Journal rankings · indicator year 2021
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Field ranking · 2021
Materials Science journal rankings 2021
473 ranked journals · Field in Physical Sciences
Materials Science has 473 ranked journals in 2021. The median journal has an OJR of 0.65, below the world average of 1.00, up 0.02 on 2020; Q1 starts at OJR 1.04. The top three are Progress in Materials Science, Progress in Polymer Science, and Nature Materials.
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 in Materials Science (8)
Up to Physical Sciences473 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Progress in Materials ScienceElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 9.59Q1 | 37.10 1.62 up from 2020 | 195 | 31% | $6,040 | ||
2Progress in Polymer ScienceElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 7.75Q1 | 27.51 3.14 down from 2020 | 171 | 31% | $6,500 | ||
3Nature MaterialsNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 7.26Q1 | 28.54 2.76 up from 2020 | 809 | 51% | $12,690 | ||
4Nature NanotechnologyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 6.85Q1 | 27.47 3.95 up from 2020 | 717 | 56% | $12,690 | ||
5Coordination Chemistry ReviewsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 4.58Q1 | 20.05 0.24 down from 2020 | 812 | 19% | $5,740 | ||
6ACS NanoAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 4.08Q1 | 17.79 1.31 up from 2020 | 4,291 | 32% | $4,500 | ||
7Advances in Colloid and Interface ScienceElsevier BV · Netherlands | 4.06Q1 | 15.06 1.33 up from 2020 | 371 | 29% | $5,150 | ||
8npj Computational MaterialsOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 3.41Q1 | 12.35 1.06 down from 2020 | 392 | 100% | $3,490 | ||
9Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C Photochemistry ReviewsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 3.26Q1 | 15.19 3.24 up from 2020 | 48 | 38% | $4,530 | ||
10Catalysis ReviewsTaylor & Francis · United States | 3.09Q1 | 11.73 5.27 down from 2020 | 53 | 23% | — | ||
11NPG Asia MaterialsOANature Portfolio · Japan | 2.95Q1 | 12.00 0.10 down from 2020 | 273 | 100% | $4,490 | ||
12Nano LettersAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 2.91Q1 | 12.07 0.39 up from 2020 | 3,437 | 38% | $4,500 | ||
13Advanced Industrial and Engineering Polymer ResearchOAElsevier BV · China | 2.81Q1 | 11.63 4.10 up from 2020 | 61 | 100% | $0 listed | ||
14npj 2D Materials and ApplicationsOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 2.81Q1 | 10.32 1.45 down from 2020 | 130 | 100% | $3,405 | ||
15Engineered ScienceOAUnited States | 2.74Q1 | 13.26 5.56 up from 2020 | 138 | 35% | — | ||
16Journal of Advanced CeramicsOASpringer Science+Business Media · China | 2.69Q1 | 11.98 3.89 up from 2020 | 168 | 100% | $2,372 | ||
17Chemical ReviewsAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 2.68Q1 | 65.18 3.96 up from 2020 | 726 | 46% | $4,500 | ||
18Materials Today NanoElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.60Q1 | 11.61 1.29 up from 2020 | 101 | 23% | $4,140 | ||
19Nano Materials ScienceOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.51Q1 | 10.74 0.81 up from 2020 | 87 | 100% | $0 listed | ||
20Carbohydrate PolymersElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.50Q1 | 10.58 1.20 up from 2020 | 4,103 | 18% | $5,340 | ||
21Materials Today AdvancesOAElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.45Q1 | 10.24 3.48 up from 2020 | 103 | 100% | $3,790 | ||
22Bioinorganic Chemistry and ApplicationsOAHindawi Publishing Corporation · Egypt | 2.38Q1 | 5.45 3.55 down from 2020 | 75 | 100% | $1,630 | ||
23Nanoscale HorizonsRoyal Society of Chemistry · United Kingdom | 2.37Q1 | 9.15 0.64 down from 2020 | 385 | 33% | — | ||
24Acta MaterialiaElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.34Q1 | 8.09 0.18 down from 2020 | 2,366 | 57% | $3,700 | ||
25Progress in BiomaterialsSpringer Nature · Germany | 2.21Q1 | 5.98 2.93 down from 2020 | 63 | 100% | $3,090 | ||
26Journal of nanostructure in chemistryOASpringer Nature · Germany | 2.20Q1 | 8.12 0.37 up from 2020 | 112 | 25% | $3,690 | ||
27Advanced Composites and Hybrid MaterialsSpringer Science+Business Media · Switzerland | 2.19Q1 | 11.83 5.98 up from 2020 | 176 | 6% | $3,490 | ||
28Food Packaging and Shelf LifeElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.18Q1 | 9.14 1.69 up from 2020 | 438 | 21% | $4,690 | ||
29Corrosion ScienceElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.12Q1 | 7.18 0.05 up from 2020 | 1,742 | 25% | $4,070 | ||
