Journal rankings · indicator year 2016
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Domain ranking · 2016
Social Sciences journal rankings 2016
5,975 ranked journals · Domain
Social Sciences has 5,975 ranked journals in 2016. Its median journal scores above the world average: OJR 1.18 against 1.00, down 0.03 on 2015. A journal needs OJR 2.28 to reach Q1. The top three are Review of Research in Education, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, and The Quarterly Journal of Economics.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2016. Journal access status and listed APC: source snapshot September 23, 2026.
Journals whose main subfield sits in this category and that published at least 30 citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) in 2013–2015, the window the 2016 score is computed on.
The OpenJournalRank Indicator (OJR) is a free, publicly available metric of a journal’s field-normalized citation impact, computed from open OpenAlex citation data. It compares citations to a journal’s papers from the previous three years with the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and values can be compared across fields. It is computed with the NCI3 method.
The middle OJR among ranked journals in this category: half score higher, half lower. 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type.
The dot is this category, the solid tick is the median of all ranked journals and the dashed line is the world average.
Share of ranked journals in this category that are fully open access, so every paper is free to read. Hybrid journals, which sell subscriptions and open single papers for a fee, are not counted.
Median list price of the article processing charge, in US dollars, among ranked journals in this category that list a price above zero. Journals with a listed APC of $0 and journals with no known price are left out of this median. The At a glance table below gives a second median that includes the $0 prices.
Fields in Social Sciences (6)
Up to All journals5,975 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. | OJR is field-normalized 3-year citation impact: 1.00 is the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so values compare across fields. The badge is the journal’s quartile in this list. | Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is not field-normalized, so compare it only between journals of the same field. ▲ or ▼ is the change from 2015. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2013–2015, the window the 2016 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2013–2015 papers that are free to read in any open-access form. The green OA tag next to a title marks a fully open-access journal. | List price of the article processing charge in US dollars. “$0 listed” means the listed price is zero; a dash means no price is listed. | The line is the journal’s OJR from 2007 to 2016. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Review of Research in EducationSAGE Publishing · United States | 24.85Q1 | 4.92 1.60 down from 2015 | 36 | 8% | $2,500 | ||
2The Journal of Economic PerspectivesOAAmerican Economic Association · United States | 21.65Q1 | 11.02 0.57 up from 2015 | 146 | 60% | — | ||
3The Quarterly Journal of EconomicsOxford University Press · United States | 20.55Q1 | 9.64 0.20 down from 2015 | 157 | 44% | $7,619 | ||
4Therapeutic Recreation JournalUnited States | 18.86Q1 | 32.87 6.46 down from 2015 | 73 | 12% | — | ||
5IMF staff discussion noteInternational Monetary Fund | 17.98Q1 | 11.27 1.23 up from 2015 | 47 | 33% | — | ||
6Journal of Interactive MarketingSAGE Publishing · United States | 17.72Q1 | 9.19 0.64 down from 2015 | 55 | 26% | $5,400 | ||
7Academy of Management AnnalsRoutledge · United States | 16.48Q1 | 10.31 3.77 down from 2015 | 87 | 9% | — | ||
8Educational ResearcherSAGE Publishing · United States | 15.98Q1 | 9.75 2.43 up from 2015 | 145 | 16% | $2,500 | ||
9American Journal of Political ScienceWiley · United States | 15.10Q1 | 5.24 0.86 down from 2015 | 244 | 27% | $4,100 | ||
10MIS QuarterlyMIS Quarterly · United States | 15.04Q1 | 9.67 1.86 down from 2015 | 184 | 25% | — | ||
11Journal of Business VenturingElsevier BV · Netherlands | 14.70Q1 | 6.56 2.30 down from 2015 | 106 | 41% | $4,130 | ||
12American Educational Research JournalSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 14.29Q1 | 6.83 1.51 up from 2015 | 111 | 23% | $2,500 | ||
13The Internet and Higher EducationElsevier BV · United States | 13.82Q1 | 8.42 1.34 up from 2015 | 87 | 23% | $4,120 | ||
14Journal of Teacher EducationSAGE Publishing · United States | 12.96Q1 | 4.59 0.20 up from 2015 | 131 | 17% | $3,900 | ||
