Journal profile · LAW
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW
ISSN 0002-919X · eISSN 2326-9197 · American Society of Comparative Law
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.23; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,402; 43 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW is published by American Society of Comparative Law and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Conflict of Laws and Jurisdiction, European and International Contract Law and Comparative and International Law Studies, together about 49.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law and Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The American Journal of Comparative Law was founded in 1952. As the official journal of the American Society of Comparative Law, it publishes four issues a year and is devoted to comparative and transnational legal studies – including, among other subjects, comparative law, comparative and transnational legal history and theory, private international law and conflict of laws, and the study of legal systems, cultures, and traditions other than those of the US. In its long and rich history, The AJCL has published articles authored by scholars representing all continents, regions, and legal cultures of the world. A peer-reviewed, leading journal in the field, it has been hosted in the past by institutions such as the UC Berkeley School of Law, Columbia Law School and the University of Michigan Law School; currently, the Georgetown University Law Center and the McGill University Faculty of Law jointly serve as its host. Journal metrics Citation metrics Clarivate 2025 Impact Factor 1.3 2025 5 Year Impact Factor 1.6 Law (Rank by Impact Factor) 119/443 2025 Cited Half-Life 16.1 years 2025 Immediacy Index 0.3 2025 Eigenfactor Score 0.0005 2025 Article Influence Score 0.61 Scopus 2025 CiteScore 2.1 Law (Rank by CiteScore) 366/1162 2025 Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 1.072 Readership 2025 Full Text Usage 125,776 About metrics Disclaimer Statements of fact and opinion in the articles in American Journal of Comparative Law are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Journal, American Society of Comparative Law, or Oxford University Press, unless otherwise expressly indicated. Neither Oxford University Press, American Society of Comparative Law, nor the Journal make any representation, express or implied, in respect of the accuracy of the material in the Journal and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. Readers should make their own evaluation as to the appropriateness or otherwise of the information included.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Editor-in-chief Vivian Grosswald CurranPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 2, Singapore 1, Indonesia 1, Ukraine 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Conflict of Laws and JurisdictionSocial Sciences24.4%
- European and International Contract LawSocial Sciences13.9%
- Comparative and International Law StudiesSocial Sciences11.5%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences6.8%
- European and International Law StudiesSocial Sciences5.1%
- International Law and AviationSocial Sciences5%
- Legal principles and applicationsSocial Sciences4.6%
- International Arbitration and Investment LawBusiness, Management and Accounting4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 1.23LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.44LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.07LetPub ·
- h-index
- 106OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,027OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.04OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 31.08%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 125,776Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,668 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 31 | 18 | 0 |
| 2025 | 43 | 17 | 29 |
| 2024 | 31 | 10 | 80 |
| 2023 | 35 | 8 | 106 |
| 2022 | 52 | 14 | 252 |
| 2021 | 32 | 7 | 264 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 1 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 4,402 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- American Society of Comparative Law
- ISSN
- 0002-919X
- Electronic ISSN
- 2326-9197
- Society / sponsor
- American Society of Comparative Law
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 74, Issue 2 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW
What CAS zone is AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Law. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.23; CiteScore 2.1, h-index 106.
Where are the editorial board members of AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (2), Singapore (1) and Indonesia (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW open access, and what is the APC?
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE LAW is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,402.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .