Women top list of most-cited law faculty, new study finds
Of the top 10 most-cited U.S. legal scholars, seven are women—and that’s more than double than in previous years, according to a new study by George Mason University law librarians posted last week. (Image from Shutterstock)
Of the top 10 most-cited U.S. legal scholars, seven are women—and that's more than double than in previous years, according to a new study by George Mason University law librarians posted last week.
“The Top 100 Legal Scholars of 2025,” written by law librarians Rob Willey and Melanie Knapp, examines articles published between 2019 and 2021 that were cited most often in other scholarly works, showing that those ideas hold value to their peers. This is the third year that the study has been conducted.
“Our date range limits the articles in our sample to a set of publications that have had sufficient time to demonstrate their citation potential,” the authors wrote.
Danielle Keats Citron, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, who focuses on privacy, free expression and civil rights, retained the top spot on the list for the second year, with 3,732 all-time citations and 670 between 2019 and 2021, according to the study.
Despite the strong showing in the top 10, the total number of women included in the top 100 decreased from 37 last year to 35 this year, according to the study.
Harvard Law School topped the list of affiliated scholars in the top 100, with nine authors, bumping out the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, which previously had the top spot.
Reuters also had coverage.
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