Journal profile · Multiple
Human Rights Law Review
ISSN 1461-7781 · eISSN 1744-1021 · Oxford University Press
Human Rights Law Review: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.16; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,045; 38 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Human Rights Law Review is published by Oxford University Press and is in Zone 2 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, Human Rights and Development and European and International Law Studies, together about 40.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Political Science and International Relations and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Launched in 2001, Human Rights Law Review seeks to promote awareness, knowledge, and discussion on matters of human rights law and policy. While academic in focus, the Review is also of interest to the wider human rights community, including those in governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental spheres, concerned with law, policy, and fieldwork. The Review publishes original articles on human rights issues in their global or national contexts, considered from an international or comparative law perspective. We also publish book reviews, and a section dedicated to analysis of recent developments in human rights jurisprudence and practice. Abstracting and Indexing Services Human Rights Law Review is covered by the following abstracting and indexing services: CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts Social Sciences Citation Index Legal Journals Index PROQUEST DATABASE : ProQuest 5000 International PROQUEST DATABASE : ProQuest Central PROQUEST DATABASE : ProQuest Social Science Journals Public Affairs Information Services (PAIS) Scopus Journal metrics Citation metrics Clarivate 2025 Impact Factor 1.5 2025 5 Year Impact Factor 1.9 Law (Rank by Impact Factor) 92/443 International Relations (Rank by Impact Factor) 84/173 2025 Cited Half-Life 8.1 years 2025 Immediacy Index 0.6 2025 Eigenfactor Score 0.00109 2025 Article Influence Score 0.817 Scopus 2025 CiteScore 4.0 Law (Rank by CiteScore) 132/1162 Sociology And Political Science (Rank by CiteScore) 298/1530 2025 Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) 1.393 Readership 2025 Full Text Usage 193,901 About metrics Disclaimer Statements of fact and opinion in the articles in Human Rights Law Review are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Journal or Oxford University Press. Neither Oxford University Press 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): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Shreya AtreyPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 2, Hong Kong, China 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- International Law and Human RightsSocial Sciences17.7%
- Human Rights and DevelopmentSocial Sciences13.6%
- European and International Law StudiesSocial Sciences9.7%
- European Criminal Justice and Data ProtectionSocial Sciences8.2%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences6.4%
- Global Peace and Security DynamicsSocial Sciences4.8%
- Ombudsman and Human RightsSocial Sciences4.5%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences3.9%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 2 |
| Minor | International Relations | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | International Relations | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 2 |
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 2 |
| Minor | International Relations | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
ProQuestPublisher 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
- 1.16LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 4Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.54LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.39LetPub ·
- h-index
- 61OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 353OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.34OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 66.28%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 18LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 193,901Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,060 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27 | 14 | 3 |
| 2025 | 38 | 18 | 42 |
| 2024 | 44 | 24 | 101 |
| 2023 | 46 | 29 | 187 |
| 2022 | 35 | 20 | 338 |
| 2021 | 33 | 18 | 324 |
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.
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 | GBP 3,067 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
What to prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 6
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 15,000 words
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
Article types accepted6, with length limits
- articlesArticles should be between 10,000 and 15,000 words, including footnotes.Length not stated
- book reviewrlr.editorialoffice@paeditorial.co.uk). Book Reviews of no more than 3000 words should be sent as an email attachment to the Book Review Edmain text ≤ 3,000 words
- book reviewsBook Reviews of no more than 3000 words should be sent as an email attachment to the Book Review EditorLength not stated
- letters to the editorThe Journal welcomes Letters to the Editor from readers offering relevant comments and providing objective and scholarly criticism of recently published article…Length not stated
- letters to the editor and responsesThe Journal welcomes Letters to the Editor from readers offering relevant comments and providing objective and scholarly criticism of recently published article…Length not stated
- shorter articles and recent developmentsThere is a separate section of the Review for Shorter Articles and Recent Developments.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, License & copyright, Open access, Preprints
- Authorship
House style; citations in OSCOLA. Model summary
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all contributions conform to Human Rights Law Review house style once they are accepted for publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest 8. Conflict of Interest Policy
Conflict of interest policy exists (linked). Model summary
Please click here for information about the Conflict of Interest policy.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability 10. Availability of Data and Materials
Data availability: strongly encourages sharing data and code; suggests repositories. Model summary
Where ethically feasible, Human Rights Law Review strongly encourages authors to make all data and software code on which the conclusions of the paper rely available to readers. We suggest that data be presented in the main manuscript or additional supporting files, or deposited in a public repository whenever possible. For information on general repositories for all data types, and a list of reco…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright 6. Copyright
Manuscripts submitted will be expected to contain original work and should not have been published in abridged or other form elsewhere. It is a condition of publication in the journal that licence is assigned to Oxford University Press. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely dissem…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Information
Human Rights Law Review offers the option of publishing under either a standard licence or an open access licence. Please note that some funders require open access publication as a condition of funding. If you are unsure whether you are required to publish open access, please do clarify any such requirements with your funder or institution. Should you wish to publish your article open access, you…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints 12. Preprint Policy
Preprint policy: authors may share preprints; accepted papers must update preprint status with DOI. Model summary
Authors retain the right to make an Author’s Original Version (preprint) available through various channels, and this does not prevent submission to the journal. For further information see our Online Licensing, Copyright and Permissions policies. If accepted, the authors are required to update the status of any preprint, including your published paper’s DOI, as described on our Author Self-Archiv…
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
- Oxford University Press
- ISSN
- 1461-7781
- Electronic ISSN
- 1744-1021
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 26, Issue 4 (December 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Human Rights Law Review
What CAS zone is Human Rights Law Review in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Human Rights Law Review is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Law / International Relations. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Human Rights Law Review?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.16; CiteScore 4, h-index 61.
What are the manuscript requirements of Human Rights Law Review?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Keywords: ≥ 6; Manuscript length: ≤ 15,000 words; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation. 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 Human Rights Law Review based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (2) and Hong Kong, China (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Human Rights Law Review?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Human Rights Law Review is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Human Rights Law Review open access, and what is the APC?
Human Rights Law Review is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,045.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .