McKelvey was one of nine presidential appointees serving on a part-time basis. McKelvey was a productive scholar, publishing several books, articles and monographs over the course of her academic career. Given this, McKelvey has a strong literary legacy and authority across a number of areas including trade unionism, collective bargaining and arbitration. Her published works, as listed below, were held in high esteem being exhibited by a number of prestigious publications including the Arbitration Journal, the Cornell Law Quarterly, ILR Research, and the Industrial and Labor Relations Review.