Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht (RabelsZ)
The Rabel Journal of Comparative and International Private Law
Journal of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg
Edited by:
Holger Fleischer, Ralf Michaels, Anne Röthel (Max Planck Institute),
Jens Kleinschmidt (University of Trier), Wolfgang Wurmnest (University of Hamburg)
Note on RabelJ and Subscribe-to-Open
Starting September 15, 2026, adjustments will be implemented to RabelJ’s Subscribe-to-Open model to ensure the long-term funding and availability of open access. The current S2O volumes will remain permanently freely accessible. Details regarding the changes on JSTOR, the expansion of the eLibrary archive, and the background information can be found here.
Since 1961: Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht / The Rabel Journal of Comparative and International Private Law
1927-1960: Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
1919-1921: Auslandsrecht
Volume 90 (2026) / Price per volume (4 issues with approx. 820 pages)
The journal was founded in 1927 by Ernst Rabel. Continuing in its original tradition, it serves today as a global forum for scholarly exchange in the fields of private international law and international civil procedure, comparative law, and transnational private law. Articles on central topics written by authors from around the world are published in German, English, or French under an open-access model.
Open Access
This journal is published under the Subscribe-to-Open (S2O) model. This model combines the advantages of a traditional subscription with the benefits of Open Access.
What does S2O mean?
Under the S2O model, a journal’s content is made available via Open Access once a sufficient number of institutional subscriptions have been secured. In this way, Open Access is collectively funded by libraries – without authors incurring publication fees.
What does this mean for your article?
- Initially, your article will be published as an “Online First” release and will be accessible only to subscribers during this period.
- Whether your article appears in Open Access when it is included in an issue of the journal depends on the journal’s subscription status.
- If the required subscriber threshold is reached in February of a given year, the entire volume will be published as Open Access.
- If the threshold is not reached, the volume – and thus your article in an issue of that volume – will not be published as Open Access and will be accessible only to subscribers. - You have the option to ensure the open-access publication of your article by agreeing to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) of 1,300 EUR in the event that the subscriber threshold is not reached.
Your Benefits of Open Access
Open-access articles are freely available worldwide and are generally read, cited, and referenced more frequently. They thus significantly increase the visibility and reach of your research.
How can you support the S2O model?
Suggest that your library subscribe to the journal.
An institutional subscription enables Open Access for all articles – including your own. At the same time, a subscription is significantly more cost-effective than individual APCs and contributes sustainably to the funding of scholarly publications.