15Journal of Accounting and EconomicsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 12.94Q1 | 5.12 0.80 down from 2015 | 122 | 11% | $4,170 | ||
16American Economic ReviewAmerican Economic Association · United States | 12.89Q1 | 6.95 1.93 down from 2015 | 786 | 10% | — | ||
17The Journal of FinanceWiley · United States | 12.50Q1 | 6.43 0.31 down from 2015 | 280 | 21% | $4,430 | ||
18Educational Evaluation and Policy AnalysisSAGE Publishing · United States | 12.48Q1 | 5.51 2.21 up from 2015 | 88 | 27% | $2,500 | ||
19Journal of International Business StudiesPalgrave Macmillan · United Kingdom | 12.48Q1 | 8.63 2.16 up from 2015 | 176 | 49% | $4,790 | ||
20Big Data & SocietyOASAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 12.16Q1 | 8.35 0.77 down from 2015 | 71 | 100% | $2,000 | ||
21American Sociological ReviewSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 12.14Q1 | 6.76 0.33 down from 2015 | 148 | 27% | $3,900 | ||
22Government Information QuarterlyElsevier BV · United States | 12.04Q1 | 5.91 0.28 down from 2015 | 202 | 30% | $4,360 | ||
23CriminologyWiley · United Kingdom | 11.94Q1 | 7.33 0.87 down from 2015 | 87 | 36% | $3,570 | ||
24Educational PsychologistRoutledge · United States | 11.76Q1 | 10.18 1.98 down from 2015 | 56 | 22% | — | ||
| 11.74Q1 | 4.76 4.40 up from 2015 | 46 | 100% | — | |||
26Journal of Law and CourtsUniversity of Chicago Press | 11.37Q1 | 1.38 0.25 down from 2015 | 40 | 16% | $3,550 | ||
27American Economic Journal Applied EconomicsAmerican Economic Association · United States | 11.12Q1 | 6.87 0.40 up from 2015 | 125 | 50% | — | ||
28Journal of Economic GrowthSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 11.08Q1 | 6.58 2.40 up from 2015 | 33 | 38% | $4,290 | ||
29Academy of Management JournalAcademy of Management · United States | 11.02Q1 | 7.97 1.26 up from 2015 | 248 | 24% | — | ||
30American Economic Journal MacroeconomicsAmerican Economic Association · United States | 11.00Q1 | 4.92 0.28 up from 2015 | 104 | 41% | — | ||
31Academy of Management ReviewAcademy of Management · United States | 11.00Q1 | 7.45 0.97 up from 2015 | 136 | 21% | — | ||
32Journal of Computer-Mediated CommunicationOAWiley · United States | 10.99Q1 | 6.50 0.60 down from 2015 | 133 | 80% | $0 listed | ||
33American Political Science ReviewCambridge University Press · United States | 10.94Q1 | 3.69 0.69 down from 2015 | 172 | 35% | $3,550 | ||
34Review of Educational ResearchSAGE Publishing · United States | 10.89Q1 | 8.00 2.22 down from 2015 | 74 | 19% | $2,500 | ||
35International SecurityThe MIT Press · United States | 10.86Q1 | 3.35 0.37 down from 2015 | 75 | 13% | — | ||
36Journal of MarketingSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 10.78Q1 | 6.87 0.33 down from 2015 | 136 | 17% | $5,400 | ||
37The Future of ChildrenPrinceton School of Public and International Affairs · United States | 10.75Q1 | 4.69 2.07 down from 2015 | 47 | 14% | — | ||
38Academy of Management PerspectivesAcademy of Management · United States | 10.66Q1 | 5.69 0.51 down from 2015 | 119 | 21% | — | ||
39Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social MediaOAPublisher not listed | 10.50Q1 | 5.78 1.51 up from 2015 | 82 | 100% | — | ||
40Journal of European Public PolicyRoutledge · United Kingdom | 10.35Q1 | 3.71 0.28 up from 2015 | 292 | 51% | — | ||
41European Journal of International RelationsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 10.25Q1 | 3.07 0.53 down from 2015 | 122 | 45% | $3,900 | ||
42Entrepreneurship Theory and PracticeSAGE Publishing · United States | 10.20Q1 | 6.74 1.64 up from 2015 | 203 | 23% | $3,900 | ||
43Journal of Financial EconomicsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 10.04Q1 | 5.43 0.76 up from 2015 | 402 | 21% | $4,740 | ||
44International Journal of Information ManagementElsevier BV · Netherlands | 9.97Q1 | 6.54 0.41 up from 2015 | 248 | 28% | $3,990 | ||
45Tourism ManagementElsevier BV · Netherlands | 9.96Q1 | 5.85 0.88 up from 2015 | 595 | 28% | $4,690 | ||
46Pragmatics Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)John Benjamins Publishing Company | 9.89Q1 | 3.22 3.22 up from 2015 | 539 | 84% | — | ||
47Journal of Operations ManagementWiley · United States | 9.88Q1 | 6.45 0.65 up from 2015 | 140 | 29% | $3,520 | ||
48Journal of Economic LiteratureAmerican Economic Association · United States | 9.81Q1 | 5.60 0.12 down from 2015 | 119 | 7% | — | ||
49American Journal of SociologyUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 9.80Q1 | 4.28 0.10 down from 2015 | 122 | 9% | — | ||
50Strategic Management JournalWiley · United States | 9.68Q1 | 4.60 0.61 down from 2015 | 453 | 27% | $4,250 |
Fields of Social Sciences, compared.
