From: Nick Szydlowski <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 14:38:21 +0000

One academic field where nearly all of the top journals in the United
States have become open access is law.  These journals are published
by law schools, and are not intended to produce a profit, so they do
not meet the requirement of being "commercially viable," but neither
is their funding tenuous, because of the significant benefits they
provide to the law schools that publish them.

Most of these journals still offer print subscriptions as well as
free, immediate online access.  They are also available in several
commercial legal information products, though many law review receive
no royalties for their participation in those services.  They do not
fit the most stringent definitions of open access, particularly with
regards to re-use rights, but they do not charge APCs and generally
the author retains the copyright on published articles.

Some examples:

Harvard Law Review: http://www.harvardlawreview.org/index.php
Yale Law Journal: http://www.yalelawjournal.org/

And it isn't only the top general law reviews:

Boston College International and Comparative Law Review:
http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/iclr/

Because the editorial and publishing process is so different than in
other fields, law reviews are not necessarily a likely model for other
journals, but they may be relevant to those with an interest in
scholarly communications practice.

Best,
Nick

Nick Szydlowski
Digital Services & Institutional Repository Librarian
Boston College Law Library