Journal profile · LAW
Modern Law Review
ISSN 0026-7961 · eISSN 1468-2230 · Wiley-Blackwell
Modern Law Review: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.42; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,400; median 170 days to acceptance (52 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 7% (journal website); 61 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Modern Law Review 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, Conflict of Laws and Jurisdiction and Judicial and Constitutional Studies, together about 42% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law and Political Science and International Relations. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Modern Law Review is a general, peer-refereed journal that publishes original articles relating to common law jurisdictions, the law of the European Union, international law, socio-legal analysis and legal theory. In addition to publishing articles in all branches of the law, the Review contains sections devoted to recent legislation and reports, to case analysis, and to review articles and book reviews. Since its foundation over seventy years ago, The Modern Law Review has been providing a unique forum for the critical examination of contemporary legal issues and of the law as it functions in society. The Review today stands as one of Europe’s leading scholarly journals.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): LAW
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Legal principles and applicationsSocial Sciences23.9%
- Conflict of Laws and JurisdictionSocial Sciences11%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences7.2%
- Law in Society and CultureSocial Sciences5.9%
- Multicultural Socio-Legal StudiesSocial Sciences5.7%
- Criminal Law and EvidenceSocial Sciences5%
- European and International Contract LawSocial Sciences4.4%
- Law, Economics, and Judicial SystemsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4%
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 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 2 |
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
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
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
- 1.42LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.3LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.71LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.58LetPub ·
- h-index
- 91OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 885OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.68OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 91.37%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 32LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 49Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 454,912Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 5,594 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 56 | 35 | 3 |
| 2025 | 61 | 42 | 20 |
| 2024 | 81 | 62 | 112 |
| 2023 | 84 | 69 | 217 |
| 2022 | 76 | 49 | 317 |
| 2021 | 110 | 45 | 411 |
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
170 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 82 days – 276 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 50 days (68 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 238 days
- Sample
- 52 articles with submission and acceptance dates (123 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 21 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 21 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 116 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 60 daysPublisher 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 3,400 / EUR 2,850 / GBP 2,270 | — | — | |
| 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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 200 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 5
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 12,000 words
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- articlesArticles should not normally exceed 12,000 words (excluding footnotes). Articles more than 15,000 words (inc. footnotes) will not be considered for publication.Length not stated
- book revieweed 10,000 words (excluding footnotes). Book Reviews should not normally exceed 2,000 words (no footnotes are allowed in this format). Please take intomain text ≤ 2,000 words
- book reviewsBook Reviews should not normally exceed 2,000 words (no footnotes are allowed in this format).Length not stated
- case notesCase Notes should not normally exceed 5,000 words (excluding footnotes).Length not stated
- legislation and reportsLegislation and Reports articles should not normally exceed 10,000 words (excluding footnotes). Legislation and Reports articles of more than 12,500 words (inc.…Length not stated
- reviewThe submission of reviews and review articles should be agreed in advance with a reviews editor. Please do not use the online submission system for Review Essay…main text ≤ 10,000 words
- review articletem for Review Essays and Book Reviews. Review Articles should not normally exceed 10,000 words (excluding footnotes). Book Reviews should not normally excmain text ≤ 10,000 words
- review articlesReview Articles should not normally exceed 10,000 words (excluding footnotes).Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Conflicts of interest, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Self-archiving
- AI use
No AI-generated submissions accepted. Model summary
The MLR does not accept submissions that have been developed in whole or in part with the help of AI.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest MLR Artificial Intelligence Disclosure Policy
The MLR adopts a disclosure policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) applicable to all authors. The policy is a two-tiered system and operates as follows: Safe harbour with no disclosure required Certain uses of AI/LLMs constitute "safe harbour" practices. These include: routine copyediting; grammar and style polishing; translation of quoted passages (prov…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Exclusive submission required. Model summary
On submission, authors will be asked to confirm that their manuscript has been submitted solely to this journal and is not published, in press, or submitted elsewhere.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright
Exclusive License Form required. Model summary
Authors will be required to sign an Exclusive License Form (ELF) for all papers accepted for publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
The MLR is committed to ensuring that the articles we publish are freely available for everyone throughout the globe to access them regardless of ability to pay. Open Access is available to authors of Articles and Legislation & Reports articles, making them free to read, download and share. There is zero embargo for Green open access (self-archiving) for accepted Articles and Legislation & Reports…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review The Review Process
At the The Modern Law Review, we provide an anonymous, fair, independent, expert and robust approach to the review of articles submitted to the different sections of the journal. Our review process is anonymous from the point of submission. This means that at every stage of the review process, from "desk review" to "referees", an anonymised version of the submission is used. The identity of the au…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
SSRN preprints allowed; only accepted version post-acceptance. Model summary
Submitted articles that have been posted on SSRN do not need to be removed from SSRN. If the article is accepted the only version of the article that can be posted on SSRN is the accepted one.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving
Zero embargo green OA for accepted Articles and Legislation & Reports. Model summary
There is zero embargo for Green open access (self-archiving) for accepted Articles and Legislation & Reports articles.
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
- 0026-7961
- Electronic ISSN
- 1468-2230
- Society / sponsor
- Modern Law Review Ltd
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 89, Issue 5 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Modern Law Review
What CAS zone is Modern Law Review in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Modern Law Review is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Law. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Modern Law Review?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.42; CiteScore 3.3, h-index 91.
How long does peer review take at Modern Law Review?
Based on the dates recorded on 52 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 170 days (interquartile range 82–276 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 7% (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 are the manuscript requirements of Modern Law Review?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 200 words; Keywords: ≥ 5; Manuscript length: ≤ 12,000 words; 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 Modern Law Review?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Modern Law Review is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Modern Law Review open access, and what is the APC?
Modern Law Review is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,400.
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: .