Journal rankings · indicator year 2021
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2021
Language and Linguistics journal rankings 2021
154 ranked journals · Subfield in Arts and Humanities
Language and Linguistics has 154 ranked journals in 2021. The median OJR fell 0.11 on 2020 to 1.02, above the world average of 1.00; Q1 starts at OJR 2.06. The top three are Turkic Languages, Research on Language and Social Interaction, and Modern Language Journal.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2021. 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 2018–2020, the window the 2021 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 Arts and Humanities (13)
154 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 2020. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2018–2020, the window the 2021 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2018–2020 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 2012 to 2021. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Turkic LanguagesHarrassowitz Publishing House · Germany | 15.38Q1 | 8.33 7.90 up from 2020 | 39 | 2% | — | ||
2Research on Language and Social InteractionTaylor & Francis · United States | 9.31Q1 | 5.35 4.02 down from 2020 | 70 | 45% | — | ||
3Modern Language JournalWiley · United States | 8.05Q1 | 7.96 1.01 up from 2020 | 159 | 29% | $3,800 | ||
4Language Teaching for Young LearnersJohn Benjamins Publishing Company · Netherlands | 7.29Q1 | 4.17 2.99 up from 2020 | 35 | 46% | — | ||
5Studies in Second Language Learning and TeachingOADepartment of English Studies Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts Adam Mickiewicz University · Poland | 6.95Q1 | 3.88 0.21 down from 2020 | 92 | 100% | — | ||
6Foreign Language AnnalsWiley · United States | 6.40Q1 | 4.50 0.41 up from 2020 | 162 | 20% | $3,570 | ||
7SystemElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 6.22Q1 | 5.55 2.04 up from 2020 | 431 | 22% | $3,980 | ||
8Language Teaching ResearchSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 6.22Q1 | 4.99 1.34 up from 2020 | 201 | 29% | $3,900 | ||
9Classroom DiscourseTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 6.13Q1 | 3.49 0.62 down from 2020 | 61 | 29% | — | ||
10Language TeachingCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 5.53Q1 | 4.05 0.68 down from 2020 | 141 | 54% | $3,550 | ||
11Language learning & technologyOAUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa · United States | 5.31Q1 | 5.40 1.18 up from 2020 | 122 | 100% | — | ||
12Discourse StudiesSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 4.58Q1 | 3.61 0.32 up from 2020 | 101 | 16% | $3,650 | ||
13Computer Assisted Language LearningRoutledge · United Kingdom | 4.51Q1 | 8.09 3.20 up from 2020 | 216 | 23% | — | ||
14Innovation in Language Learning and TeachingTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 3.72Q1 | 3.90 1.57 up from 2020 | 91 | 23% | — | ||
15Across Languages and CulturesAkadémiai Kiadó · Hungary | 3.59Q1 | 1.58 0.04 down from 2020 | 51 | 21% | — | ||
16Language Learning JournalTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 3.57Q1 | 3.47 1.18 up from 2020 | 134 | 42% | — | ||
17International Journal of English StudiesOAUniversity of Murcia · Spain | 3.43Q1 | 0.97 0.18 down from 2020 | 54 | 100% | — | ||
18Language AwarenessTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 3.42Q1 | 3.09 0.35 up from 2020 | 61 | 31% | — | ||
19Language & CommunicationElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 3.40Q1 | 2.79 0.45 down from 2020 | 158 | 47% | $3,030 | ||
20Journal of Audiovisual TranslationOAPublisher not listed | 3.23Q1 | 0.97 2.47 down from 2020 | 48 | 100% | — | ||
21Journal of Historical PragmaticsJohn Benjamins Publishing Company · Netherlands | 3.09Q1 | 0.65 0.01 up from 2020 | 44 | 39% | — | ||
22Journal of PragmaticsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.06Q1 | 3.23 0.17 up from 2020 | 515 | 33% | $3,260 | ||
23Journal of Politeness ResearchDe Gruyter Mouton · Germany | 2.92Q1 | 1.36 1.68 down from 2020 | 43 | 40% | $0 listed | ||
24International Journal of Applied LinguisticsWiley · Norway | 2.86Q1 | 2.38 0.53 up from 2020 | 93 | 11% | $3,240 | ||
25Natural Language & Linguistic TheorySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 2.70Q1 | 1.61 1.66 down from 2020 | 100 | 55% | $3,090 | ||
26SyntaxWiley · United Kingdom | 2.70Q1 | 1.14 0.31 down from 2020 | 41 | 29% | $3,240 | ||
27Pragmatics Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA)John Benjamins Publishing Company | 2.64Q1 | 2.44 1.19 up from 2020 | 87 | 24% | — | ||
