Journal profile · LAW
Journal of Law and Courts
ISSN 2164-6570 · eISSN 2164-6589 · University of Chicago Press
Journal of Law and Courts: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,550; 33 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Law and Courts is published by University of Chicago Press and is in Zone 3 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Judicial and Constitutional Studies, American Constitutional Law and Politics and Legal processes and jurisprudence, together about 57.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences34.9%
- American Constitutional Law and PoliticsSocial Sciences13.3%
- Legal processes and jurisprudenceSocial Sciences9%
- Law, Economics, and Judicial SystemsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.4%
- Electoral Systems and Political ParticipationSocial Sciences7.7%
- Comparative constitutional jurisprudence studiesSocial Sciences3.6%
- Legal and Constitutional StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance2.3%
- European and International Law StudiesSocial Sciences2.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 2 |
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 | 363/1162 | — |
| Political Science and International Relations | Q2 | 275/745 | — |
| Sociology and Political Science | Q2 | 600/1530 | — |
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
- 2.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.88LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.06LetPub ·
- h-index
- 27OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 82OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.24OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 23.1%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 69.05%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 33LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 273 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 26 | 23 | 376 |
| 2025 | 33 | 30 | 373 |
| 2024 | 21 | 13 | 502 |
| 2023 | 18 | 14 | 432 |
| 2022 | 11 | 0 | 246 |
| 2021 | 29 | 8 | 228 |
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 3,550 / GBP 2,460 | — | — |
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
- University of Chicago Press
- ISSN
- 2164-6570
- Electronic ISSN
- 2164-6589
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Law and Courts
What CAS zone is Journal of Law and Courts in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Law and Courts is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Law. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Law and Courts?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Law and Courts is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Law and Courts open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Law and Courts is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,550.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .