Journal profile · Multiple
Crime Law and Social Change
ISSN 0925-4994 · eISSN 1573-0751 · Springer Nature · 10 issues per year
Crime Law and Social Change: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.56; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,490; median 358 days to acceptance (57 articles, last 24 months); 68 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Crime Law and Social Change is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance, Crime Patterns and Interventions and Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses, together about 42.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Covers crime and deviance at the global, national, regional and local level, worldwideHas a special focus on financial crime, corruption, terrorism and organizational crimeWelcomes criminological research in the areas of human rights, comparative and international criminal law and criminal justice Crime, Law and Social Change publishes peer reviewed, original research articles addressing crime and the political economy of crime, whether at the global, national, regional or local levels, anywhere in the world. The Journal often presents work on financial crime, corruption, organized criminal groups, criminal enterprises and illegal markets, state crime, terrorism and security issues, cybercrime, cross-border crime and environmental crime. In addition, Crime, Law and Social Change welcomes criminological research in the areas of human rights, comparative and international criminal justice, compensation and justice for serious crime victims, international criminal law and cooperation. Finally, the Journal publishes multi-disciplinary criminological research focusing on gender, age, racial and ethnic equality issues.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Willem HuismanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 14, United Kingdom 6, Australia 4, Netherlands 3, Germany 2 (39 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Crime, Illicit Activities, and GovernanceSocial Sciences18.5%
- Crime Patterns and InterventionsSocial Sciences15.4%
- Wildlife Conservation and Criminology AnalysesEnvironmental Science8.8%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences8.8%
- Corruption and Economic DevelopmentSocial Sciences8.2%
- Sex work and related issuesSocial Sciences3.3%
- Cybercrime and Law Enforcement StudiesComputer Science3.2%
- Policing Practices and PerceptionsSocial Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIECurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
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
- 1.56LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.41LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.02LetPub ·
- h-index
- 78OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 926OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.03OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.2%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 42.5%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 59LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 517200Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,270 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 53 | 22 | 11 |
| 2025 | 68 | 32 | 119 |
| 2024 | 48 | 26 | 213 |
| 2023 | 63 | 33 | 399 |
| 2022 | 63 | 32 | 446 |
| 2021 | 82 | 26 | 708 |
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 Crossref · to
358 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 228 days – 448 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 22 days (89 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 373 days
- Sample
- 57 articles with submission and acceptance dates (133 in the window); the latest was accepted on
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".
Other sources
- Submission to first decision
- 51 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
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 3,490 / EUR 2,790 / GBP 2,490 | — | — |
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.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 150–250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 4
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access
- AI use Generative AI Images
Please check Springer’s policy on generative AI images and make sure your work adheres to the principles described therein. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Open Choice articles do not require transfer of copyright as the copyright remains with the author. In opting for open access, the author(s) agree to publish the article under a Creative Commons license. Details of the OA licences offered to authors can be found on the individual journal website, in the journal's How to publish with us guide. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Crime, Law and Social Change, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 10 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0925-4994
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-0751
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Crime Law and Social Change
What CAS zone is Crime Law and Social Change in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Crime Law and Social Change is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Criminology & Penology / Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. 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 Crime Law and Social Change?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.56; CiteScore 3.2, h-index 78.
How long does peer review take at Crime Law and Social Change?
Based on the dates recorded on 57 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 358 days (interquartile range 228–448 days). Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Crime Law and Social Change?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 150–250 words; Keywords: ≥ 4; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: APA; Suggested reviewers: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Crime Law and Social Change based?
Of the 39 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (14), United Kingdom (6) and Australia (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Crime Law and Social Change?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Crime Law and Social Change is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Crime Law and Social Change open access, and what is the APC?
Crime Law and Social Change is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,490.
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: .