Journal profile · Medicine, Legal
Medicine Science and the Law
ISSN 0025-8024 · eISSN 2042-1818 · SAGE Publications Ltd · ENGLAND · Quarterly · Founded 1960
Medicine Science and the Law: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.66; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,150; review about 150 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: easy; 60 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Medicine Science and the Law is published by SAGE Publications Ltd 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, Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes and Restraint-Related Deaths, together about 27.7% of its articles. Its main subfields are Clinical Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Medicine, Science and the Law is the official journal of the British Academy for Forensic Sciences (BAFS). It is a peer reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the knowledge of forensic science and medicine. The journal aims to inform its readers from a broad perspective and demonstrate the interrelated nature and scope of the forensic disciplines. … | View full journal description This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Medicine, Legal
Editor-in-chief Andrew ForresterPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 25, Italy 3, Switzerland 2, Japan 1, India 1 (38 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Medical Malpractice and Liability IssuesHealth Professions10.5%
- Autopsy Techniques and OutcomesMedicine10%
- Restraint-Related DeathsMedicine7.3%
- Healthcare Decision-Making and RestraintsPsychology7.1%
- Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual OffendingPsychology6.8%
- Legal Education and Practice InnovationsSocial Sciences5.4%
- Homicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseSocial Sciences4.8%
- Injury Epidemiology and PreventionMedicine4.1%
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 | Medicine, Legal | 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 | Medicine, Legal | Zone 3 |
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 | Medicine, Legal | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
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
- 1.66LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.3LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.4LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.1LetPub ·
- h-index
- 30LetPub ·
- h-index
- 62OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,073OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.02OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 16.38%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 46LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,532 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 50 | 8 | 9 |
| 2025 | 60 | 13 | 43 |
| 2024 | 46 | 19 | 107 |
| 2023 | 51 | 14 | 245 |
| 2022 | 61 | 22 | 406 |
| 2021 | 90 | 18 | 665 |
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
150 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports over 12 weeks
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 22.4%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 27 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 69 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 150 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 40 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single 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 4,150 / GBP 3,043 | — | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare7 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 1
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 6,000 words
- Reference style
- Vancouver
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
Article types accepted14
- book reviewEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- book reviewsAll book reviews are commissioned. Notifications about new books should be sent to the Editorial Office.Length not stated
- case reportEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- editorialEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- editorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commissioned. M…Length not stated
- events diaryA listing of forthcoming meetings and conferences, local and international, that are relevant to the specialty. Contributions for this section should be emailed…Length not stated
- letterEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- letters to the editorLetters arise usually but not exclusively from papers published in this and other scientific journals. These are usually up to 800 words.Length not stated
- opinionEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- original researchEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- reviewEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- review articlesArticles of a substantial and topical nature that review current knowledge in forensic science, medicine and the law. Maximum length 6,000 words, including abst…Length not stated
- viewpointEditorialsArticles referring to research published elsewhere in that issue of the journal, or to important events in the specialty. Editorials are usually commi…Length not stated
- viewpoint articlesArticles pertinent to opinion of the author or a group of authors presenting a personal point of view on an area in the forensic disciplines. Subheadings should…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Authorship
Please view our authorship policies, which includes information on criteria for authorship, who should be the corresponding author and more. Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data availability
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages. Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to: Share your research data in a relevant public data repository Include a data ava…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Ethical considerations
Please include your ethics approval statements under this heading, even if you have already included ethics approval information in your methods section. If ethical approval was not required, you need to explicitly state this. All papers reporting studies involving human participants, human data or human tissue must state that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board approved th…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Publishing fees and open access
There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this journal. Figures submitted in color will be published in color in the online version of the journal at no cost. If you wish to have color figures in the printed version, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article. Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice p…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Single anonymized peer review. Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency: Single-anonymized Reviewer interacts with: Editors Review information published: None Your manuscript will undergo an initial evaluation. If it does not conform to the requirements laid out in these guidelines, it will be returned to you for amendments prior to peer review. Manuscripts may be desk reje…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
The journal and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. Please read Sage's complete policy on plagiarism and the actions we may take.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
The journal will consider submissions of manuscripts that have been posted on preprint servers. Please enter the preprint DOI in the designated field when submitting your manuscript. We advise that you inform the Journal Editorial office about your posted preprint at submission. Note that you should not post an updated version of your manuscript on a preprint server while it is being peer reviewed…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines Clinical trial registration
The journal conforms to the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first participant enrollment as a condition of consideration for publication. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.
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
- SAGE Publications Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1960
- ISSN
- 0025-8024
- Electronic ISSN
- 2042-1818
- Society / sponsor
- British Academy for Forensic Sciences
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Medicine Science and the Law
What CAS zone is Medicine Science and the Law in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Medicine Science and the Law is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Law / Medicine, Legal. 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 Medicine Science and the Law?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.66; CiteScore 3.3, h-index 62.
How long does peer review take at Medicine Science and the Law?
The publisher reports about 150 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 22.4%. 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 Medicine Science and the Law?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 1; Manuscript length: ≤ 6,000 words; Reference style: Vancouver; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; 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 Medicine Science and the Law based?
Of the 38 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (25), Italy (3) and Switzerland (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Medicine Science and the Law?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Medicine Science and the Law is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Medicine Science and the Law open access, and what is the APC?
Medicine Science and the Law is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,150.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .