Journal rankings · indicator year 2018
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2018
Communication journal rankings 2018
74 ranked journals · Subfield in Social Sciences
Communication has 74 ranked journals in 2018. The median OJR fell 0.05 on 2017 to 1.54, above the world average of 1.00; Q1 starts at OJR 2.55. The top three are Journal of Communication, Political Communication, and Communication Theory.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2018. 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 2015–2017, the window the 2018 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 Social Sciences (22)
74 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 2017. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2015–2017, the window the 2018 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2015–2017 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 2009 to 2018. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Journal of CommunicationOxford University Press · United States | 7.48Q1 | 5.15 0.50 up from 2017 | 196 | 26% | $4,235 | ||
2Political CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United States | 6.51Q1 | 4.04 0.07 up from 2017 | 132 | 27% | — | ||
3Communication TheoryWiley · United States | 6.38Q1 | 2.91 1.31 down from 2017 | 72 | 19% | $4,235 | ||
4Journal of Knowledge ManagementEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 6.04Q1 | 7.29 2.98 up from 2017 | 238 | 22% | — | ||
5Journal of Studies in International EducationSAGE Publishing · United States | 5.49Q1 | 2.87 0.23 down from 2017 | 75 | 30% | $3,650 | ||
6Digital JournalismTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 4.38Q1 | 3.63 0.76 up from 2017 | 204 | 46% | — | ||
7The International Journal of Press/PoliticsSAGE Publishing · United States | 4.11Q1 | 3.65 0.19 down from 2017 | 72 | 40% | $3,900 | ||
8Media and CommunicationOACogitatio · Portugal | 3.22Q1 | 2.47 0.62 up from 2017 | 123 | 100% | $1,132 | ||
9Public Relations ReviewElsevier BV · United States | 2.96Q1 | 2.92 0.86 up from 2017 | 309 | 11% | $4,310 | ||
10Journal of Information Technology & PoliticsRoutledge · United States | 2.86Q1 | 2.52 1.05 down from 2017 | 64 | 16% | — | ||
11Annals of the International Communication AssociationTaylor & Francis | 2.85Q1 | 3.17 1.43 up from 2017 | 52 | 17% | $3,368 | ||
12Journalism StudiesRoutledge · United Kingdom | 2.79Q1 | 2.51 0.79 up from 2017 | 300 | 22% | — | ||
13Journal of Public Relations ResearchTaylor & Francis · United States | 2.78Q1 | 2.88 0.66 up from 2017 | 58 | 22% | — | ||
14Journalism & Mass Communication QuarterlySAGE Publishing · United States | 2.77Q1 | 2.06 0.06 down from 2017 | 209 | 14% | $3,900 | ||
15JournalismSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.71Q1 | 2.14no change | 305 | 32% | $3,900 | ||
16European Journal of CommunicationSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.67Q1 | 1.81 0.62 up from 2017 | 214 | 13% | $3,650 | ||
17Corporate Communications An International JournalEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.60Q1 | 2.00 0.08 down from 2017 | 98 | 28% | — | ||
18Journal of Communication ManagementEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.58Q1 | 2.38 0.61 up from 2017 | 88 | 10% | — | ||
19Cross Cultural Management An International JournalEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.55Q1 | —no 2017 value | 31 | — | — | ||
20Journalism PracticeTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.44Q2 | 2.23 0.15 up from 2017 | 232 | 26% | — | ||
21Discourse & CommunicationSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.39Q2 | 1.31 1.09 down from 2017 | 88 | 24% | $3,650 | ||
22Communication Research and PracticeTaylor & Francis · Australia | 2.17Q2 | 2.16 0.82 up from 2017 | 82 | 43% | — | ||
23VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management SystemsEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.14Q2 | 2.08 1.01 up from 2017 | 66 | 13% | — | ||
24Journal of International StudentsOAEditors of the journals · United States | 2.07Q2 | 1.88 0.54 up from 2017 | 165 | 100% | — | ||
25International Journal of Strategic CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United States | 2.06Q2 | 2.21 0.77 up from 2017 | 82 | 29% | — | ||
26Journal of Intercultural Communication ResearchTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.01Q2 | 1.46 0.44 up from 2017 | 82 | 8% | — | ||
27International Communication GazetteSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.99Q2 | 1.51 0.38 up from 2017 | 140 | 23% | $3,650 | ||
28International Journal of Cross Cultural ManagementSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.97Q2 | 1.76 0.39 up from 2017 | 54 | 14% | $3,650 | ||
