What are the best journals for Law?

From a 17,500-venue index, the highest-ranked Law journals include International Review of Law Computers & Technology, Law & Policy, Current Legal Problems, Journal of Environmental Law, Law & Social Inquiry. The top 40 of 266 ranked venues are listed on this page; 15 are Scimago Q1, 19 Q2 and 6 Q3. Each shows its open-access status and indexing, and predatory venues are excluded. For a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

How were these Law journals ranked?

Journals are placed by two independent classifications, OpenAlex's and Scimago's, plus any documented corrections. A journal both place under Law ranks ahead, within its Scimago quartile, of one only OpenAlex places there — because Scimago does not cover it, files it as Multidisciplinary, or files it under a neighbouring subject or only under a broad “(miscellaneous)” category (which counts as agreement when Law is the journal's main OpenAlex subfield). 5 journals OpenAlex files under Law are left out because OpenAlex's main field for them and Scimago's categories both place them in another discipline. By Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4, then venues without one). Within a quartile, journals both sources place under Law come first, then venues whose main OpenAlex subfield is Law come before those that list it second or third, and ties go to OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window. A venue whose main subfield is unrelated to Law — fewer than a quarter of the venues filed under that subfield (or fewer than five) are also filed under Law — is listed after all the others. Where cites/paper decides, a journal with fewer than 30 papers in OpenAlex over the four most recent publication years is listed after those with more: a two-year average over so few papers can rest on a single article (1 of the 266 journals ranked here is below that floor; it is not among the 40 shown). Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor, and journals flagged as predatory are excluded.

Why don't all Law journals show a quartile?

Scimago doesn't cover every journal — many strong regional and open-access venues are absent from it. We show "no Scimago quartile" for those rather than hide them; it's a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.

How do I find the best journal for my specific Law paper?

Paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder — it returns a shortlist matched to your paper's topic from the same index, with acceptance-fit signals, open-access status, and predatory flags. A free account starts with 25 welcome credits; each run costs 15.

Law · 266 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best journals for Law

The top 40 of 266 Law journals, ranked by Scimago quartile, then by whether OpenAlex and Scimago agree on the subject and how central Law is to each journal, then OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), leaving out journals both place in another discipline, drawn from a 17,500-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded; the FAQ below gives the exact ranking rule. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).

Data as of 18 October 2026 — the date our venue index was last rebuilt from OpenAlex and Scimago.

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals

1
International Review of Law Computers & Technology
3.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
Scopus
2
Law & Policy
2.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Current Legal Problems
1.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
Journal of Environmental Law
1.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
5
Law & Social Inquiry
1.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
Social & Legal Studies
1.3 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing
ScopusWeb of Science
7
Law & Society Review
1.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8
Industrial Law Journal
1.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
9
Journal of Law and Society
0.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
GRURRR. Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht, Rechtsprechungs-Report
0.8 cites/paper · Q1
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
11
Minnesota law review
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Minnesota Law School
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
Modern Law Review
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
Journal of European Competition Law & Practice
0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
14
Michigan Law Review
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Michigan Law School
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
A&C - Revista de Direito Administrativoe & Constitucional
0.1 cites/paper · Q1
Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
16
Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
2.2 cites/paper · Q2 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique
1.4 cites/paper · Q2 · Springer Science+Business Media
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
18
The American Journal of Comparative Law
1.3 cites/paper · Q2 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
19
Oñati Socio-legal Series
1.0 cites/paper · Q2 · Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
20
Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice
0.9 cites/paper · Q2 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
21
University of New South Wales law journal
0.6 cites/paper · Q2 · University of New South Wales
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
22
Statute Law Review
0.6 cites/paper · Q2 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
23
Law and Philosophy
0.6 cites/paper · Q2 · Springer Science+Business Media
ScopusWeb of Science
24
GRUR International
0.6 cites/paper · Q2 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
25
The Journal of Criminal Law
0.6 cites/paper · Q2 · SAGE Publishing
ScopusWeb of Science
26
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / Revue Canadienne Droit et Société
0.5 cites/paper · Q2 · Cambridge University Press
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
University of Toronto Law Journal
0.4 cites/paper · Q2 · University of Toronto Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
Legal Studies
0.3 cites/paper · Q2 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
29
Osgoode Hall law journal
0.3 cites/paper · Q2 · Routledge
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
Ius et Praxis
0.3 cites/paper · Q2 · University of Talca
Open AccessDOAJScopus
31
The Cambridge Law Journal
0.3 cites/paper · Q2 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
The American Journal of Jurisprudence
0.2 cites/paper · Q2 · Oxford University Press
ScopusPubMed
33
Edinburgh Law Review
0.1 cites/paper · Q2 · Edinburgh University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
34
European State Aid Law Quarterly
0.0 cites/paper · Q2 · Lexxion Verlag
Scopus
35
Alternative Law Journal
0.7 cites/paper · Q3 · SAGE Publishing
ScopusWeb of Science
36
Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad
0.6 cites/paper · Q3 · North-West University
Open AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
37
Ratio Juris
0.6 cites/paper · Q3 · Wiley
ScopusPubMed
38
Journal of African Law
0.5 cites/paper · Q3 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
The Law Teacher
0.4 cites/paper · Q3 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
40
South African Journal on Human Rights
0.3 cites/paper · Q3 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed

“Cites/paper” is the OpenAlex 2-year citation rate — a transparent signal, not a licensed Impact Factor. Many regional and open-access journals are strong but aren’t covered by Scimago, so they show “no Scimago quartile”; that’s a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.