Journal rankings · indicator year 2020
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Field ranking · 2020
Social Sciences journal rankings 2020
3,056 ranked journals · Field in Social Sciences
Social Sciences has 3,056 ranked journals in 2020. Its median journal scores above the world average: OJR 1.32 against 1.00, down 0.01 on 2019. A journal needs OJR 2.31 to reach Q1. The top three are Social Issues and Policy Review, International Security, and American Political Science Review.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2020. 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 2017–2019, the window the 2020 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 in Social Sciences (22)
Up to Social Sciences3,056 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 2019. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2017–2019, the window the 2020 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2017–2019 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 2011 to 2020. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Social Issues and Policy ReviewWiley · United States | 14.16Q1 | 11.13 0.16 up from 2019 | 32 | 50% | $3,800 | ||
2International SecurityThe MIT Press · United States | 14.14Q1 | 9.04 3.33 up from 2019 | 80 | 43% | — | ||
3American Political Science ReviewCambridge University Press · United States | 13.42Q1 | 9.47 0.97 up from 2019 | 239 | 36% | $3,550 | ||
4Journal of European Public PolicyRoutledge · United Kingdom | 12.96Q1 | 8.38 1.63 up from 2019 | 296 | 67% | — | ||
5American Sociological ReviewSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 12.61Q1 | 14.57 3.77 up from 2019 | 130 | 35% | $3,900 | ||
6Review of Research in EducationSAGE Publishing · United States | 12.26Q1 | 9.87 0.22 down from 2019 | 52 | 59% | $2,500 | ||
7American Journal of Political ScienceWiley · United States | 11.96Q1 | 8.64 0.47 up from 2019 | 190 | 34% | $4,100 | ||
8Journal of democracyJohns Hopkins University Press · United States | 11.39Q1 | 5.97 0.73 up from 2019 | 218 | 22% | — | ||
9Government Information QuarterlyElsevier BV · United States | 10.83Q1 | 10.26 2.25 up from 2019 | 209 | 54% | $4,360 | ||
10The Internet and Higher EducationElsevier BV · United States | 10.60Q1 | 11.55 0.24 down from 2019 | 72 | 50% | $4,120 | ||
11Educational PsychologistRoutledge · United States | 10.41Q1 | 14.29 4.95 up from 2019 | 54 | 30% | — | ||
12International Journal of Information ManagementElsevier BV · Netherlands | 10.20Q1 | 16.34 3.98 up from 2019 | 453 | 43% | $3,990 | ||
13Tourism ManagementElsevier BV · Netherlands | 10.00Q1 | 11.74 2.30 up from 2019 | 668 | 41% | $4,690 | ||
14Swiss Political Science ReviewWiley · United Kingdom | 9.98Q1 | 3.54 1.21 down from 2019 | 84 | 73% | $3,140 | ||
15European Journal of Political ResearchOAWiley · United Kingdom | 9.45Q1 | 5.94 0.93 up from 2019 | 181 | 73% | $3,550 | ||
16Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social MediaOAPublisher not listed | 9.38Q1 | 4.85 0.33 down from 2019 | 293 | 100% | — | ||
17The Review of International OrganizationsSpringer Science+Business Media · United States | 9.37Q1 | 8.89 5.68 up from 2019 | 101 | 59% | $2,990 | ||
18Sociology of EducationSAGE Publishing · United States | 9.28Q1 | 6.37 0.39 up from 2019 | 61 | 17% | $3,650 | ||
19Journal of Interactive MarketingSAGE Publishing · United States | 9.19Q1 | 9.58 0.46 up from 2019 | 98 | 48% | $5,400 | ||
20European Union PoliticsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 8.70Q1 | 5.57 0.92 up from 2019 | 105 | 69% | $3,650 | ||
21Comparative Political StudiesSAGE Publishing · United States | 8.61Q1 | 6.28 0.29 up from 2019 | 185 | 62% | $3,900 | ||
22New Media & SocietySAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 8.49Q1 | 9.47 2.71 up from 2019 | 433 | 42% | $3,900 | ||
23International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher EducationOASpringer Nature · Switzerland | 8.45Q1 | 10.81 2.87 up from 2019 | 133 | 100% | $0 listed | ||
24Journal of CommunicationOxford University Press · United States | 8.44Q1 | 8.27 0.27 up from 2019 | 192 | 39% | $4,235 | ||
25Political BehaviorSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 8.42Q1 | 7.34 3.16 up from 2019 | 193 | 35% | $2,990 | ||
26Research & PoliticsOASAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 8.26Q1 | 6.73 3.06 up from 2019 | 149 | 100% | $800 | ||
27The International Journal of Press/PoliticsSAGE Publishing · United States | 8.12Q1 | 7.71 3.12 up from 2019 | 78 | 35% | $3,900 | ||
28Big Data & SocietyOASAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 8.01Q1 | 9.16 0.06 down from 2019 | 117 | 100% | $2,000 | ||
29Journal of Destination Marketing & ManagementElsevier BV · Netherlands | 7.97Q1 | 8.21 1.64 up from 2019 | 195 | 37% | $4,320 | ||
30European Law JournalWiley · United Kingdom | 7.96Q1 | 3.55 1.14 up from 2019 | 112 | 42% | $3,570 | ||
31JCMS Journal of Common Market StudiesWiley · United Kingdom | 7.94Q1 | 4.83 0.18 up from 2019 | 306 | 44% | $4,170 | ||
32Political CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United States | 7.89Q1 | 7.80 2.62 up from 2019 | 124 | 28% | — | ||
