About our journal: scope and subject areas

MCLP is an international and interdisciplinary journal dedicated to slow science in the broadly understood field of consumer protection. As consumer protection continues to evolve, and as the need grows for a critical forum engaging with the most recent legal and regulatory developments as well as pressing societal challenges, the journal focuses in particular on digitalisation, sustainable consumption and consumer vulnerability as particular themes showcasing the growing challenges in consumer law and policy.

The journal’s commitment to a slow science approach is reflected in its encouragement of original, high-quality scholarship, whether presenting new empirical research or employing critical theoretical methodologies. Reflecting this ethos, submissions will be accepted through a limited number of annual calls rather than on a rolling basis. The blind peer review process is intended to be highly constructive, offering detailed feedback from a community of reviewers aiming to support authors in further strengthening the academic quality of work selected for publication. We particularly welcome contributions that address overarching questions and systemic challenges in consumer protection, rather than papers limited to narrowly localised issues.

Recognising that evaluation of the effectiveness of consumer protection frameworks, instruments, and mechanisms often depends on insights from other disciplines, MCLP welcomes interdisciplinary submissions. While the journal primarily addresses a legal audience in academia, legal practice and regulatory affairs, it is expressly committed to fostering meaningful interdisciplinary dialogue, as well as translating state of the art knowledge from other disciplines for the consumer law scholarly community. Such conversations should be grounded in rigorous engagement with disciplines that are currently shaping the boundaries of research in consumption and governance, both private and public. MCLP welcomes contributions from scholars in a wide range of disciplines beyond consumer law, including, but not limited to, law and economics, computer science, communication studies, and economics.

Although the journal deliberately centres on developments in European Union consumer law and policy, it remains open to submissions that critically examine consumer law theories or present new empirical findings on consumer behaviour beyond the EU context. In support of this broader engagement, the journal aims to publish one special issue each year focusing on global perspectives and their comparison with and meaning for EU law-making.