The New York Times has an interesting article about the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and its increasing influence on academic legal publishing.  A new feature on the SSRN which tallies downloads of each article is being used by professors, and others, to gauge the impact of articles before actual publication.  The NY Times also comments how the increased accessibility of legal publishing, through technologies such as the SSRN, is expanding the audience and impact of these materials.

Now professors get their star rankings too -- New York Times