28Studies in Second Language AcquisitionCambridge University Press · United Kingdom | 2.63Q1 | 4.46 0.29 up from 2020 | 168 | 55% | $3,550 | ||
29PerspectivesTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.61Q1 | 1.94 0.34 up from 2020 | 198 | 37% | — | ||
30MorphologySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 2.59Q1 | 2.76 2.78 down from 2020 | 51 | 71% | $3,090 | ||
31Language TestingSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.58Q1 | 3.27 0.30 down from 2020 | 77 | 19% | $3,900 | ||
32Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic TheoryDe Gruyter · Germany | 2.51Q1 | 3.68 1.95 up from 2020 | 46 | 71% | $0 listed | ||
33Linguistic TypologyOADe Gruyter · Germany | 2.40Q1 | 2.40 0.34 down from 2020 | 78 | 73% | $0 listed | ||
34Discourse Context & MediaElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.39Q1 | 2.53 0.19 down from 2020 | 170 | 34% | $3,770 | ||
35Linguistic InquiryThe MIT Press · United States | 2.39Q1 | 1.39 1.73 down from 2020 | 155 | 43% | — | ||
36LanguageLinguistic Society of America · United States | 2.33Q1 | 2.52 0.32 down from 2020 | 226 | 33% | — | ||
37LinguisticsOADe Gruyter · Germany | 2.31Q1 | 2.13 0.87 up from 2020 | 134 | 74% | $0 listed | ||
38Studies in LanguageJohn Benjamins Publishing Company · Netherlands | 2.18Q1 | 2.25 1.54 up from 2020 | 119 | 34% | — | ||
39Journal of Spanish Language TeachingTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.06Q1 | 1.89 0.89 up from 2020 | 49 | 24% | — | ||
40Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language--TESL-EJOAPublisher not listed | 1.89Q2 | 1.79 1.09 up from 2020 | 81 | 100% | — | ||
41Social Interaction Video-Based Studies of Human SocialityOAAalborg University · Denmark | 1.89Q2 | 2.44 0.08 up from 2020 | 47 | 100% | — | ||
42Translation StudiesRoutledge · United Kingdom | 1.84Q2 | 1.26 0.36 up from 2020 | 73 | 31% | — | ||
43L2 JournalOAeScholarship Publishing, University of California · United States | 1.84Q2 | 0.65 0.10 down from 2020 | 39 | 100% | — | ||
44English Teaching & LearningSpringer Science+Business Media · Taiwan | 1.84Q2 | 1.70 0.26 up from 2020 | 65 | 24% | $2,290 | ||
45The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting ResearchOAWestern Sydney University · Australia | 1.81Q2 | 1.00 0.03 up from 2020 | 56 | 100% | — | ||
46Functions of LanguageJohn Benjamins Publishing Company · Netherlands | 1.78Q2 | 0.64 0.10 down from 2020 | 69 | 27% | — | ||
47Glossa a journal of general linguisticsOAUbiquity Press · United Kingdom | 1.78Q2 | 1.67 1.09 down from 2020 | 414 | 100% | $551 | ||
48International Journal of LexicographyOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 1.76Q2 | 1.64 0.66 up from 2020 | 83 | 21% | $4,942 | ||
49Corpus PragmaticsSpringer Science+Business Media · Switzerland | 1.71Q2 | 1.38 0.36 down from 2020 | 64 | 48% | $3,390 | ||
50Intercultural PragmaticsDe Gruyter · Germany | 1.69Q2 | 1.88 0.34 up from 2020 | 88 | 36% | $2,712 |
Subfields of Arts and Humanities, with Language and Linguistics highlighted.
- Language and Linguistics154
- Philosophy94
- Archeology69
- Literature and Literary Theory64
- Music32
- History and Philosophy of Science27
- Visual Arts and Performing Arts24
- Conservation23
- Museology23
- History7
- Classics1
- General Arts and Humanities0
- Religious studies0
Journals
Citations made in 2021. Corpus-wide, 87.7% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
58 additional Language and Linguistics journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2018–2020, 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: 2021. Publication window: 2018–2020. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 154
- Window papers (baseline)
- 80,757 +14.4% from indicator year 2018
- Median OJR
- 1.017 -10.4% from indicator year 2018
- Rising journals (2025)
- 3
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2018–2020 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 | 64 | 67 | 71 | 72 | 72 | 80 | 85 | 85 | 90 | 91 | 95 | 101 | 107 | 114 | 123 | 127 | 135 | 141 | 150 | 150 | 153 | 154 | 160 | 164 | 161 | 166 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 23,431 | 24,873 | 27,295 | 30,722 | 33,569 | 35,822 | 37,701 | 40,210 | 44,255 | 48,419 | 53,070 | 57,589 | 61,839 | 64,341 | 65,295 | 65,985 | 69,100 | 69,414 | 70,603 | 71,710 | 76,067 | 80,757 | 83,795 | 84,882 | 86,269 | 89,829 | |
| Median OJR | 0.85 | 0.893 | 0.95 | 0.91 | 1.004 | 0.891 | 1.24 | 1.11 | 1.33 | 1.59 | 1.62 | 1.498 | 1.43 | 1.34 | 1.69 | 1.29 | 1.503 | 1.31 | 1.14 | 1.20 | 1.12 | 1.017 | 1.10 | 1.04 | 0.92 | 1.019 |
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.