Journal profile · LAW
Legal Ethics
ISSN 1460-728X · eISSN 1757-8450 · Taylor & Francis
Legal Ethics: CAS Zone 1 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 1 (journal website); JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; review about 128 days (first decision after review, publisher); acceptance rate 41% (journal website); 5 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Legal Ethics is published by Taylor & Francis and is in Zone 1 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Legal Education and Practice Innovations, Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems and Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues, together about 49.4% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Legal Ethics is an international and interdisciplinary journal devoted to the field of legal ethics.The journal provides an intellectual meeting ground for academic lawyers, practitioners and policy-makers to debate developments shaping the ethics of law and its practice at the micro and macro levels. Its focus is broad enough to encompass empirical research on the ethics and conduct of the legal professions and judiciary, studies of legal ethics education and moral development, ethics development in contemporary professional practice, the ethical responsibilities of law schools, professional bodies and government, and jurisprudential or wider philosophical reflections on law as an ethical system and on the moral obligations of individual lawyers. Peer Review Policy: All articles are double anonymized peer-reviewed.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Editor-in-chief John FloodPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Legal Education and Practice InnovationsSocial Sciences34.9%
- Law, Economics, and Judicial SystemsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance7.6%
- Medical Malpractice and Liability IssuesHealth Professions6.8%
- Legal Systems and Judicial ProcessesSocial Sciences6.3%
- Law in Society and CultureSocial Sciences5.6%
- Legal principles and applicationsSocial Sciences4.8%
- Artificial Intelligence in LawSocial Sciences4.5%
- Comparative and International Law StudiesSocial Sciences4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview 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 · 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
ESCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
J-Gate, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), Hein On-Line, Informit - The Source for Online Australasian InformationPublisher website
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
- 1Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 0.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 1.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.18LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.18Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.5LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 15OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 33OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 51.72%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 4LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 49,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 649 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 23 | 12 | 0 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 2024 | 14 | 9 | 7 |
| 2023 | 32 | 12 | 28 |
| 2022 | 7 | 4 | 15 |
| 2021 | 9 | 6 | 17 |
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
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
128 daysfirst decision after review
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 41%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 92 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 128 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication 2025
- 92 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access, Peer review
- Open access Open access
Legal Ethics 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 and readership…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
All articles are double anonymized peer-reviewed. Model summary
All articles are double anonymized peer-reviewed.
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
- 1460-728X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1757-8450
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 28, Issue 1-2 (2025)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Legal Ethics
What CAS zone is Legal Ethics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Legal Ethics is in Zone 1 of Sociology, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Law; it is a Top journal. 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 Legal Ethics?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 1 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 1.3, h-index 15.
How long does peer review take at Legal Ethics?
The publisher reports about 128 days (first decision after review); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 41% (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 Legal Ethics in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (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 1 of Sociology.
Which databases index Legal Ethics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Legal Ethics is indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Is Legal Ethics open access, and what is the APC?
Legal Ethics 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: .