30Ultrasonics SonochemistryOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 2.10Q1 | 9.20 1.37 up from 2020 | 1,299 | 100% | $3,710 | ||
31Materials Today PhysicsElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.10Q1 | 10.15 1.70 up from 2020 | 227 | 23% | $4,160 | ||
32Science and Technology of Advanced MaterialsOATaylor & Francis · United States | 2.08Q1 | 7.55 1.34 down from 2020 | 237 | 100% | $1,134 | ||
33CarbonElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 2.07Q1 | 9.72 0.73 up from 2020 | 3,389 | 19% | $4,830 | ||
34npj Materials DegradationOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 2.03Q1 | 7.03 0.33 down from 2020 | 122 | 100% | $2,590 | ||
35ES Energy & EnvironmentsUnited States | 2.02Q1 | 8.09 3.65 up from 2020 | 116 | 56% | — | ||
36Chemical Society ReviewsRoyal Society of Chemistry · United Kingdom | 2.02Q1 | 53.12 2.94 down from 2020 | 825 | 35% | — | ||
37NanophotonicsOADe Gruyter · Germany | 2.00Q1 | 7.49 1.89 up from 2020 | 719 | 100% | $2,995 | ||
38International Journal of Biological MacromoleculesElsevier BV · Netherlands | 1.97Q1 | 8.34 1.56 up from 2020 | 8,716 | 12% | $4,390 | ||
39Nano ResearchOASpringer Science+Business Media · Hong Kong SAR China | 1.96Q1 | 10.16 0.69 up from 2020 | 1,254 | 12% | $5,290 | ||
40ES Materials & ManufacturingOAUnited States | 1.93Q1 | 7.82 4.20 up from 2020 | 103 | 63% | — | ||
41Communications MaterialsOANature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 1.90Q1 | 6.98no 2020 value | 98 | 100% | $3,690 | — | |
42Materials Today ChemistryElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.89Q1 | 8.21 0.73 down from 2020 | 326 | 17% | $3,500 | ||
43Materials Science for Energy TechnologiesOAElsevier BV · China | 1.86Q1 | 8.98 1.49 up from 2020 | 208 | 100% | $840 | ||
44Journal of Magnesium and AlloysOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 1.73Q1 | 9.42 3.52 down from 2020 | 343 | 100% | $1,500 | ||
45NanoscaleRoyal Society of Chemistry · United Kingdom | 1.68Q1 | 7.71 0.16 down from 2020 | 7,178 | 25% | — | ||
46Environmental Science NanoRoyal Society of Chemistry · United Kingdom | 1.67Q1 | 7.93 0.19 down from 2020 | 821 | 19% | — | ||
472018 Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis (CMD)Publisher not listed | 1.65Q1 | —no 2020 value | 159 | — | — | ||
48Composites CommunicationsElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.65Q1 | 7.43 0.45 up from 2020 | 504 | 10% | $4,070 | ||
49The Journal of Physical Chemistry LettersAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 1.62Q1 | 6.78 0.20 up from 2020 | 3,794 | 29% | $4,500 | ||
50International nano letters.OASpringer Science+Business Media · Iran | 1.61Q1 | 6.68 0.58 up from 2020 | 91 | 13% | $3,590 |
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.
161 additional Materials Science 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
- 473
- Window papers (baseline)
- 499,970 +8.1% from indicator year 2018
- Median OJR
- 0.647 +9.7% from indicator year 2018
- Rising journals (2025)
- 60Comparison-group list (60)
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 | 229 | 231 | 236 | 251 | 262 | 265 | 267 | 284 | 289 | 302 | 306 | 321 | 338 | 363 | 395 | 419 | 433 | 442 | 458 | 467 | 476 | 473 | 490 | 506 | 508 | 504 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 163,946 | 175,484 | 187,103 | 200,299 | 212,830 | 229,805 | 247,827 | 270,857 | 293,613 | 315,775 | 336,201 | 355,696 | 382,365 | 404,167 | 431,123 | 448,942 | 462,729 | 463,329 | 462,648 | 467,211 | 482,821 | 499,970 | 513,549 | 515,160 | 517,536 | 533,293 | |
| Median OJR | 0.61 | 0.629 | 0.660 | 0.6582 | 0.657 | 0.640 | 0.653 | 0.645 | 0.628 | 0.71 | 0.69 | 0.634 | 0.67 | 0.6541 | 0.6577 | 0.637 | 0.593 | 0.60 | 0.590 | 0.592 | 0.627 | 0.647 | 0.6542 | 0.648 | 0.650 | 0.639 |
| Measure | Category statistic | Eligible population |
|---|---|---|
| Journal self-citation share | Median: 3.9% | 455 journals |
| Retracted papers per 1,000 | Pooled rate: 1.792 per 1,000 | 384 journals |
| Output growth | Median: +2.0% | 446 journals |
| Open access share | Median: 43.0% | 504 journals |
| Listed APC (USD) | Median including $0 listed prices: $3,328 | 348 ranked journals with a known listed price, including $0 listed prices |
| International collaboration share | Median: 24.1% | 495 journals |
| Review share | Median: 0.0% | 504 journals |
| Articles-only OJR | Median: 0.64 | 498 journals |
| Uncited share | Median: 22.3% | 504 journals |
| Citation concentration | Median: 43.1% | 503 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.