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Legal Theory

Cambridge University Press · United Kingdom · Est. 1995

ISSN1352-3252eISSN1469-8048

SJR Q2✓ WOS ESCI✓ Scopus / SJR

Impact Factor & Quartile · Web of Science (JCR)

✓ Indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (ESCI) — Clarivate publishes an official Journal Impact Factor and JCR quartile for this journal.

See the official Impact Factor & quartile on the journal’s page ↗

The Impact Factor & JCR quartile are licensed by Clarivate — we link you to the official source instead of reprinting a number that can go out of date. Open metrics below: SCImago Q2. Source: Clarivate Journal Citation Reports.

📊 Standing in its field

Where this journal ranks among others in the same subject area.

SJR · Scopus

Top 50% in field

Clarivate’s JCR quartile is a separate ranking and may differ

SJR Scorei

0.272

H-Indexi

SNIPi

1.486

Total Worksi

646

Total Citationsi

8,948

2yr Mean Citednessi

0.56

Open Impact Factor alternative

Aims & Scope

Legal Theory publishes articles on all aspects of legal theory, including jurisprudence, legal philosophy, legal reasoning, legal interpretation, legal history, and the social and political theory of law. It aims to foster debate and discussion among scholars working in these fields.

General Information

Country / RegionUnited Kingdom

Primary LanguageEnglish

1st Year Published1995

FrequencyQuarterly

StatusActive (last: 2025)

Total Publications646

Publisher OrgCambridge University Press

Visit Journal Website

Submission Info

Peer ReviewDouble-blind peer review

OA LicenseCC BY-NC-ND 4.0

OA Rate—

Ethics & Quality

COPE Member✗ No

OASPA Member✗ No

Not on Predatory Lists✓ Yes

Plagiarism Detection✓ Yes

Think.Check.Submit Compliance

thinkchecksubmit.org

8/11 · 73%

✅

Do you know the journal / publisher?

Cambridge University Press

✅

Does the journal have a website?

✓ Linked

✅

Is the ISSN verified?

1352-3252 / 1469-8048

✅

Indexed in a trusted database?

WoS, Scopus

✅

Peer review process documented?

Double-blind peer review

❌

Follows ethical publishing standards (COPE)?

N/A

✅

Not on predatory/blacklists?

✓ Clean

❌

Long-term digital preservation?

N/A

✅

Plagiarism detection in place?

Yes

❌

Listed in DOAJ (verified OA)?

N/A

✅

Primary language documented?

English

A twelfth criterion — whether APC fees are clearly disclosed — is not scored here; it is left out of the total rather than counted as a failure. Publication charges appear in the metrics card above.

Based on the Think.Check.Submit framework by DOAJ, COPE & OASPA. All data from verified open sources.

Publication & Citation Trend

Articles published

Citations received

136

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

Source: OpenAlex · Each year’s green bar = citations earned by that year’s papers, counted to date — so recent years look lower simply because their papers haven’t had time to be cited yet.

SJR Quartile by Discipline

Scimago ranks this journal separately in each subject category — its quartile can differ by discipline.

LawQ2

PhilosophyQ2

Subject Classification

Web of Science Categories

Law

Scopus Categories

LawPhilosophy

Research Topics (OpenAlex)

Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesLegal Cases and CommentaryFree Will and AgencyPolitical Philosophy and EthicsLegal principles and applicationsJudicial and Constitutional StudiesLaw in Society and CulturePhilosophical Ethics and TheoryWar, Ethics, and JustificationLaw, Economics, and Judicial Systems

Frequently asked questions about Legal Theory

Is Legal Theory a predatory journal?

PubScope has no integrity flags on record for Legal Theory: it is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus, and is not on DOAJ's withdrawn list. Indexing is a transparency signal, not a guarantee — always confirm fit and policies before submitting.

What is the impact factor of Legal Theory?

Legal Theory is indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, so Clarivate publishes an official Journal Impact Factor for it (since the 2023 Journal Citation Reports, every Core Collection journal — including Arts & Humanities and Emerging Sources titles — receives one). PubScope links to Clarivate's official source rather than reprinting the number, which can be out of date. Its open 2-year mean citedness is 0.56.

Is Legal Theory indexed in Scopus and Web of Science?

Legal Theory is indexed in Web of Science, Scopus.