Journal profile · Multiple
Criminal Law Forum
ISSN 1046-8374 · eISSN 1572-9850 · Springer Nature · 4 issues per year
Criminal Law Forum: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.8 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,290; review about 74 days (submission to first decision, publisher); 24 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Criminal Law Forum 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 International Law and Human Rights, Global Peace and Security Dynamics and Criminal Law and Evidence, together about 37.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Criminal Law Forum is a peer-review journal dedicated to the advancement of criminal law theory, practice, and reform throughout the world. Under the direction of an international editorial board, Criminal Law Forum serves the global community of criminal law scholars and practitioners through the publication of original contributions and the dissemination of noteworthy public documents.Criminal Law Forum is published pursuant to an agreement with the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Kai AmbosPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United Kingdom 15, Germany 10, United States 9, Netherlands 8, Canada 5 (68 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- International Law and Human RightsSocial Sciences20.5%
- Global Peace and Security DynamicsSocial Sciences8.9%
- Criminal Law and EvidenceSocial Sciences8.4%
- European Criminal Justice and Data ProtectionSocial Sciences7.6%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences5.4%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.8%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering4.8%
- European and International Law StudiesSocial Sciences4%
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 | Law | 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 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSSPublisher website
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 (publisher) 2025
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.2LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.15LetPub ·
- h-index
- 44OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 209OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.86OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 60%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 21LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2,025Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 126,100Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 971 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 24 | 19 | 16 |
| 2024 | 18 | 10 | 26 |
| 2023 | 26 | 17 | 60 |
| 2022 | 17 | 13 | 92 |
| 2021 | 22 | 10 | 54 |
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
Too few articlesOnly 8 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".
Figures by source
- Submission to first decision
- 74 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 3,290 / EUR 2,690 / GBP 2,390 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Colour charges
- No colour charges
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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteData availability, Publication ethics, Open access
- 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 ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Criminal Law Forum, 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
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 1046-8374
- Electronic ISSN
- 1572-9850
- Society / sponsor
- Society for the Reform of Criminal Law
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Criminal Law Forum
What CAS zone is Criminal Law Forum in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Criminal Law Forum is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Criminology & Penology / 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 Criminal Law Forum?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.8 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 1.9, h-index 44.
How long does peer review take at Criminal Law Forum?
The publisher reports about 74 days (submission to first decision); first decisions include desk rejections. 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Criminal Law Forum based?
Of the 68 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (15), Germany (10) and United States (9). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Criminal Law Forum?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Criminal Law Forum is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Criminal Law Forum open access, and what is the APC?
Criminal Law Forum is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,290.
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: .