The modern era of forensic psychology began in the 1960s and the American Psychology-Law Society was founded late that same decade. The first journal devoted to forensic psychology, Law and Human Behavior, (the official journal of the American Psychology-Law Society) was published in 1977. Today, Law and Human Behavior (LHB) remains one of the foremost journals in the area of forensic psychology / psychology and law. In addition to LHB, a number of other journals have been added to the field.
Top 3 Journals in Forensic Psychology
Journal rankings within a particular field are typically determined by a journal's impact factor, which is a number that reflects the average number of citations to articles published. In any given year, the impact factor of a journal is the average number of citations received per paper published in that journal over the two preceding years. In addition to a journal's impact factor, the recognition of a journal by top scholars in an area may also be used to determine the relative ranking of a particular journal. Helms (2009) surveyed professionals in the field of forensic psychology and determined the top three journals in forensic psychology to be:
Psychology, Public Policy and Law
Behavioral Sciences and the Law
Journals in Forensic Psychology
The following is a list of those journals that are dedicated to issues of forensic psychology or psychology and law. These include a number of specialty journals that focus on a specific area within this broad field.