International Journal of Law and Management: Scopus, Scope, Metrics & Submission Guide

Quick Answer: What Is International Journal of Law and Management?

International Journal of Law and Management is a peer-reviewed Emerald journal that examines how law and regulation affect organisations, management practice and leadership. Its scope is deliberately interdisciplinary: it connects legal and regulatory questions with organisational consequences rather than treating law only as a doctrinal subject.

Emerald lists the journal as ranked by Scopus, and the supplied source record identifies it as Scopus Source ID 21100232428. Researchers working on employment law, corporate governance, corporate finance, commercial and consumer law, environmental regulation, taxation, competition law, insolvency, intellectual property or regulatory theory may find it relevant when the paper makes a clear organisational or management contribution.

Before submitting, authors should verify the current journal homepage and author guidelines, compare the manuscript with recent IJLMA papers, confirm any institutional indexing or quartile requirement, and ensure the submission is anonymised and formatted for Emerald’s ScholarOne workflow.

Key Takeaways for Prospective Authors

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing.
• Journal identity: ISSN 1754-243X; eISSN 1754-2448; Scopus Source ID 21100232428.
• Scope: law and regulation as they affect organisational development, operations and leadership.
• 2025 metrics displayed by Emerald: CiteScore 5.8 and Journal Impact Factor 1.9; the 2026 CiteScore Tracker is 6.4 and is not a final annual CiteScore.
• Peer review: double anonymous, normally with at least two independent referees after editorial screening.
• Length: 3,000–12,000 words including references and other counted content.
• Open access: optional gold OA after acceptance, plus a green self-archiving route; authors should verify the current APC before choosing gold OA.
• No acceptance guarantee: journal fit, research quality, originality and compliance matter more than any editing or submission-support service.

Journal Information at a Glance

What This Journal Covers — and Why Its Scope Is Distinctive

The official aims and scope describe IJLMA as addressing regulation and law in relation to organisational development, operations and leadership. That wording matters. A legal paper can be technically competent yet still be a weak fit if it does not explain why the legal issue matters to organisations, managers, governance, business practice or institutional decision-making.

Emerald specifically lists employment and industrial law, corporate governance and social responsibility, intellectual property, corporate law and finance, insolvency, commercial law and consumer protection, environmental law, taxation, competition law and regulatory theory. These areas give the journal a broad legal base, but the common thread is their impact on organisational activity and leadership.

For example, a study of employment regulation may fit well when it examines effects on workforce governance, employee relations or organisational decision-making. A corporate-law paper may become more journal-aligned when it connects legal rules with board behaviour, risk, financing, accountability or firm outcomes. Likewise, research on environmental regulation is more compelling for IJLMA when it goes beyond describing statutes and evaluates compliance, governance, managerial response or organisational performance.

Who Should Consider Submitting?

The journal may be relevant to legal scholars, management researchers, governance specialists, accounting and finance researchers, policy scholars, business-law academics and professionals whose research sits between legal rules and organisational consequences. Interdisciplinary work is especially plausible when both sides of that intersection are developed rather than using “law” or “management” only as background context.

PhD scholars and early-career researchers should ask a sharper question than “Is my topic mentioned in the scope?” A strong fit usually requires that the manuscript’s research question, theoretical framing, evidence and implications speak to the journal’s audience. Authors can test this by reading several recent articles and examining how those papers connect legal or regulatory issues with organisational behaviour, governance, policy, leadership or business practice.

Understanding Its Scopus Coverage and Current Journal Metrics

The journal is identified in the supplied source data with Scopus Source ID 21100232428, and Emerald lists Scopus among the services that rank the journal. Emerald’s current metrics display a 2025 CiteScore of 5.8. The same page shows a 2026 CiteScore Tracker of 6.4, explicitly described as an indicator updated monthly for the current year.

Emerald also displays a 2025 Journal Impact Factor of 1.9 and a 2025 five-year Impact Factor of 1.9. The journal is additionally listed by Emerald as abstracted/indexed in ABI Inform, Cabells, the Emerging Sources Citation Index and Westlaw, and as ranked by systems including ABDC, BFI, CAS Journal Ranking, NSD, Scopus and the Publication Forum.

