Publishing in American legal and social science periodicals: an ethical comparison

Legal professionals are guided by comprehensive rules of professional conduct. The 2002 American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct include, for example, guidelines related to attorney competence, conflict of interest, trial publicity and voluntary pro bono service. Despite the commitment to high ethical standards, however, there are no guidelines governing the submission and publication of manuscripts in legal periodicals. In contrast, the peer-review process in the social sciences operates under informal ethical guidelines. This paper evaluates academic publication procedures and suggests that both the legal profession and the social sciences would benefit from formal rules governing manuscript submission and review.