I recently uploaded a couple of forthcoming articles to SSRN (see: https://ssrn.com/author=1544651). Part of the upload process is selecting the relevant “e-journals” you think the article belongs in. As I was doing so, I wondered how much of a difference it really makes. Like, does submitting to more journals lead to more downloads?
To satisfy my curiosity I did a bit of SSRN/LSN hacking, and determined that not only does the number of journals matter (i.e. more journals = more downloads), but there are some pretty major differences in the average number of downloads different LSN journals get. The below relies on data from just under a quarter million papers that are classified to LSN e-journals, and only extends to LSN classifications (i.e. working paper series or other SSRN e-journal classifications are not included).
The average article is assigned to 3.7 LSN e-journals. The figure below shows a pretty clear increase in the mean (log) number of downloads we observe as the number of journal classifications increases. The relationship gets messy at the end as the sample size shrinks dramatically above 12 classifications (which honestly seems like a ton).
Playing around with the data not only showed that more classifications is related with more downloads, but also that more classifications will help you avoid getting zero-downloads. I cut-off the data in the below chart to papers with 12 or fewer classifications because the sample size gets too small after that.
Finally I calculated average downloads per article within e-journals. This to me is more interesting than the (obvious, but nice to have measured) relationship described above, because it shows clear differences in the audience sizes for different sub-disciplines. The takeaway: if you’re writing about Agricultural Law don’t be surprised if your colleagues who write about Corporate Law get 8 times the downloads you do.
| e-Journal | Downloads | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| SSRN Corporate, Securities & Finance Law eJournals | 438.35 | 1 |
| SSRN Cyberspace Law eJournal | 392.43 | 2 |
| SSRN Law & Economics eJournal | 373.61 | 3 |
| SSRN Artificial Intelligence – Law, Policy, & Ethics eJournal | 366.14 | 4 |
| SSRN Regulation of Financial Institutions eJournal | 354.90 | 5 |
| SSRN Young Scholars Law eJournal | 346.28 | 6 |
| SSRN Experimental & Empirical Studies eJournals | 338.70 | 7 |
| SSRN Information Privacy Law eJournal | 312.02 | 8 |
| SSRN Fiduciary Law eJournal | 293.78 | 9 |
| SSRN Bankruptcy, Reorganization & Creditors eJournal | 292.77 | 10 |
| SSRN Law, Norms & Informal Order eJournal | 286.82 | 11 |
| SSRN Law & Psychology eJournal | 266.12 | 12 |
| SSRN Law & Humanities eJournal | 259.16 | 13 |
| SSRN Comparative Law eJournal | 258.61 | 14 |
| SSRN Law, Institutions & Development eJournal | 257.01 | 15 |
| SSRN Intellectual Property Law eJournals | 255.51 | 16 |
| SSRN Property, Citizenship, & Social Entrepreneurism eJournal | 254.95 | 17 |
| SSRN Law & Positive Political Theory eJournal | 254.52 | 18 |
| SSRN Legal Writing eJournal | 253.65 | 19 |
| SSRN Consumer Law eJournal | 251.80 | 20 |
| SSRN Antitrust & Regulated Industries eJournals | 248.74 | 21 |
| SSRN Law, Brain & Behavior eJournals | 247.80 | 22 |
| SSRN Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal | 245.98 | 23 |
| SSRN National Security & Foreign Relations Law eJournal | 232.73 | 24 |
| SSRN Risk, Regulation, & Policy eJournal | 231.76 | 25 |
| SSRN Legal Education eJournal | 230.84 | 26 |
| SSRN Law Educator: Courses, Materials & Teaching eJournal | 226.58 | 27 |
| SSRN Islamic Law & Law of the Muslim World eJournal | 224.33 | 28 |
| SSRN Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence & Legal Philosophy eJournals | 217.04 | 29 |
| SSRN India Law eJournal | 214.88 | 30 |
