Law and Human Behavior , the official journal of the American Psychology-Law Society, Division 41 of the American Psychological Association, is a multidisciplinary forum for empirical manuscripts examining the interface between human behavior and the law, the criminal justice and legal system, and the legal process.
The journal publishes original, theory-driven, quantitative and qualitative research from a variety of fields, including law, psychology, psychiatry, criminal justice, political science, sociology, education, and communication.
Meta-analytic reviews of previous research results also are encouraged. Occasionally, the journal publishes methodological or theoretical papers.
In addition to full-length research papers reporting novel findings, the journal publishes Registered Reports, negative findings, and replications, regardless of result. Preregistration of replication studies is strongly recommended, but not required. Read instructions to prepare and submit a Registered Report (PDF, 103KB).opens in new window
Although pure legal analysis falls outside the scope of the journal, we strongly encourage authors to situate their research in the law and discuss implications for criminal justice and/or legal policies and practice.
Editor-in-chief David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, ABPP (Forensic), and the editorial team are seeking submissions on diverse topics, including:
- bias and discrimination
- children and families
- civil forensic assessment
- confessions and interrogation
- criminal forensic assessment
- criminology
- cross-cultural issues
- deception detection
- diverse populations
- employment issues
- eyewitness issues
- forensic treatment
- gendered violence
- incarceration and corrections
- juror and juries
- justice and legal attitudes
- juveniles
- plea bargaining
- police and policing
- policy studies
- probation, parole, and re-entry
- psychopathy
- violence risk assessment
Every published article is included in APA PsycInfo® and APA PsycArticles® the world’s most comprehensive and widely used psychological databases, as well as in LexisNexis®, the key legal database. Collectively these databases reach a global audience of more than 4,000 institutions and 80 million potential users. This accessibility, coupled with top-quality content, have resulted in the journal’s high and rising impact in the field.
Published articles are thus available to a global audience of more than 4,000 institutions and 80 million potential users, and this may account for its high and rising impact.
Submit a manuscript to Law and Human Behavior through the Editorial Manager web portalopens in new window.
Visit the Law and Human Behavior homepage for a description of the journal and manuscript submission guidelines.
