Call for Editors: Law & Society Review

Editor(s) Sought for Law & Society Review

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 10^th, 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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Book Review Editor(s) Sought for Law & Society Review

The Law and Society Association is seeking its next Book Review Editor or Editorial Team for the Law & Society Review.

Book review editors are expected to:

Identify new books in the field, secure appropriate reviewers, edit reviews, and meet a timely publication schedule for the four regular issues each year
Meet at least annually with the LSA Board of Trustees
Work with the LSA Publication Committee to address issues that come up

The term for the book review editor or editorial team is three years (2026-2029) and includes an ex officio appointment to the Board of Trustees of the Law and Society Association. Given the time needed for transition and the lead time to publication, new book review editors will begin inviting reviewers to write book reviews in October 2025. To facilitate a smooth transition between book review editors, a period of overlapping responsibilities with the current team of book review editors will take place until January 10^th, 2026. The new book review 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 book review section of the journal in the cover letter. The ideal candidate will be a sociolegal scholar who has published a monograph or a co-authored book. 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 and vision for the book review section of LSR
OPTIONAL: The cover letter may include an indication of support from the candidate’s home institution. Home institutions often provide support for book review editors, including administrative support, and a small amount of funding to 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.

Interested candidates should feel free to reach out to any Editor Search Committee member or the current book review editorial team with questions:

Editor Search Committee

Karin D. Martin – kdmartin@uw.edu

Frank Munger – Frank.Munger@nyls.edu

Ashley Rubin – atrubin@hawaii.edu

Jothie Rajah – jrajah@abfn.org

Current Book Review Editorial Team

Jothie Rajah – jrajah@abfn.org

Eve Lester – Eve.Lester@anu.edu.au

Anna Reosti – areosti@abfn.org