From the editors:
The Law and Society Association is seeking its next Editor or Editorial Team for the Law & Society Review. The Editor Search Committee is eager to receive nominations, including self-nominations, for this important position in the law and society community.
Founded in 1966 as the official journal of the Law and Society Association, Law & Society Review is regarded by sociolegal scholars worldwide as a leading journal in the field. LSR is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes sociolegal scholarship on the relationship between society and the law, laws, legal institutions, and legal processes. Such scholarship includes theoretically motivated empirical articles (whether using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods), purely theoretical essays (drawing on secondary literature) that contribute to important debates within the field of law and society, and reviews of books published by law and society scholars. Reflecting LSA’s community of interdisciplinary and international law and society scholars, LSR welcomes law and society-style studies of any jurisdiction informed by any of the multiple disciplines that constitute LSA membership.
The journal receives approximately 350 new manuscript submissions per year, publishes four issues per year, and had an impact factor of 2.3 in 2023. For more information on LSR’s aims and scope, please see: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/law-and-society-review.
Editors are expected to:
- Determine and curate content for the four regular issues each year and meet a timely publication schedule
- Manage and oversee the peer review process, making the final decision on the publication of incoming manuscripts
- Invite commentaries for the LSA President’s biannual address to be published within a year of the address
- Recruit, train, and supervise editorial assistants and work with the managing editor
- Recruit and maintain an Editorial Board
- Provide a written report on the state of the journal to the LSA Board of Trustees prior to the LSA Annual Meeting
- Meet at least annually with the LSA Board of Trustees
- Convene a meeting of the Editorial Board during the annual LSA Annual Meeting
- Work with the LSA Publication Committee to address issues that come up
- Meet at least annually with representatives from Cambridge University Press
- Answer queries and correspondence from prospective authors
- Revise the current editorial policy as needed and keep it updated for duration of the term
- Maintain a membership in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and follow their guidelines
- Host a panel at the annual LSA Annual Meeting
The Editor’s term is for three years (2026-2029) and includes an ex officio appointment to the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the Law and Society Association. Given the time needed for transition and the lead time to publication, new editors will begin receiving/processing new manuscripts in October 2025, at which point the policies of the new editors will go into effect. A period of overlapping responsibilities will take place until January 10th, 2026, with the current editors handling submission of revised manuscripts and the new Editor(s) handling initial submissions. The new Editor’s first issue will be due to the publisher in late March 2026 and published in June 2026.
The membership of LSA includes a variety of perspectives of what constitutes the field of law and society. As the flagship journal, LSR is the organization’s primary forum for advancing the field’s scholarship. Therefore, candidates should articulate their particular vision for the journal in the cover letter. The ideal candidate will also have experience as a reviewer for Law & Society Review. Teams of co-editors are very welcome.
To apply, please submit the following to Karin D. Martin at kdmartin@uw.edu and to Steven Boutcher at steven.boutcher@lawandsociety.org:
- CV(s)
- A cover letter outlining areas of expertise, editorial experience, and a vision for the journal.
- OPTIONAL: A letter of commitment from the candidate’s home institution stating interest in hosting the journal and outlining any potential support that will be available. Home institutions often provide support for editors, including course releases, editorial assistantships for students, flexible funding, and other resources that would provide the editor(s) with sufficient time and resources to accomplish their editorial duties. Please note that institutional support is not mandatory and the search committee is available to discuss options.
Review of applications will begin on February 1, 2025.
Interested candidates should feel free to reach out to any Editor Search Committee member:
Karin D. Martin – kdmartin@uw.edu
Frank Munger – Frank.Munger@nyls.edu
Ashley Rubin – atrubin@hawaii.edu
Jothie Rajah – jrajah@abfn.org
For queries about journal administration and experience, feel free to reach out to one of the current editors:
Katharina Heyer – heyer@hawaii.edu
Shauhin Talesh – stalesh@law.uci.edu
Ashley Rubin – atrubin@hawaii.edu
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See here for more details.