Journal profile · Multiple
Journal of Criminal Law
ISSN 0022-0183 · eISSN 1740-5580 · SAGE
Journal of Criminal Law: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; 34 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Criminal Law is published by SAGE 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 Criminal Law and Policy, Criminal Law and Evidence and Legal processes and jurisprudence, together about 74.6% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Criminal Law and PolicySocial Sciences32.5%
- Criminal Law and EvidenceSocial Sciences25.6%
- Legal processes and jurisprudenceSocial Sciences16.4%
- Criminal Justice and PenologySocial Sciences6.1%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences2.8%
- Legal principles and applicationsSocial Sciences2.6%
- Legal Cases and CommentaryMedicine2.2%
- Legal Systems and Judicial ProcessesSocial Sciences1.4%
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 3 |
| 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.
CiteScore quartiles (Scopus, June 2026 release)
| Subject | Quartile | Rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Law | Q2 | 518/1162 | 55th |
Scopus ranks journals by CiteScore within each subject: the 75th percentile and above is Q1, then a quartile every 25 points. A different system from the CAS zones.LetPub
Database indexing
ESCIScopusLetPub
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
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.4LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.24LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- h-index
- 26OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 88OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.56OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 25%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 68.18%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 22LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,535 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 41 | 31 | 223 |
| 2025 | 34 | 34 | 242 |
| 2024 | 35 | 35 | 299 |
| 2023 | 38 | 31 | 281 |
| 2022 | 46 | 29 | 328 |
| 2021 | 53 | 12 | 250 |
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 | USD 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — |
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
- SAGE
- ISSN
- 0022-0183
- Electronic ISSN
- 1740-5580
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Criminal Law
What CAS zone is Journal of Criminal Law in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Criminal Law 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.
Which databases index Journal of Criminal Law?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Criminal Law is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Criminal Law open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Criminal Law is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex; 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: .