Quartile caution: quartiles can differ by year, database and category. The current Emerald page reviewed for this guide does not state a Scopus quartile, SJR or SNIP value. Authors who need a Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4 designation for university or funding rules should check the latest applicable Scopus/SCImago or institutional source rather than relying on an undated third-party journal-ranking page.

What Does the Journal Publish?

During submission, Emerald lists Research Paper, Literature Review, Conceptual Paper and Book Review as article-type options. Its broader manuscript classifications include research papers, viewpoints, technical papers, conceptual papers, case studies, literature reviews and general reviews.

This range gives authors flexibility, but the classification must match the manuscript’s actual purpose. An empirical study testing a model or analysing survey data should normally be presented as research, not disguised as a conceptual paper. A literature review should do more than summarise sources: it should have a defensible review logic and a clear contribution to understanding the field. A case study should explain why the case produces insight beyond the organisation or legal event being described.

Preparing a Manuscript for International Journal of Law and Management

Length, files and anonymisation

Emerald states that articles should be 3,000–12,000 words, including the structured abstract, references, text in tables and figures, and appendices, with an allowance of 250 words for each figure or table. The main article file should be supplied in Microsoft Word format. A PDF may accompany it, but PDF-only submission is not accepted; LaTeX can be used if an accompanying PDF is provided.

Because the journal uses double-anonymous review, authors should remove identifying information from the manuscript. Emerald specifically advises checking text, figures and captions for author names, handling self-citations neutrally, and uploading acknowledgements and biographies separately.

Structured abstract and keywords

All submissions require a structured abstract. The required headings are Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality. Research limitations/implications, Practical implications and Social implications are optional where relevant. The complete abstract, including keywords and article classification, must not exceed 250 words. Authors may provide up to 12 short, appropriate keywords.

References, tables and figures

The journal accepts recognised Harvard reference styles and provides Emerald Harvard as a model. References should be complete, accurate and consistent, with DOI information where available. Tables are submitted separately and numbered using Roman numerals. Figures should be high quality, consecutively numbered, clearly captioned and supplied in accepted electronic formats.

How to Judge Manuscript–Journal Fit Before Submission

1. Write the journal-fit sentence: explain in one sentence how the manuscript connects law/regulation with an organisational, governance, leadership or management question.
2. Compare recent papers: inspect several current IJLMA articles for topic, theory, method and contribution patterns rather than relying on the scope list alone.
3. Check contribution: identify what the paper changes in scholarly understanding or practice, not merely what legal issue it describes.
4. Test interdisciplinary balance: where relevant, ensure the legal analysis and management implications are both substantive.
5. Check method credibility: explain data sources, sampling, doctrinal method, comparative logic, coding, statistical analysis or case selection clearly enough for peer review.
6. Confirm compliance: verify anonymisation, word count, structured abstract, keywords, references, ethics declarations and required files.

Emerald’s own FAQ says that authors who remain unsure after reading the aims and scope may contact the editor with the paper title and structured abstract for suitability guidance. That is a safer route than assuming that a broad keyword match guarantees fit.

What Happens After You Submit a Manuscript?

Submissions are made by the corresponding author through the journal’s ScholarOne site. Emerald explicitly states that manuscripts should not be submitted by email or through a third-party agent acting as a proxy for the author.

The editorial office first screens submissions for policy compliance, scope and manuscript quality. If the paper appears suitable, it is sent to at least two independent referees for double-anonymous peer review. After reviews are returned, the editor may accept, request minor or major revisions, or decline the work.

Emerald’s journal page currently reports 20 days to first decision for submissions from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and 30 days from acceptance to publication based on the previous 12 months, last updated April 2025. These are journal-level historical averages, not service guarantees. A particular paper may take longer because of reviewer availability, revision rounds, research complexity or editorial checks.

Acceptance Rate: How to Interpret the 13.3% Figure

Unlike many journals that do not publish an acceptance rate, Emerald currently reports 13.3% for IJLMA, based on submissions between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. This figure is useful as context, but it should not be converted into a personal probability of acceptance.