| SSRN Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility eJournal | 213.50 | 31 |
| SSRN Torts & Products Liability Law eJournal | 212.36 | 32 |
| SSRN Legal History eJournal | 211.44 | 33 |
| SSRN LSN Subject Matter eJournals | 211.18 | 34 |
| SSRN Forensic Economics eJournal | 210.72 | 35 |
| SSRN Law, Policy & Economics of Technical Standards eJournal | 208.86 | 36 |
| SSRN Legal Information & Technology eJournal | 206.99 | 37 |
| SSRN Law & Literature eJournal | 205.24 | 38 |
| SSRN Criminal Law & Procedure eJournals | 204.10 | 39 |
| SSRN Wills, Trusts, & Estates Law eJournal | 203.87 | 40 |
| SSRN International Law & Trade eJournals | 202.25 | 41 |
| SSRN Administrative Law eJournals | 200.82 | 42 |
| SSRN Human Rights & the Global Economy eJournal | 199.50 | 43 |
| SSRN Legislation & Statutory Interpretation eJournal | 198.09 | 44 |
| SSRN European Private & Public Law eJournals | 196.19 | 45 |
| SSRN Nonprofit & Philanthropy Law eJournal | 195.90 | 46 |
| SSRN Employment, Labor, Compensation & Pension Law eJournals | 193.06 | 47 |
| SSRN Litigation, Procedure & Dispute Resolution eJournals | 192.98 | 48 |
| SSRN Law, Politics & the Media eJournal | 190.64 | 49 |
| SSRN Evidence & Evidentiary Procedure eJournal | 187.81 | 50 |
| SSRN Sexuality & the Law eJournal | 186.11 | 51 |
| SSRN Law & Politics eJournal | 185.50 | 52 |
| SSRN Housing & Community Development Law eJournal | 185.39 | 53 |
| SSRN Tax Law & Policy eJournals | 184.76 | 54 |
| SSRN Property, Land Use & Real Estate Law eJournal | 180.30 | 55 |
| SSRN Law & Culture eJournal | 178.77 | 56 |
| SSRN Law & Rhetoric eJournal | 176.67 | 57 |
| SSRN Remedies eJournal | 173.83 | 58 |
| SSRN Discrimination, Law & Justice eJournal | 173.76 | 59 |
| SSRN Law & Courts eJournal | 171.51 | 60 |
| SSRN Federal Courts & Jurisdiction eJournal | 168.69 | 61 |
| SSRN Asian Law eJournal | 168.32 | 62 |
| SSRN Cyberspace Law – Student Authors eJournal | 167.27 | 63 |
| SSRN Environmental & Natural Resources Law eJournals | 166.43 | 64 |
| SSRN Women, Gender & the Law eJournal | 166.17 | 65 |
| SSRN Economic Inequality & the Law eJournal | 165.87 | 66 |
| SSRN Insurance Law, Legislation, & Policy eJournal | 161.13 | 67 |
| SSRN Law & Society eJournals | 159.17 | 68 |
| SSRN Biology & Law eJournal | 156.02 | 69 |
| SSRN Health Law eJournals | 155.45 | 70 |
| SSRN Family & Children’s Law eJournal | 153.79 | 71 |
| SSRN Immigration, Refugee & Citizenship Law eJournal | 152.81 | 72 |
| SSRN Democratization: Building States & Democratic Processes eJournal | 150.31 | 73 |
| SSRN Elder Law Studies eJournal | 150.20 | 74 |
| SSRN Clinical Law Teaching & Practice eJournal | 146.60 | 75 |
| SSRN English & Commonwealth Law eJournal | 146.57 | 76 |
| SSRN Law & Religion eJournal | 144.78 | 77 |
| SSRN Disability Law eJournal | 138.84 | 78 |
| SSRN Food Law & Policy eJournal | 136.25 | 79 |
| SSRN Animal Law eJournal | 135.60 | 80 |
| SSRN Indigenous Nations & Peoples Law eJournal | 134.73 | 81 |
| SSRN Canadian Law eJournal | 133.74 | 82 |
| SSRN Education Law eJournal | 133.48 | 83 |
| SSRN Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & eDiscovery Law & Policy eJournal | 131.32 | 84 |
| SSRN Sustainability Law & Policy eJournal | 129.75 | 85 |
| SSRN State & Local Government eJournal | 129.20 | 86 |
| SSRN Transitional Justice eJournal | 128.94 | 87 |
| SSRN Women, Law, & Human Rights eJournal | 127.53 | 88 |
| SSRN Protected Lands Law & Policy eJournal | 127.51 | 89 |
| SSRN Reproductive Justice, Law & Policy eJournal | 113.82 | 90 |
| SSRN Transnational Litigation/Arbitration, Private International Law, & Conflict of Laws eJournal | 99.18 | 91 |
| SSRN African Law eJournal | 82.21 | 92 |
| SSRN Law & Psychology (Editor’s Choice) eJournal | 63.00 | 93 |
| SSRN Agricultural Law & Policy eJournal | 53.48 | 94 |