Journal profile · Social Sciences-Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Onati Socio-Legal Series
ISSN 2079-5971 · Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law · Spain
Onati Socio-Legal Series: CAS Zone 4 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.6 (journal website); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 16 weeks (community reports); 86 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus; the journal's website says submissions are paused or closed.
The journal's website says submissions are paused or closed: The route for individual papers may be deactivated at times when the journal is not accepting new submissions, and it will be reactivated without previous notice. Source ↗Publisher website ·
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Onati Socio-Legal Series is published by Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law and is in Zone 4 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Criminal Justice and Penology, Law in Society and Culture and Judicial and Constitutional Studies, together about 25.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law and Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The Oñati Socio-Legal Series (ISSN: 2079-5971) is an international peer-reviewed on-line journal which publishes work within the field of law and society. This is broadly defined to include work which makes a significant contribution to the understanding and analysis of law as a set of social institutions, processes, practices or techniques, using any methodologies and approaches from the social sciences and humanities. While OSLS welcomes submissions on a wide range of socio-legal issues, current key areas of interest include democratic backsliding, alternatives to incarceration, legal cultures, artificial intelligence and digitalization in law, and environmental legal challenges. We accept papers focused on specific jurisdictions or countries, but we particularly encourage submissions that offer broader insights or allow for the extrapolation of findings beyond a single context. Articles should normally be of 8-10,000 words, including title, abstract, and references. Although a title, abstract, and key words in English are mandatory for all papers, OSLS accepts and encourages use of other languages as well - by reason of the IISL's origin and location, Spanish, French and Basque are the other three main ones.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Spain 2, Argentina 1, Colombia 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Criminal Justice and PenologySocial Sciences9.3%
- Law in Society and CultureSocial Sciences8.8%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences7.4%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences6.3%
- Comparative constitutional jurisprudence studiesSocial Sciences5.8%
- Legal Education and Practice InnovationsSocial Sciences4.4%
- Social Sciences and PoliciesSocial Sciences4.3%
- Sex work and related issuesSocial Sciences4.2%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceERIH PLUSPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, Latindex, Crossref
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)
- 0.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 1.4LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 63Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.28LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.63LetPub ·
- h-index
- 17OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 47OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.96OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 16.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 93.31%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 96LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,000 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 97 | 97 | 24 |
| 2025 | 86 | 86 | 68 |
| 2024 | 122 | 122 | 200 |
| 2023 | 89 | 89 | 170 |
| 2022 | 96 | 96 | 214 |
| 2021 | 103 | 103 | 339 |
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 16 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 21 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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | CC BY-NC-ND | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted1
- articleArticles should normally be of 8,000-10,000 words. However, shorter and longer work can be considered if the length is appropriate and justified.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteConflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Self-archiving
- Conflicts of interest Ownership disclosure
Oñati Socio-Legal Series is owned and published by the Oñati IISL Foundation, a non-profit organization which was established jointly in 1988 by the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on the Sociology of Law (RCSL) and the Government of the Basque Country, which nowadays provides most of the funding. To learn more, please read our Statutes: http://www.iisj.net/en/about-iis…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright Notice
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license for Version of Record; authors keep copyright. Model summary
OSLS strictly respects intellectual property rights. It is our policy that the author retains copyright, and articles are made available under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution No-Derivatives 4.0 license; further details available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 If this is not acceptable to you, please contact us. Use of this license means that authors retain their…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater cross-disciplinary global exchange of knowledge. Its sharing license is CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution, Non-commercial, No derivatives). Read more in our Copyright Notice.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review process
The editorial team screens the submissions to ensure they meet the basic quality and formal criteria of the journal. Manuscripts that pass desk review are sent out to external, double-blind peer review. Reviews are handled by the managing editor. Based on the reviews and the recommendations by the reviewers, the editorial team makes an informed decision on the paper. The editorial team will inform…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed anywhere at any time. Model summary
Authors can share their preprint anywhere at any time.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Self-archiving and Sharing Policy
We distinguish between three types of document depending on its production stage: preprint, accepted manuscript, and Version of Record (published journal article) A preprint is the original work of an author, before or right after submission; An accepted manuscript is the piece of work after incorporating the revisions suggested by the reviewers, and other amendments, additions or changes made by …
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
- Onati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
- Country or region
- Spain
- Language
- Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, Basque
- ISSN
- 2079-5971
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 16, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Onati Socio-Legal Series
What CAS zone is Onati Socio-Legal Series in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Onati Socio-Legal Series is in Zone 4 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Law. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Onati Socio-Legal Series?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 0.6; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 1.4, h-index 17.
How long does peer review take at Onati Socio-Legal Series?
Authors report an average review time of about 16 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 are the manuscript requirements of Onati Socio-Legal Series?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; Suggested reviewers: Required; 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.
Where are the editorial board members of Onati Socio-Legal Series based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Spain (2), Argentina (1) and Colombia (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Onati Socio-Legal Series?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Onati Socio-Legal Series is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science and ERIH PLUS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Onati Socio-Legal Series open access, and what is the APC?
Onati Socio-Legal Series is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website, 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: .