- Social Sciences2,851
- Psychology953
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance826
- Business, Management and Accounting699
- Arts and Humanities460
- Decision Sciences186
Journals
Citations made in 2016. Corpus-wide, 77.2% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
1,714 additional Social Sciences journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2013–2015, at least 80% of them with a subfield, and a positive world-average expectation. Ranks are within the whole category; filters hide rows without re-ranking. OJR excludes self-citations.
At a glance
Indicator year: 2016. Publication window: 2013–2015. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 5,975
- Window papers (baseline)
- 3,018,278 +15.9% from indicator year 2013
- Median OJR
- 1.179 -5.0% from indicator year 2013
- Rising journals (2025)
- 301
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2013–2015 in all journals of the world-average baseline, including non-core journals, counted by each paper’s own subfield. They are not the papers of the ranked journals alone.
| Measure | Year series | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranked journals | 2,933 | 3,074 | 3,257 | 3,421 | 3,551 | 3,684 | 3,847 | 4,034 | 4,222 | 4,411 | 4,638 | 4,858 | 5,103 | 5,326 | 5,550 | 5,769 | 5,975 | 6,155 | 6,251 | 6,310 | 6,367 | 6,458 | 6,516 | 6,519 | 6,456 | 6,382 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 973,082 | 1,101,576 | 1,187,966 | 1,289,835 | 1,324,068 | 1,431,668 | 1,541,994 | 1,678,086 | 1,825,065 | 1,985,403 | 2,148,912 | 2,303,999 | 2,468,040 | 2,603,480 | 2,734,303 | 2,869,634 | 3,018,278 | 3,128,445 | 3,209,329 | 3,319,936 | 3,489,326 | 3,755,807 | 4,010,665 | 4,149,019 | 4,247,103 | 4,426,831 | |
| Median OJR | 0.81 | 0.86 | 0.88 | 0.92 | 0.96 | 1.0001 | 1.063 | 1.14 | 1.196 | 1.22 | 1.242 | 1.25 | 1.26 | 1.241 | 1.236 | 1.204 | 1.179 | 1.181 | 1.165 | 1.183 | 1.158 | 1.09 | 1.067 | 1.057 | 1.065 | 1.08 |
| Measure | Category statistic | Eligible population |
|---|---|---|
| Journal self-citation share | Median: 4.6% | 4,027 journals |
| Retracted papers per 1,000 | Pooled rate: 1.605 per 1,000 | 3,404 journals |
| Output growth | Median: -2.2% | 5,924 journals |
| Open access share | Median: 56.3% | 6,382 journals |
| Listed APC (USD) | Median including $0 listed prices: $3,390 | 2,626 ranked journals with a known listed price, including $0 listed prices |
| International collaboration share | Median: 20.9% | 5,817 journals |
| Review share | Median: 0.0% | 6,382 journals |
| Articles-only OJR | Median: 1.12 | 6,330 journals |
| Uncited share | Median: 42.6% | 6,382 journals |
| Citation concentration | Median: 49.1% | 6,369 journals |
How to read these rankings
- OJR, the OpenJournalRank Indicator
- A field-normalized 3-year citation impact, computed from OpenAlex with the NCI3 method. It divides the citations a journal’s papers received by the world average for papers of the same subfield, year and type, so 1.00 is the world average and 2.00 means twice as many citations as expected. Because it is normalized, it can be compared across fields. Read the methodology
- Quartiles
- Q1 to Q4 split the ranked journals of the list you are viewing into four equal groups by OJR. A journal’s quartile depends on the list: the same journal can be Q1 in its subfield and Q2 among all journals.
- Impact factor (2-year)
- Citations per paper over a two-year window, counted from OpenAlex. It is easy to compare with familiar impact factors but is not field-normalized, so compare it only within a field. It is not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. Why it differs from the Journal Impact Factor
- Rank ranges
- Each rank in the latest year carries a likely range from 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers. Where two journals’ ranges overlap, the data cannot tell them apart, so treat neighbouring ranks as ties.