33The Journal of PoliticsUniversity of Chicago Press · United States | 7.83Q1 | 5.35 0.41 up from 2019 | 433 | 20% | — | ||
34Critical Discourse StudiesRoutledge · United Kingdom | 7.81Q1 | 5.03 2.85 up from 2019 | 129 | 24% | — | ||
35West European PoliticsTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 7.79Q1 | 4.94 0.81 up from 2019 | 248 | 72% | — | ||
36Personality and Social Psychology ReviewSAGE Publishing · United States | 7.78Q1 | 17.92 0.59 up from 2019 | 38 | 40% | $3,900 | ||
37Information and OrganizationElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 7.75Q1 | 10.22 3.87 up from 2019 | 52 | 20% | $3,590 | ||
38Business HorizonsElsevier BV · United States | 7.75Q1 | 9.69 3.30 up from 2019 | 266 | 23% | $3,410 | ||
39South European Society & PoliticsTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 7.62Q1 | 6.24 0.41 up from 2019 | 67 | 44% | — | ||
40Journal of Travel ResearchSAGE Publishing · United States | 7.62Q1 | 7.33 0.30 up from 2019 | 267 | 42% | $3,900 | ||
41The Information SocietyTaylor & Francis · United States | 7.53Q1 | 4.79 3.64 down from 2019 | 92 | 22% | — | ||
42American Educational Research JournalSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 7.49Q1 | 4.76 1.13 down from 2019 | 234 | 24% | $2,500 | ||
43Harvard Educational ReviewHarvard University Press · United States | 7.36Q1 | 3.41 2.91 down from 2019 | 119 | 37% | — | ||
44Information & ManagementElsevier BV · Netherlands | 7.35Q1 | 8.33 1.26 up from 2019 | 258 | 18% | $4,540 | ||
45Annual Review of Applied LinguisticsCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 7.33Q1 | 4.20 0.38 up from 2019 | 49 | 33% | $3,550 | ||
46Educational ResearcherSAGE Publishing · United States | 7.26Q1 | 6.67 0.28 up from 2019 | 159 | 24% | $2,500 | ||
47European Journal of International RelationsSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 7.24Q1 | 4.50 1.06 down from 2019 | 127 | 63% | $3,900 | ||
48Cultural AnthropologyOAWiley · United States | 7.20Q1 | 4.70 1.78 down from 2019 | 101 | 100% | — | ||
49Administrative Science QuarterlySAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 7.17Q1 | 7.53 1.38 up from 2019 | 123 | 42% | $3,900 | ||
50Digital JournalismTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 7.12Q1 | 8.35 1.39 up from 2019 | 201 | 34% | — |
Subfields of Social Sciences, compared.
- Sociology and Political Science1,333
- Education727
- Political Science and International Relations332
- Communication79
- Gender Studies64
- Safety Research55
- Health54
- Urban Studies52
- Public Administration51
- Linguistics and Language49
- Law48
- Transportation46
- Library and Information Sciences41
- Demography40
- Anthropology37
- Geography, Planning and Development33
- Cultural Studies8
- Development3
- General Social Sciences3
- Human Factors and Ergonomics1
- Archeology0
- Life-span and Life-course Studies0
Journals
Citations made in 2020. Corpus-wide, 86.1% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
816 additional Social Sciences journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2017–2019, 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: 2020. Publication window: 2017–2019. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 3,056
- Window papers (baseline)
- 1,760,718 +13.3% from indicator year 2017
- Median OJR
- 1.32 -2.2% from indicator year 2017
- Rising journals (2025)
- 134Comparison-group list (134)
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2017–2019 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 | 1,406 | 1,451 | 1,539 | 1,622 | 1,698 | 1,765 | 1,844 | 1,932 | 2,018 | 2,111 | 2,231 | 2,335 | 2,450 | 2,548 | 2,662 | 2,755 | 2,851 | 2,959 | 2,994 | 3,028 | 3,056 | 3,141 | 3,149 | 3,144 | 3,107 | 3,066 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 443,953 | 481,120 | 524,797 | 573,040 | 615,403 | 666,449 | 723,952 | 792,817 | 867,532 | 946,631 | 1,027,940 | 1,103,353 | 1,185,358 | 1,256,728 | 1,323,833 | 1,400,086 | 1,483,492 | 1,554,301 | 1,600,611 | 1,663,801 | 1,760,718 | 1,914,483 | 2,065,185 | 2,148,493 | 2,214,535 | 2,302,259 | |
| Median OJR | 0.86 | 0.91 | 0.92 | 0.97 | 1.03 | 1.09 | 1.16 | 1.30 | 1.365 | 1.382 | 1.43 | 1.42 | 1.40 | 1.377 | 1.356 | 1.352 | 1.353 | 1.346 | 1.31 | 1.33 | 1.32 | 1.23 | 1.194 | 1.187 | 1.18 | 1.20 |
| Measure | Category statistic | Eligible population |
|---|---|---|
| Journal self-citation share | Median: 4.7% | 1,882 journals |
| Retracted papers per 1,000 | Pooled rate: 0.498 per 1,000 | 1,610 journals |
| Output growth | Median: -2.6% | 2,852 journals |
| Open access share | Median: 58.5% | 3,066 journals |
| Listed APC (USD) | Median including $0 listed prices: $3,400 | 1,164 ranked journals with a known listed price, including $0 listed prices |
| International collaboration share | Median: 18.2% | 2,785 journals |
| Review share | Median: 0.0% | 3,066 journals |
| Articles-only OJR | Median: 1.22 | 3,041 journals |
| Uncited share | Median: 44.4% | 3,066 journals |
| Citation concentration | Median: 49.7% | 3,059 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.