Journal profile · Multiple
Journal of Legal Medicine
ISSN 0194-7648 · eISSN 1521-057X · Taylor & Francis
Journal of Legal Medicine: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.46; subscription journal; APC charged, amount not published; median 173 days to acceptance (13 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 8% (journal website); 14 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Legal Medicine is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues, Healthcare Policy and Management and Ethics in medical practice, together about 35.8% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Journal of Legal Medicine is the official quarterly publication of the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM). The Journal of Legal Medicine is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, internationally circulated journal that focuses on the intersection of health, law, science, and policy. The Journal of Legal Medicine publishes short commentaries (up to 3,000 words) and articles (up to 7,500 words), although longer articles may be published. Topics appropriate for the journal include those that fall into the following general areas: professional liability; legal issues in bioethics, including clinical and research ethics; the regulation of health care business; health sciences and technology law; food and drug law; public health and environment law; health and social justice; and international and human rights. Book review essays, featuring leading contributions to the field, are also published. Authors with questions about the suitability of their article for the Journal of Legal Medicine may submit a presubmission inquiry including an abstract of up to 200 words via email to JLM@ACLM.org. The email must have the subject line “Presubmission inquiry.” Peer Review Policy: All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees. The Journal of Legal Medicine is intended for a interdisciplinary audience interested in health, law, science and policy, including health professionals, health administrators, attorneys, policy makers, and academics. Readership: Physicians, attorneys, allied health professionals and health care administrators and other professionals involved in medical legal education, research, consulting, and corporate, administrative, and professional private practice.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Amirala PashaPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Medical Malpractice and Liability IssuesHealth Professions18.6%
- Healthcare Policy and ManagementEconomics, Econometrics and Finance9.6%
- Ethics in medical practiceHealth Professions7.6%
- Legal Systems and Judicial ProcessesSocial Sciences6.3%
- Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric HealthcareMedicine5.8%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.9%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering4.8%
- Educational Robotics and EngineeringComputer Science4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Biomedical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
SCIEMEDLINEEmbasePsycINFOCINAHLCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: OCLC, CSA – Sociological Abstracts, EBSCOhost Online Research Databases, Family Index, H.W. Wilson – Index to Legal Periodicals and Books, HealthSTAR Database, Index to Legal Periodicals, LegalTrac, Lexis-Nexis, MedWebPlus, National Patient Safety Foundation, OCLC FirstSearch, Research in Higher Education Abstracts, Social Science Research Network (SSRN), WESTLAW
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
- 0.46LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.17LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.17Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 0.17Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 40OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 234OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.05OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 9LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 15,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,304 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 14 | 4 | 1 |
| 2023 | 10 | 3 | 4 |
| 2022 | 8 | 1 | 27 |
| 2021 | 38 | 1 | 40 |
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
173 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 94 days – 265 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 36 days (13 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 191 days
- Sample
- 13 articles with submission and acceptance dates (22 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)
- 8%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 93 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
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
Subscription journalLetPub
A subscription journal: articles are read by subscription or purchase, and authors usually pay no publication charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 accepted3, with length limits
- articleThe Journal of Legal Medicine publishes short commentaries (up to 3,000 words) and articles (up to 7,500 words), although longer articles may be published.Length not stated
- book review essayBook review essays, featuring leading contributions to the field, are also published.Length not stated
- commentaryurnal of Legal Medicine publishes short commentaries (up to 3,000 words) and articles (up to 7,500 words), although longer articlesmain text ≤ 3,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Journal of Legal Medicine 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 discoverability a…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review: rigorous peer review based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees. Model summary
All research articles in this journal have undergone rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and refereeing by two anonymous referees.
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
- 0194-7648
- Electronic ISSN
- 1521-057X
- Society / sponsor
- American College of Legal Medicine
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 45, Issue 1 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Legal Medicine
What CAS zone is Journal of Legal Medicine in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Legal Medicine is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Law / Social Sciences, Biomedical. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Legal Medicine?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.46; CiteScore 0.9, h-index 40.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Legal Medicine?
Based on the dates recorded on 13 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 173 days (interquartile range 94–265 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 8%. 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.
Which databases index Journal of Legal Medicine?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Legal Medicine is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Legal Medicine open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Legal Medicine is a subscription journal. 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: .