Acceptance depends on the manuscript’s fit, contribution, research quality, ethics, clarity and peer-review outcome. A well-edited manuscript can reduce avoidable communication and formatting problems, but editing cannot compensate for a weak research question or guarantee a favourable editorial decision.

Open Access, Publication Fees and Author Rights

Emerald states that its journals offer gold and green open-access routes. For IJLMA, authors can choose gold OA after acceptance. The applicable article processing charge is then payable and the article is published under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence.

The standard submission route does not carry a submission or review fee. Emerald’s FAQ says payment is requested only when an author chooses gold OA, and only after acceptance. Because APCs and agreements can change, this guide does not freeze a price: authors should confirm the current amount in Emerald’s official APC list or editorial system at the time of submission.

Emerald also describes a green self-archiving route for the author accepted manuscript. Researchers with funder or university OA mandates should compare those requirements with the publisher’s current author-rights and repository guidance before choosing a route.

Research Ethics, Originality and AI Use

Emerald’s publishing ethics policy follows principles associated with COPE. Manuscripts must be original, not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere, appropriately attributed, free of unresolved third-party permissions issues, and transparent about conflicts of interest, consent and ethical approval where applicable.

Authors should pay particular attention to Emerald’s current AI policy. The publisher states that generative AI must be used responsibly and transparently. It distinguishes copy-editing of the author’s existing original work from generative copywriting of new submission content, and its current policy does not permit generative AI to copywrite manuscript sections. Researchers should therefore check the live policy immediately before submission, disclose any permitted AI use as required, and remain accountable for all citations, data and claims.

Common Reasons a Manuscript May Be Unsuitable

• The paper discusses law but does not establish an organisational, management, governance or leadership contribution.
• The manuscript is within a listed topic but does not engage with the journal’s research conversation or recent literature.
• The contribution is mainly descriptive when the research question calls for analytical, theoretical or empirical development.
• The evidence, method or legal reasoning is insufficiently transparent for peer review.
• The structured abstract, length, reference format, anonymisation or required submission files do not follow the author guidance.
• Ethics, consent, conflicts, permissions or originality issues are unresolved.
• The language and organisation make the research difficult to evaluate.

A Publication-Readiness Checklist for IJLMA Authors

How Contentxprtz Can Support Ethical Publication Readiness

Professional support is most useful when it strengthens the author’s own research rather than replacing it. Contentxprtz can assist with academic editing, proofreading, journal formatting, reference consistency, structured-abstract clarity, manuscript assessment and response-to-reviewer language.

For a journal such as IJLMA, a publication-readiness review can focus on whether the legal-regulatory question and organisational contribution are easy to identify, whether terminology is consistent, whether the paper follows the requested structure, and whether references and declarations are complete. Contentxprtz does not guarantee acceptance, influence editors or peer reviewers, or submit through a proxy in place of the author.

Preparing a manuscript for International Journal of Law and Management? Explore ethical manuscript editing and publication-readiness support.

Methodology and Sources Used for This Journal Guide

This profile prioritises the current Emerald journal page and author instructions for the journal’s scope, identifiers, metrics, manuscript requirements, editorial process, indexing statements and open-access model. The supplied source record is used to identify the Scopus Source ID. Journal metrics, editorial roles, indexing, APCs and policies are time-sensitive, so researchers should reconfirm them on the official journal and database pages immediately before submission.

Useful authoritative starting points include the official Emerald journal page, the Scopus source profile, the ScholarOne submission portal, and Emerald’s research and publishing ethics guidance.

Conclusion: Is International Journal of Law and Management a Good Fit for Your Paper?

IJLMA is a credible option for research that meaningfully connects law and regulation with organisations, governance, operations or leadership. Its broad subject coverage can accommodate varied legal-management questions, but breadth should not be confused with automatic suitability. The strongest submissions are those that make the journal connection explicit, present a defensible contribution and follow Emerald’s detailed manuscript requirements.

Before submitting, verify the current author guidelines, metrics, indexing status, open-access terms and ScholarOne instructions. Then check the manuscript for fit, anonymity, structured-abstract compliance, reference accuracy, ethics and clear communication. Where professional support is useful, it should improve publication readiness while leaving the research, authorship decisions and final submission responsibility with the authors.