Journal rankings · indicator year 2017
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2017
Social Psychology journal rankings 2017
188 ranked journals · Subfield in Psychology
Social Psychology has 188 ranked journals in 2017. Its median journal scores above the world average: OJR 1.09 against 1.00, up 0.01 on 2016. A journal needs OJR 1.66 to reach Q1. The top three are Therapeutic Recreation Journal, Perspectives on Psychological Science, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2017. 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 2014–2016, the window the 2017 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.
Subfields of Psychology (7)
188 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 2016. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2014–2016, the window the 2017 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2014–2016 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 2008 to 2017. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Therapeutic Recreation JournalUnited States | 15.84Q1 | 0.45 32.42 down from 2016 | 77 | 10% | — | ||
2Perspectives on Psychological ScienceSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 8.66Q1 | 11.77 1.40 up from 2016 | 210 | 41% | $3,900 | ||
3Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 7.38Q1 | 8.50 0.16 up from 2016 | 360 | 27% | — | ||
4Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological SciencesRoyal Society · United Kingdom | 3.75Q1 | 7.24 0.19 down from 2016 | 1,224 | 98% | — | ||
5Journal of Counseling PsychologyAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 3.69Q1 | 5.38 1.28 up from 2016 | 187 | 16% | — | ||
6Journal of Counseling & DevelopmentWiley · United States | 2.90Q1 | 3.04 0.05 down from 2016 | 150 | 14% | $2,900 | ||
7The Journal of Positive PsychologyRoutledge | 2.90Q1 | 3.36 0.76 down from 2016 | 212 | 17% | — | ||
8Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology and BehaviourElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.88Q1 | 2.79 0.30 down from 2016 | 445 | 30% | $2,780 | ||
9Attachment & Human DevelopmentTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.83Q1 | 2.84 0.20 down from 2016 | 110 | 59% | — | ||
10Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender DiversityAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 2.80Q1 | 3.20 0.49 up from 2016 | 191 | 29% | — | ||
11Social Psychology of EducationSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 2.74Q1 | 2.22 0.38 up from 2016 | 118 | 14% | $3,290 | ||
12Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics SocietySAGE Publishing · United States | 2.68Q1 | 3.65 0.54 up from 2016 | 247 | 33% | $1,500 | ||
13Journal of Human-Robot InteractionUnited States | 2.65Q1 | 1.63 0.98 down from 2016 | 43 | 41% | — | ||
14IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine SystemsInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers · United States | 2.65Q1 | 3.32 0.44 down from 2016 | 309 | 21% | $2,645 | ||
15Aggressive BehaviorWiley · United States | 2.64Q1 | 2.92 0.23 down from 2016 | 161 | 33% | $3,600 | ||
16Psychology Public Policy and LawAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 2.61Q1 | 2.18 0.39 down from 2016 | 106 | 36% | — | ||
17Psychology of Well-Being Theory Research and PracticeSpringer Nature · Netherlands | 2.49Q1 | 3.85 2.02 up from 2016 | 33 | — | — | ||
18Motivation ScienceAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 2.46Q1 | 2.47 1.62 down from 2016 | 41 | 26% | — | ||
19International Journal of Social RoboticsSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 2.45Q1 | 3.58 0.09 down from 2016 | 155 | 39% | $4,190 | ||
20Sexuality Research and Social PolicySpringer Science+Business Media · United States | 2.36Q1 | 2.29 0.04 up from 2016 | 122 | 36% | $2,990 | ||
21Review of General PsychologySAGE Publishing · United States | 2.35Q1 | 3.42 0.56 up from 2016 | 98 | 32% | $3,900 | ||
22Journal of School ViolenceTaylor & Francis · United States | 2.31Q1 | 1.16 1.13 down from 2016 | 76 | 12% | — | ||
23Group Dynamics Theory Research and PracticeAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 2.30Q1 | 2.41 0.91 up from 2016 | 60 | 37% | — | ||
24Emotion ReviewSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.29Q1 | 3.95 1.55 up from 2016 | 197 | 42% | $3,900 | ||
25International Journal of Mental Health SystemsOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 2.28Q1 | 2.78 0.04 down from 2016 | 168 | 100% | $3,590 | ||
26Journal of Multicultural Counseling and DevelopmentWiley · United States | 2.21Q1 | 1.95 0.77 up from 2016 | 59 | 18% | $2,900 | ||
