Journal profile · Multiple
Law and Philosophy
ISSN 0167-5249 · eISSN 1573-0522 · Springer Nature · 6 issues per year
Law and Philosophy: CAS Zone 2 · Philosophy (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.51; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,090; median 204 days to acceptance (40 articles, last 24 months); 34 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Law and Philosophy is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 2 of Philosophy in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Free Will and Agency, Political Philosophy and Ethics and Health, Medicine and Society, together about 28.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Philosophy and Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Law and Philosophy publishes work of the highest quality at the intersection of philosophy and law, broadly construed. Its scope includes general jurisprudence as well as the philosophical analysis of particular areas of law (such as constitutional, criminal, or private law); legal questions pursued through metaphysics, ethics, political or social morality, epistemology, or other branches of philosophy; and philosophical work bearing on matters relevant or adjacent to law. In addition to research articles, the journal publishes book reviews, symposia, review essays, comments, and special issues.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Ori HersteinPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 36, United Kingdom 17, Canada 8, Italy 2, Argentina 2 (71 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Free Will and AgencyNeuroscience9.5%
- Political Philosophy and EthicsSocial Sciences9.5%
- Health, Medicine and SocietyHealth Professions9.2%
- Hermeneutics and Narrative IdentityArts and Humanities9.2%
- Aging, Elder Care, and Social IssuesHealth Professions9.2%
- Legal principles and applicationsSocial Sciences6.4%
- War, Ethics, and JustificationArts and Humanities6.1%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences5.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Philosophy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Philosophy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Philosophy Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Philosophy | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Ethics | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Law | 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
SCIEERIH PLUSCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
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
- 0.51LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.5Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.19LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0LetPub ·
- h-index
- 54OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 345OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.64OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 20%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 59.46%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 27LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 133,200Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,381 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 42 | 25 | 12 |
| 2025 | 34 | 22 | 24 |
| 2024 | 32 | 18 | 33 |
| 2023 | 19 | 10 | 35 |
| 2022 | 42 | 18 | 137 |
| 2021 | 30 | 16 | 90 |
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
204 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 117 days – 310 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 57 days (70 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 243 days
- Sample
- 40 articles with submission and acceptance dates (83 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
- Submission to first decision
- 24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,090 / EUR 2,490 / GBP 2,190 | — | — | |
| 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.
Other charges and waivers (author guidelines)
- Page charges
- Charged; see the journal's website for the amount
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
- 100–150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- AI use Large language models and the freedom of expression
Bartlomiej Chomanski OriginalPaper Open access 22 August 2026
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Authorship principles
These guidelines describe authorship principles and good authorship practices to which prospective authors should adhere to. Authorship clarified The Journal and Publisher assume all authors agreed with the content and that all gave explicit consent to submit and that they obtained consent from the responsible authorities at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Disclosures and declarations
All authors are requested to include information regarding sources of funding, financial or non-financial interests, study-specific approval by the appropriate ethics committee for research involving humans and/or animals, informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved animals (as appropriate). The decision whether such …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
All original research must include a data availability statement. This statement should explain how to access data supporting the results and analysis in the article, including links/citations to publicly archived datasets analysed or generated during the study. Please see our full policy here. If it is not possible to share research data publicly, for instance when individual privacy could be com…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Compliance with Ethical Standards
To ensure objectivity and transparency in research and to ensure that accepted principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed, authors should include information regarding sources of funding, potential conflicts of interest (financial or non-financial), informed consent if the research involved human participants, and a statement on welfare of animals if the research involved an…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Authors will be asked, upon acceptance of an article, to transfer copyright of the article to the Publisher. This will ensure the widest possible dissemination of information under copyright laws. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publishing
To find out more about publishing your work Open Access in Law and Philosophy, including information on fees, funding and licences, visit our Open access publishing page. Back to top
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Reviewer suggestions are welcome; exclusions may be requested. Model summary
Authors are welcome to suggest suitable reviewers and/or request the exclusion of certain individuals when they submit their manuscripts.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical Trial Registration
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of a clinical trial is "any research study that prospectively assigns human participants or groups of humans to one or more health-related interventions to evaluate the effects on health outcomes". The WHO defines health interventions as “A health intervention is an act performed for, with or on behalf of a person or population whose purpose is to ass…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 6 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0167-5249
- Electronic ISSN
- 1573-0522
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 45, Issue 4 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Law and Philosophy
What CAS zone is Law and Philosophy in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Law and Philosophy is in Zone 2 of Philosophy, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Ethics / Law. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Philosophy. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Law and Philosophy?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.51; CiteScore 1.3, h-index 54.
How long does peer review take at Law and Philosophy?
Based on the dates recorded on 40 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 204 days (interquartile range 117–310 days). 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 are the manuscript requirements of Law and Philosophy?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 100–150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Optional. 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 Law and Philosophy based?
Of the 71 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (36), United Kingdom (17) and Canada (8). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Law and Philosophy?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Law and Philosophy is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, ERIH PLUS and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Law and Philosophy open access, and what is the APC?
Law and Philosophy is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,090.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .