Journal profile · LAW
Legal Studies
ISSN 0261-3875 · eISSN 1748-121X · Wiley-Blackwell
Legal Studies: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.19; fully open access; APC about USD 3,655; 45 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Legal Studies is published by Wiley-Blackwell 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 Legal principles and applications, Legal case studies and regulations and Judicial and Constitutional Studies, together about 32.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Legal Studies is the journal of the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS). It aims to include a varied range of scholarly articles in each issue, including doctrinal, conceptual and socio-legal analyses and seeks to publish work which truly represents the broad range of interests across all legal scholarship. The journal warmly welcomes contributions from all those who wish to reach a broad international and UK readership.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Editor-in-chief Rachel Cahill-O’CallaghanPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 13, United States 3, Ireland 3, Germany 1, France 1 (24 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Legal principles and applicationsSocial Sciences19%
- Legal case studies and regulationsSocial Sciences6.8%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences6.7%
- Law in Society and CultureSocial Sciences5.9%
- Law, Economics, and Judicial SystemsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.9%
- Conflict of Laws and JurisdictionSocial Sciences5.4%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.9%
- European and International Contract LawSocial Sciences4.7%
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 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)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusDOAJLetPub
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
- Impact factor
- 1.19LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 2.5LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.27LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.3LetPub ·
- h-index
- 45OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 330OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 89.9%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 30LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,065 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 47 | 47 | 0 |
| 2025 | 45 | 40 | 23 |
| 2024 | 44 | 42 | 25 |
| 2023 | 54 | 51 | 200 |
| 2022 | 44 | 39 | 160 |
| 2021 | 63 | 49 | 294 |
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
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 24 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double 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 | USD 3,655 / GBP 2,610 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC BY-ND, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-SA, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 3,550 / GBP 2,460 | — | — | |
| 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 accepted4
- current developments: book reviewCurrent Developments: Book ReviewLength not stated
- current developments: case commentCurrent Developments: Case Comment*Length not stated
- current developments: legislation and reform commentCurrent Developments: Legislation and Reform Comment*Length not stated
- research articleLegal Studies publishes: Research Article*Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access
Gold Open Access from the 2026 volume; articles accepted from October 20, 2025 published open access with Creative Commons licence Model summary
We’re delighted to announce that Legal Studies will be Gold Open Access from the 2026 volume and that all articles accepted for publication from October 20, 2025 will be ‘open access’; published with a Creative Commons licence and freely available to read online
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0261-3875
- Electronic ISSN
- 1748-121X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Legal Studies
What CAS zone is Legal Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Legal Studies is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 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 Legal Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.19; CiteScore 2.5, h-index 45.
Where are the editorial board members of Legal Studies based?
Of the 24 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (13), United States (3) and Ireland (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Legal Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Legal Studies is indexed in SSCI, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Legal Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Legal Studies is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 3,655.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .