Journal profile · LAW
Laws
ISSN 2075-471X · MDPI AG · Switzerland
Laws: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.1 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); fully open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 11 weeks (community reports); 100 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Laws is published by MDPI AG 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 Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis, Migration, Refugees, and Integration and Judicial and Constitutional Studies, together about 19.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Laws (ISSN 2075-471X) is an open access journal, featuring scholarly work which examines critical developments in the substance and process of law and legal systems around the world. Laws encourages legal academics and criminologists to publish their empirical, doctrinal and/or theoretical research in as much detail as possible. Contributions that bridge traditional boundaries and challenge injustices are particularly welcome. Laws publishes literature reviews, research papers, and short communications as well as Special Issues on a broad range of topical subjects such as gender-based violence, environmental law, and numerous human rights-related topics. The journal encourages authors to submit articles that are under 20,000 words in length including text, footnotes, and other accompanying material. Methodology details should be provided where appropriate so that results can be replicated. Cross-disciplinary research is also accepted.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences7.8%
- Migration, Refugees, and IntegrationSocial Sciences6.6%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences5%
- Human Rights and DevelopmentSocial Sciences5%
- European Criminal Justice and Data ProtectionSocial Sciences4.8%
- Ethics and Social Impacts of AISocial Sciences4.7%
- Migration, Health and TraumaPsychology4.6%
- International Law and Human RightsSocial Sciences4.3%
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 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | 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.
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · Law
- CiteScore Q1 · Law
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
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: RePEc
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 (publisher) 2025
- 1.1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.4Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.36LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.96LetPub ·
- h-index
- 39OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 203OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.11OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 103LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 873 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 123 | 123 | 24 |
| 2025 | 100 | 100 | 222 |
| 2024 | 80 | 80 | 392 |
| 2023 | 88 | 88 | 354 |
| 2022 | 91 | 91 | 783 |
| 2021 | 97 | 97 | 1,049 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 11 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 41.6 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 6.7 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 6 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | CHF 1,400 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | CHF 1,400 | — | — | |
| LetPub | CHF 1,400 | Yes | — | |
| 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)
Open calls for papers10, by deadline
- Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation in Times of Transformation: Accountability, Sustainability, and RiskDeadline
- Labour Law and Employment Relations: Evolving Frameworks in a Changing WorldDeadline
- Mental Health Law and Policy: Rights, Regulation, and ReformDeadline
- Antitrust Enforcement in Global Digital Markets—Challenges and Strategies Shaped by Evolving Legislative FrameworksDeadline
- Emerging Trends in Criminal LawDeadline
- Children and Young People’s Identity: The Sleeping Giant in International Family LawDeadline
- Legal Dimensions of Supply Chain Resilience in International TradeDeadline
- Redefining Criminal Law: AI, Migration and Cross-Border ChallengesDeadline
- Digital Finance and the Law: Innovation, Intermediation, and Systemic RiskDeadline
- Advanced Technology and Artificial Intelligence: Criminal Justice and Legal Challenges, Impacts, and SolutionsDeadline
What to prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted18
- book reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief communicationAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- brief reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- case reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- commentaryAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- conference reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- editorialAll peer-reviewed articles published by MDPI are assessed by our independent Academic Editors, and MDPI staff are not involved in any editorial decisions regard…Length not stated
- hypothesisAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- letterAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- opinionAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- perspectiveAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- protocolAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- registered reportAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- systematic reviewAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- technical noteAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- tutorialAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
- viewpointAll Article Types Article Review Communication Editorial Abstract Book Review Brief Communication Brief Report Case Report Clinicopathological Challenge Comment…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- Authorship Authorship
MDPI follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed: Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; Draft the work or review it critically for important intel…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflicts of Interest
According to The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, “Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.” All authors mus…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability statements
Data availability statements are required for all articles published with MDPI. During the peer review and editorial decision process, authors can be asked to share existing datasets or raw data that have been analyzed in the manuscript, and whether they will be made available to other researchers following publication. Authors will also be asked for the details of any existing datasets that have …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics Statement
Laws is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We fully adhere to its Code of Conduct and to its Best Practice Guidelines. The editors of this journal enforce a rigorous peer review process together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure to add high quality scientific works to the field of scholarly publication. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism, data falsification,…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright / Open Access
Articles published in Laws will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). MDPI will insert the following note at the end of the published text: © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and condi…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access publication fees
If you transfer your manuscript to another open access (OA) journal, you will be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) if your article is accepted for publication. The APC for each journal can be found on the individual journal’s website. For more information about APCs, please see here.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Editorial Process and Peer Review
All submissions are thoroughly peer-reviewed by experts within the field and undergo a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure quality, transparency, and scientific integrity. The full editorial procedure is available on the Editorial Process page and is also provided below. Pre-check Pre-check consists of a technical pre-check performed by the Editorial Office and an editorial pre-check …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints and Conference Papers
Laws accepts submissions that have previously been made available as preprints provided that they have not undergone peer review. A preprint is a draft version of a paper made available online before submission to a journal. MDPI operates Preprints, a preprint server to which submitted papers can be uploaded directly after completing journal submission. Note that Preprints operates independently o…
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
- MDPI AG
- Country or region
- Switzerland
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2075-471X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 15 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Laws
What CAS zone is Laws in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Laws is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category 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 Laws?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1.1 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 3, h-index 39.
How long does peer review take at Laws?
Authors report an average review time of about 11 weeks. 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 Laws in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2; by category, Law Q2. JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 3 of Sociology.
What are the manuscript requirements of Laws?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Reference style: Author–date; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. 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.
Which databases index Laws?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Laws is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Laws open access, and what is the APC?
Laws is a fully open-access journal. APC charged, amount not published.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .