Journal profile · LAW
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law
ISSN 0264-6811 · eISSN 2376-4538 · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.51; JCR Q1 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 121 days to acceptance (27 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 3% (journal website); 41 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law is published by Taylor & Francis 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 Global Energy Security and Policy, Human auditory perception and evaluation and International Environmental Law and Policies, together about 26.2% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law (JERL) of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL) is the leading refereed journal in the field of energy and natural resources law, publishing four print issues per year as well as frequent on-line content updates. Featuring contributions from some of the finest academic minds and most successful practitioners in this area of study, JERL offers global coverage of energy and natural resources issues, research and commentary. JERL features articles that illuminate legal problems or issues currently faced by governments, companies and international organisations by setting them within their general legal, economic and/or political context. Areas covered include legal and policy questions pertaining to: oil and gas; coal; minerals (including critical minerals, non-fuel minerals and the nuclear fuel cycle), water, renewable energy (including hydro and geothermal power, solar, tidal, wind and ocean energy, and timber and agricultural waste use), electricity, heating and cooling, transport. Finally, the journal covers legal and policy questions pertaining to the energy transition as well as the social justice, climate and environmental considerations of energy and natural resources exploration, production and consumption. First launched in January 1983, JERL is both a practitioner and an academic journal. It publishes articles that record the experience of lawyers resolving practical problems or developing legal devices or techniques, as well as contributions from academics and their research. JERL is distributed to all members of IBA SEERIL and is available on several electronic databases. JERL’s Editor-in-Chief is Professor Kaisa Huhta who is based at the University of Eastern Finland and at the European University Institute. Professor Don C Smith, former Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Program at the University of Denver (US) Sturm College of Law, is Editor Emeritus. All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, subject to peer review by at least two independent, anonymous expert referees. All peer review is double anonymized. The Editors are assisted by the Journal Board and Editorial Advisory Committee, comprised in part of members of the Academic Advisory Group (AAG) of IBA SEERIL. Together, they bring to the journal an unsurpassed
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Editor-in-chief Kaisa HuhtaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Finland 2, Hong Kong, China 1, United Kingdom 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Global Energy Security and PolicyEnergy10.5%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering8%
- International Environmental Law and PoliciesEnvironmental Science7.7%
- Environmental law and policySocial Sciences7.2%
- Natural Resources and Economic DevelopmentEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.9%
- Mining and Resource ManagementEngineering6.4%
- International Arbitration and Investment LawBusiness, Management and Accounting5.3%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.1%
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 | Environmental Studies | 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 | Environmental Studies | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | 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 | Environmental Studies | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q1 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
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
- 3.51LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.67LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.67Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.04LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.04Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 30OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 140OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.01OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 24.66%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 105,000Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 105,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,420 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 34 | 10 | 3 |
| 2025 | 41 | 19 | 43 |
| 2024 | 37 | 10 | 67 |
| 2023 | 29 | 16 | 264 |
| 2022 | 37 | 10 | 161 |
| 2021 | 25 | 6 | 269 |
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
121 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 55 days – 153 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 28 days (27 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 144 days
- Sample
- 27 articles with submission and acceptance dates (78 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 3%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 3%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 34 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review 2025
- 34 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 30 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Article types accepted4
- articlesArticles Articles are original research papers that put forward an explicit research objective, observe commonly accepted methodological criteria for quality re…Length not stated
- book reviewsBook Reviews Book reviews are informative and insightful analyses of recent publications in energy and natural resources law.Length not stated
- case notesCase notes Case notes are concise summaries and analyses of significant and recent courts’ decisions influencing energy and natural resources law.Length not stated
- commentsComments Comments are a flexible paper format that can focus on recent legislative developments, current debates in legal scholarship or on important cases in t…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Open access, Peer review
- AI use
AI use policy: comply with publisher's policy on the use of Artificial Intelligence. Model summary
Please make sure to comply with the publisher's policy on the use of Artificial Intelligence.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Increase the d…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review: double anonymized, at least two independent, anonymous expert referees. Model summary
All submitted manuscripts are subject to initial appraisal by the Editors, and, if found suitable for further consideration, subject to peer review by at least two independent, anonymous expert referees. All peer review is double anonymized.
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
- Taylor & Francis
- ISSN
- 0264-6811
- Electronic ISSN
- 2376-4538
- Society / sponsor
- International Bar Association
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 44, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law
What CAS zone is Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Studies / 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 Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.51; CiteScore 3.6, h-index 30.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law?
Based on the dates recorded on 27 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 121 days (interquartile range 55–153 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 3% (2025). 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 JCR quartile is Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q1 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Sociology.
Where are the editorial board members of Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Finland (2), Hong Kong, China (1) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, 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: .