29Public Relations InquirySAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.88Q2 | 1.89 0.86 up from 2017 | 44 | 16% | $3,650 | ||
30Journal of International and Intercultural CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.85Q2 | 1.04 0.03 down from 2017 | 68 | 22% | — | ||
31Knowledge Management Research & PracticeTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.72Q2 | 2.38 1.11 up from 2017 | 88 | 13% | — | ||
32Journal of Political MarketingTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.68Q2 | 1.05 0.30 down from 2017 | 72 | 20% | — | ||
33Media War & ConflictSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.67Q2 | 0.81 0.29 down from 2017 | 77 | 21% | $3,650 | ||
34Asian Journal of CommunicationRoutledge · United Kingdom | 1.65Q2 | 1.09 0.04 up from 2017 | 119 | 9% | — | ||
35The Journal of Media InnovationsOAUniversity of Oslo, Centre for Research on Media Innovations (CRMI) · Norway | 1.63Q2 | 1.19 0.40 up from 2017 | 36 | 100% | — | ||
36Global Media and CommunicationSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.62Q2 | 0.84 0.16 up from 2017 | 54 | 32% | $3,650 | ||
37Radio Journal International Studies in Broadcast & Audio MediaIntellect · United Kingdom | 1.61Q2 | 1.27 0.56 up from 2017 | 44 | 11% | — | ||
38Journal of Global Mobility The Home of Expatriate Management ResearchEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 1.46Q3 | 1.57 0.41 down from 2017 | 71 | 33% | — | ||
39Westminster Papers in Communication and CultureOAUnited Kingdom | 1.38Q3 | 0.75 0.25 up from 2017 | 186 | 100% | — | ||
40Media International AustraliaPublisher not listed | 1.34Q3 | 1.18 0.23 up from 2017 | 172 | 17% | $3,650 | ||
41Electronic NewsSAGE Publishing · United States | 1.28Q3 | 0.86 0.26 down from 2017 | 52 | 8% | $3,650 | ||
42El Profesional de la InformacionOAEdiciones Profesionales de la Informacion SL · Spain | 1.23Q3 | 1.44 0.04 up from 2017 | 305 | 100% | — | ||
43Journal of Deliberative DemocracyOAUnited Kingdom | 1.14Q3 | 1.02 0.04 down from 2017 | 71 | 100% | — | ||
44CommunicationsDe Gruyter Mouton · Germany | 1.08Q3 | 0.87 0.35 down from 2017 | 78 | 36% | $2,712 | ||
45International Journal of Knowledge ManagementOAIGI Global · United States | 1.06Q3 | 1.59 0.81 up from 2017 | 49 | 8% | — | ||
46Nordicom review/NORDICOM reviewOADe Gruyter Open · Sweden | 0.96Q3 | 0.67 0.23 down from 2017 | 100 | 100% | — | ||
47Journal of Teaching in International BusinessTaylor & Francis · United States | 0.96Q3 | 1.00 0.08 down from 2017 | 53 | 24% | — | ||
48Journalism & Communication MonographsSAGE Publishing · United States | 0.95Q3 | 0.58 0.47 up from 2017 | 34 | 6% | $3,400 | ||
49Studies in Communication and MediaOANomos · Germany | 0.93Q3 | 1.09 0.45 up from 2017 | 57 | 100% | — | ||
50African Journalism StudiesTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 0.89Q3 | 0.65 0.21 up from 2017 | 96 | 16% | — |
Subfields of Social Sciences, with Communication highlighted.
- Sociology and Political Science1,315
- Education714
- Political Science and International Relations321
- Communication74
- Gender Studies61
- Health52
- Safety Research51
- Public Administration50
- Urban Studies49
- Law47
- Linguistics and Language47
- Transportation47
- Library and Information Sciences42
- Demography40
- Anthropology38
- Geography, Planning and Development29
- Cultural Studies9
- Development4
- General Social Sciences3
- Human Factors and Ergonomics1
- Archeology0
- Life-span and Life-course Studies0
Journals
Citations made in 2018. Corpus-wide, 81.5% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
16 additional Communication journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2015–2017, 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: 2018. Publication window: 2015–2017. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 74
- Window papers (baseline)
- 33,565 +7.9% from indicator year 2015
- Median OJR
- 1.54 -11.5% from indicator year 2015
- Rising journals (2025)
- 3
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2015–2017 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 | 28 | 30 | 32 | 36 | 35 | 35 | 38 | 38 | 43 | 48 | 52 | 52 | 54 | 57 | 66 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 74 | 74 | 79 | 75 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 71 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 6,625 | 7,353 | 8,060 | 9,040 | 9,893 | 11,132 | 12,598 | 14,308 | 16,130 | 18,165 | 20,333 | 22,525 | 25,150 | 27,541 | 29,419 | 31,115 | 32,404 | 33,284 | 33,565 | 34,506 | 36,327 | 39,973 | 43,466 | 44,324 | 43,348 | 42,854 | |
| Median OJR | 0.692 | 0.54 | 0.691 | 0.67 | 0.94 | 1.31 | 1.570 | 1.66 | 1.47 | 1.86 | 1.80 | 1.85 | 1.67 | 1.72 | 1.49 | 1.74 | 1.56 | 1.59 | 1.54 | 1.333 | 1.42 | 1.326 | 1.48 | 1.62 | 1.68 | 1.565 |
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.