Mission, Focus and Scope

Last updated: 06/24/2026

Mission

Pensar – Journal of Legal Sciences has as its mission to disseminate critical, current and socially relevant legal knowledge, drawn from original research that engages with the contemporary challenges of Brazilian and international society. Affiliated with the University of Fortaleza (UNIFOR), under the editorial governance of the Superior Council of Editorial Affairs (CSE), a body of the Vice-Rectorate for Research (VRP), the journal seeks to foster academic debate and contribute to institutional improvement through scientific production, particularly with regard to the formulation, implementation and evaluation of public policies. In uninterrupted publication since 1992, Pensar has established itself as a reference journal in the field of Law, with Qualis A2 classification from CAPES.

Editorial focus

The journal prioritises the publication of research that:

  • Is theoretical-empirical and contributes directly to the analysis of concrete legal problems;
  • Provides input for the formulation, implementation or evaluation of public policies;
  • Interfaces with other fields of knowledge, such as political science, public administration, sociology, economics or technology;
  • Applies diverse methods, such as empirical, comparative, qualitative, quantitative or mixed approaches;
  • Promotes the use of Law as an instrument of institutional and social transformation.

Thematic Scope

Since 2025, the editorial line of the journal is structured around three permanent thematic axes:

  1. Law, Democracy and Social Justice — research focused on social justice, vulnerabilities, gender inequality, female incarceration, human rights and public health, addressed from the perspective of fundamental rights and the ethics of care.
  2. Constitution, Institutions and Democracy in Brazil — studies on the action of democratic institutions, the Judiciary, infraconstitutional and constitutional legislation and the normative frameworks aimed at citizenship, democratic culture and rights.
  3. Law, Technology and Society in Transformation — critical analyses of the intersections between Law, technology and contemporary transformations, addressing themes such as personal data protection, artificial intelligence, algorithmic racism, abusive advertising directed at children and the protection of personality in cyberspace.

Articulated with these three axes is a cross-cutting section on International Articles, dedicated to contributions from researchers with institutional ties abroad in any of the three thematic axes, published in their original languages (English, Spanish, Italian or French). This editorial architecture treats internationalisation as a cross-cutting dimension — and not as a separate compartment — reinforcing transatlantic and comparative dialogue.

According to the CNPq classification, the journal's thematic coverage is in:

  • Major Area: Applied Social Sciences (6.00.00.00-7)
  • Area: Law (6.01.00.00-9)
  • Subareas: Constitutional Law, Theory of Law, Administrative Law, Political and Economic Law, Civil and Commercial Law, among others, with secondary interfaces with Sociology and Computer Science, depending on the approach of individual articles.

Theoretical contributions

Articles of an exclusively theoretical nature may be accepted, provided that they present high analytical rigour, originality and scientific relevance. However, it should be noted that this type of contribution will not have priority in the editorial workflow, in view of the journal's commitment to the practical applicability and social usefulness of academic production.

Commitment to open science

The journal adopts editorial practices aligned with the principles of open science, with emphasis on transparency, reproducibility and public usefulness of scientific research. Authors are encouraged to submit, whenever possible, the following materials as supplementary data:

  • Case law;
  • Normative bases;
  • Empirical tables;
  • Systematic reviews;
  • Interview scripts;
  • Collection instruments;
  • Scripts or codes used in the research;
  • Other relevant documents.