27Psychology Society & EducationOASpain | 2.14Q1 | 1.42 0.60 up from 2016 | 36 | 100% | — | ||
28LGBT HealthMary Ann Liebert, Inc. · United States | 2.13Q1 | 3.21 0.36 up from 2016 | 179 | 39% | — | ||
29Hormones and BehaviorElsevier BV · United States | 2.11Q1 | 4.58 0.08 up from 2016 | 491 | 43% | $3,640 | ||
30Journal of Family CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United States | 2.10Q1 | 2.07 0.15 down from 2016 | 77 | 14% | — | ||
31Journal of Happiness StudiesSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 2.07Q1 | 1.86 0.35 down from 2016 | 339 | 29% | $3,490 | ||
32Psicologí a EducativaOAPublisher not listed | 2.05Q1 | 2.39 0.95 up from 2016 | 45 | 100% | — | ||
33Leisure SciencesTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.01Q1 | 1.73 0.81 down from 2016 | 114 | 22% | — | ||
34Journal of Cross-Cultural PsychologySAGE Publishing · United States | 1.93Q1 | 2.04 0.08 up from 2016 | 272 | 29% | $3,650 | ||
35Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision MakingSAGE Publishing · United States | 1.92Q1 | 2.31 0.55 down from 2016 | 80 | 24% | $1,500 | ||
36International Journal of WellbeingOAInternational Journal of Wellbeing · New Zealand | 1.86Q1 | 2.15 0.08 down from 2016 | 64 | 100% | — | ||
37Culture & PsychologySAGE Publishing · United States | 1.85Q1 | 1.51 0.22 down from 2016 | 115 | 18% | $3,650 | ||
38Journal of LGBT YouthTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.84Q1 | 1.87 0.03 up from 2016 | 66 | 11% | — | ||
39Applied ErgonomicsElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.82Q1 | 2.91 0.43 up from 2016 | 588 | 21% | $3,400 | ||
40Psychology and SexualityTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.81Q1 | 2.00 0.32 down from 2016 | 43 | 21% | — | ||
41Motivation and EmotionSpringer Science+Business Media · United States | 1.80Q1 | 2.14 0.58 down from 2016 | 207 | 25% | $3,190 | ||
42Small Group ResearchSAGE Publishing · United States | 1.77Q1 | 1.39 0.52 down from 2016 | 98 | 34% | $3,650 | ||
43Journal of College CounselingWiley · United States | 1.73Q1 | 0.98 0.35 down from 2016 | 63 | 14% | $2,500 | ||
44Cross-Cultural ResearchSAGE Publishing · United States | 1.72Q1 | 1.47 0.23 up from 2016 | 64 | 32% | $3,650 | ||
45Animal Behavior and CognitionOAAnimal Behavior and Cognition · United States | 1.72Q1 | 2.16 0.06 down from 2016 | 82 | 100% | — | ||
46Journal of Social and Personal RelationshipsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.71Q1 | 1.55 0.16 down from 2016 | 207 | 31% | $3,650 | ||
47The Journal of PsychologyTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.66Q1 | 1.51 0.62 down from 2016 | 142 | 26% | — | ||
48Transgender HealthMary Ann Liebert, Inc. · United States | 1.66Q2 | 2.56no 2016 value | 34 | 100% | — | — | |
49Child Indicators ResearchSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 1.63Q2 | 1.69 0.13 up from 2016 | 202 | 31% | $3,490 | ||
50Journal of HomosexualityTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.63Q2 | 1.50 0.01 up from 2016 | 306 | 14% | — |
Subfields of Psychology, with Social Psychology highlighted.
- Clinical Psychology555
- Social Psychology188
- Developmental and Educational Psychology121
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology97
- Applied Psychology10
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology4
- General Psychology1
Journals
Citations made in 2017. Corpus-wide, 77.7% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
50 additional Social Psychology journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2014–2016, 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: 2017. Publication window: 2014–2016. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 188
- Window papers (baseline)
- 94,142 +16.5% from indicator year 2014
- Median OJR
- 1.09 +4.8% from indicator year 2014
- Rising journals (2025)
- 6
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2014–2016 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 | 101 | 109 | 116 | 119 | 121 | 122 | 124 | 127 | 136 | 140 | 151 | 156 | 159 | 163 | 173 | 184 | 183 | 188 | 193 | 191 | 199 | 197 | 201 | 196 | 188 | 190 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 28,066 | 30,845 | 33,076 | 35,905 | 37,696 | 40,350 | 42,722 | 46,442 | 50,784 | 56,475 | 61,672 | 67,696 | 72,356 | 76,793 | 80,841 | 85,396 | 90,662 | 94,142 | 97,395 | 100,160 | 105,268 | 112,687 | 120,908 | 126,957 | 130,021 | 137,461 | |
| Median OJR | 0.57 | 0.56 | 0.54 | 0.61 | 0.670 | 0.6778 | 0.673 | 0.64 | 0.6780 | 0.8596 | 0.8604 | 0.95 | 1.003 | 1.10 | 1.04 | 1.12 | 1.07 | 1.09 | 1.01 | 1.03 | 0.99 | 0.921 | 0.922 | 0.923 | 0.925 | 0.90 |
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.