Journal profile · Multiple
Social & Legal Studies
ISSN 0964-6639 · eISSN 1461-7390 · SAGE
Social & Legal Studies: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.59; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,650; review about 125 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 12.2% (journal website); 52 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Social & Legal Studies is published by SAGE 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 Law in Society and Culture, Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis and Judicial and Constitutional Studies, together about 35.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Law. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Social & Legal Studies is a leading international journal, publishing progressive, interdisciplinary and critical approaches to socio-legal study. The journal was born out of a commitment to feminist, anti-colonial and socialist economic perspectives to the study of law. It offers an intellectual space for theoretically informed and empirically … | 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): Multiple
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 25, United States 4, Australia 3, Italy 2, India 1 (40 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Law in Society and CultureSocial Sciences18.3%
- Criminal Justice and Corrections AnalysisSocial Sciences10.8%
- Judicial and Constitutional StudiesSocial Sciences6.7%
- Historical and Contemporary Political DynamicsArts and Humanities4.5%
- Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesSocial Sciences4.2%
- Legal Education and Practice InnovationsSocial Sciences4.1%
- Sex work and related issuesSocial Sciences3.9%
- Wildlife Conservation and Criminology AnalysesEnvironmental Science3.9%
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 | Criminology & Penology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Criminology & Penology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Law | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
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
- 1.59LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.7Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.64LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.5LetPub ·
- h-index
- 68OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 561OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.34OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.9%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 74.07%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 37LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 3Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,849 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 60 | 36 | 4 |
| 2025 | 52 | 34 | 37 |
| 2024 | 74 | 52 | 208 |
| 2023 | 67 | 45 | 275 |
| 2022 | 58 | 42 | 344 |
| 2021 | 51 | 36 | 350 |
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
125 dayssubmission to acceptance
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)
- 12.2%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 48 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 125 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,650 / GBP 2,676 | — | — | |
| 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
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Suggested reviewers
- Required
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- book reviewSocial & Legal Studies welcomes full length articles with a maximum word count of 10,000 words (including notes and references). In addition, it welcomes the su…Length not stated
- book reviewsIn addition, it welcomes the submission of book reviews.Length not stated
- dialogue & debatethe journal has an innovative occasional section, Dialogue & Debate, which allows direct scholarly engagement between a range of positions on a topic of general…Length not stated
- editorialSocial & Legal Studies welcomes full length articles with a maximum word count of 10,000 words (including notes and references). In addition, it welcomes the su…Length not stated
- full length articlesSocial & Legal Studies welcomes full length articles with a maximum word count of 10,000 words (including notes and references).main text ≤ 10,000 words
- reviewSocial & Legal Studies welcomes full length articles with a maximum word count of 10,000 words (including notes and references). In addition, it welcomes the su…Length not stated
- review of a fieldin 2017, the journal launched Review of a Field, an opportunity for authors to reflect upon their fields of study and to offer critical appraisals of the key li…Length not stated
- special issuesSocial & Legal Studies welcomes the submission of proposals for special issues, which will be considered by the Editorial Board.Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism, Preprints
- 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, the fee will be determined at Production Optional open access publishing is available for a fee via the Sage Choice program, and Open Access agreements, where authors can publ…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review policy
Double anonymized peer review Model summary
The following summary describes the peer review process for this journal: Identity transparency:Double-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 rejec…
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 ·
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
- ISSN
- 0964-6639
- Electronic ISSN
- 1461-7390
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Social & Legal Studies
What CAS zone is Social & Legal Studies in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Social & Legal Studies is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Criminology & Penology / Law / Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary. 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 Social & Legal Studies?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.59; CiteScore 3.8, h-index 68.
How long does peer review take at Social & Legal Studies?
The publisher reports about 125 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 12.2%. 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 Social & Legal Studies?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; Templates: LaTeX and Word; Suggested reviewers: 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 Social & Legal Studies based?
Of the 40 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (25), United States (4) and Australia (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Social & Legal Studies?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Social & Legal Studies is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Social & Legal Studies open access, and what is the APC?
Social & Legal Studies is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,650.
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: .