Iowa Law Review

What Iowa Law Review does

Iowa Law Review is a student-edited legal academic journal published by the University of Iowa College of Law and one of the oldest continuously operating law reviews in the United States, founded in 1921. The journal is currently in Volume 111 (publication cycle 2025-2026) and publishes scholarly legal articles, essays, responses, and student notes. Its product surface comprises a Print Edition, an Online Edition (which contains the Essays & Responses and The Bulletin components), and a Symposia series on focused legal topics. Submissions are accepted from external legal scholars, and editorial work is performed primarily by University of Iowa law students.

The journal's technology footprint is a digital publishing platform hosted at ilr.law.uiowa.edu, providing free online access to abstracts, articles, and downloadable PDFs, alongside a print archive available through an institutional ordering system. No API, SDK, or proprietary software product exists; the platform is a content-delivery and editorial-workflow system rather than a technology product. The Bulletin, a student-written component publishing five student Notes per volume, was launched in 2025 as part of Volume 111 and represents the journal's most recent product extension.

Iowa Law Review operates as a nonprofit academic journal within a public state university and does not generate commercial revenue. Its sole disclosed revenue stream is print edition subscriptions and sales, which are not publicly priced and are likely immaterial. The organization is staffed by approximately 18 employees — predominantly student editors and a small administrative cadre — and is institutionally funded and governed by the University of Iowa. Distribution and outreach run through the journal website and four social media channels — LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — serving legal scholars, law students, and legal practitioners as a credentialed venue for academic legal publishing.

Name

Iowa Law Review

Legal name

The University of Iowa

Website

https://ilr.law.uiowa.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1921

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Iowa Law Review is a student-edited academic legal journal founded in 1921 at the University of Iowa College of Law. It publishes Print and Online Editions, including Essays & Responses and The Bulletin (launched 2025), serving legal scholars, law students, and practitioners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Legal Publishing

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Book Printing (2732)

akta.pro primary industry

Law & Legal Studies Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Law & Legal Studies (EDAGABAH)

Keywords

• Legal academic journal
• Law review publishing
• Legal scholarship publication
• Student-edited journal
• Academic legal publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Iowa City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Print Edition Subscriptions and Sales: The Iowa Law Review generates revenue through print edition sales and subscriptions. The publication maintains a print edition archive and offers ordering options for physical copies of published volumes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Iowa Law Review is a student-edited legal academic journal that publishes scholarly articles, essays, responses, and student notes in both print and online editions. It distributes content through the University of Iowa College of Law website and a print ordering system, accepting submissions from legal scholars and producing symposia on focused legal topics. The Bulletin, added in 2025 under Volume 111, is dedicated exclusively to student-written pieces.

Product overview

Iowa Law Review is a single unified legal academic journal published by the University of Iowa College of Law. It comprises a Print Edition and an Online Edition. The Online Edition includes Essays & Responses and The Bulletin (a student-focused component created in 2025). The publication covers legal scholarship across multiple volumes (currently Volume 111) with articles, essays, and student-written notes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Bulletin: A component of Iowa Law Review Online dedicated exclusively to publishing student-written pieces, created in Volume 111 (2025).

Products and services

• Print Edition Physical printed version of the Iowa Law Review containing articles, essays, and student notes, available for purchase through an ordering system and serving legal scholars, libraries, and practitioners.
• Online Edition Digital version of the Iowa Law Review providing free online access to published articles, essays, responses, and the Bulletin component, accessible globally via the University of Iowa College of Law website.
• The Bulletin A component of Iowa Law Review Online dedicated exclusively to publishing student-written pieces, selecting five student Notes on a variety of topics for publication in each volume.
• Symposia Symposium publications featuring scholarly legal discussions and collaborations focused on specific legal topics.
• Essays & Responses Component of the Online Edition publishing essays and response pieces on various legal topics.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Georgetown Law Journal: Student-edited law journal at Georgetown University Law Center, publishing print and online editions of legal scholarship. Closely comparable to Iowa Law Review across product, audience, and institutional backing.
• University of Pennsylvania Law Review: Student-edited flagship law journal at Penn Law publishing print and online legal scholarship. Directly comparable in publication model, target audience, and competitive positioning to Iowa Law Review.
• Minnesota Law Review: Student-edited law journal at the University of Minnesota Law School, a regional Midwest peer with a comparable print/online scholarly publishing model and overlapping institutional audience to Iowa Law Review.
• Yale Law Journal: Premier student-edited legal journal at Yale Law School publishing articles, essays, and online commentary. Directly comparable in product, audience, and editorial structure to Iowa Law Review and a top-tier competitor for legal scholarship.
• Northwestern University Law Review: Student-edited flagship law journal at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Operates the same model as Iowa Law Review and competes in the same mid-to-upper tier of law review rankings.
• Michigan Law Review: Student-edited flagship law journal at the University of Michigan Law School. A peer Midwest law school journal with a comparable print/online editorial structure and overlapping audience of legal scholars and practitioners.
• Columbia Law Review: Student-edited law journal at Columbia Law School publishing scholarly articles, essays, and notes. Operates the same editorial and distribution model as Iowa Law Review and competes directly for top legal scholarship submissions.
• Stanford Law Review: Flagship law review published by Stanford Law School students, offering print and online editions with articles, notes, and essays. Closely mirrors Iowa Law Review's product structure and audience, with a stronger citation ranking.
• Cornell Law Review: Student-edited law journal at Cornell Law School publishing scholarly articles, notes, and online commentary. Directly comparable to Iowa Law Review in editorial model, distribution channels, and audience.
• Harvard Law Review: Student-edited flagship law journal at Harvard Law School, publishing legal scholarship in print and online. Operates the same editorial and distribution model as Iowa Law Review, and is the highest-prestige direct competitor for scholarly submissions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/IowaLawReview
• Facebookfacebook.com/IowaLawReview
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iowa-law-review
• Instagraminstagram.com/iowalawreview

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Iowa Law Review