History, ''American Journal of Legal History'' 51:1, 7 (2011)

From 1974 to 2015, the ''Journal'' was printed by the George H. Buchanan Company of Logan Township, New Jersey.Robert M. Jarvis, A Brief History of the American Journal of Legal History, ''American Journal of Legal History'' 51:1, 6 (2011)

Influence

Federal and state judges have cited the ''Journal'' in 125 published opinions.Robert M. Jarvis, A Brief History of the American Journal of Legal History, ''American Journal of Legal History'' 51:1, 10 (2011) Scholars have cited the ''Journal'' in more than 3,000 articles and more than 15,000 books.Robert M. Jarvis, A Brief History of the American Journal of Legal History, ''American Journal of Legal History'' 51:1, 9 (2011)

In their seminal work on the evolution of the growth of American legal history as a field of study, Professors William E. Nelson and John Phillip Reid noted that the ''Journal'' is "a publication in which academic historians speak to each other . . . ndvirtually every one of the many articles in the ''Journal'' sessential reading for those wishing to keep current in the field."

Availability

Hard copies of the ''Journal'' can be purchased from W.S. Hein & Co., Inc. Electronic copies of the ''Journal'' are available at the journal's website, as well as on EBSCO, HeinOnline, JSTOR, LexisNexis, and Westlaw.

References

External links

*{{official website, https://academic.oup.com/ajlh

American law journals
Temple University
Publications established in 1957
Oxford University Press academic journals
Quarterly journals
English-language journals
Peer reviewed law journals