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
Pharmacology journal rankings 2021
54 ranked journals · Subfield in Medicine
Pharmacology has 54 ranked journals in 2021. The median journal has an OJR of 0.66, below the world average of 1.00, up 0.02 on 2020; Q1 starts at OJR 1.22. The top three are Natural Product Reports, Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, and Fungal Biology and Biotechnology.
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 Medicine (42)
- Surgery985
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine362
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health303
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine297
- Oncology239
- Infectious Diseases234
- Epidemiology204
- Neurology172
- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging170
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism163
- Physiology163
- Psychiatry and Mental health145
- Pharmacology54
Show all 42 subfields
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine124
- Ophthalmology103
- Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health101
- Dermatology99
- Hematology83
- Obstetrics and Gynecology83
- Rheumatology67
- Nephrology61
- Complementary and alternative medicine50
- Reproductive Medicine49
- Emergency Medicine45
- Geriatrics and Gerontology39
- Rehabilitation37
- Otorhinolaryngology35
- Hepatology29
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine26
- Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine24
- Immunology and Allergy23
- Genetics20
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine14
- Urology14
- Gastroenterology6
- Health Informatics5
- Internal Medicine5
- Transplantation3
- Family Practice2
- Biochemistry1
- Anatomy0
- Microbiology0
54 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Natural Product ReportsRoyal Society of Chemistry · United Kingdom | 3.71Q1 | 13.12 0.29 down from 2020 | 252 | 35% | — | ||
2Cannabis and Cannabinoid ResearchMary Ann Liebert, Inc. · United States | 2.12Q1 | 4.69 1.35 down from 2020 | 141 | 96% | — | ||
3Fungal Biology and BiotechnologyOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 1.88Q1 | 7.93 2.68 up from 2020 | 61 | 100% | $2,590 | ||
4Medical Cannabis and CannabinoidsOAKarger Publishers · Switzerland | 1.87Q1 | 4.00 0.75 up from 2020 | 33 | 100% | $990 | ||
5Journal of PainElsevier BV · United States | 1.78Q1 | 5.18 0.08 up from 2020 | 374 | 100% | $4,180 | ||
6Clinical PharmacokineticsAdis, Springer Healthcare · Switzerland | 1.62Q1 | 5.65no change | 319 | 69% | $4,990 | ||
7Journal of physiotherapyOAElsevier BV · Netherlands | 1.44Q1 | 5.37 2.35 up from 2020 | 183 | 100% | $3,450 | ||
8Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical TherapyAmerican Physical Therapy Association · United States | 1.43Q1 | 4.13 0.50 up from 2020 | 341 | 20% | — | ||
9European Journal of PainWiley · United Kingdom | 1.39Q1 | 3.80 0.01 up from 2020 | 501 | 61% | $4,310 | ||
10Brazilian Journal of Physical TherapyElsevier BV · Brazil | 1.38Q1 | 3.91 0.37 up from 2020 | 221 | 98% | $3,000 | ||
11Journal of Natural ProductsAmerican Chemical Society · United States | 1.34Q1 | 5.00 0.74 up from 2020 | 1,174 | 31% | $4,500 | ||
12Physical TherapyOxford University Press · United States | 1.34Q1 | 4.21 1.13 up from 2020 | 519 | 85% | $4,035 | ||
13Pharmacotherapy The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug TherapyWiley · United States | 1.31Q1 | 5.71 0.87 up from 2020 | 365 | 28% | $4,030 | ||
14Journal of Cannabis ResearchOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 1.22Q1 | 3.58 1.98 up from 2020 | 53 | 100% | $2,590 | ||
15Pain Research and TreatmentHindawi Publishing Corporation · United Kingdom | 1.18Q2 | 2.63 0.06 down from 2020 | 32 | — | — | ||
16Pain MedicineOxford University Press · United States | 1.06Q2 | 2.86 0.22 up from 2020 | 1,059 | 43% | $5,036 | ||
17BMC Pharmacology and ToxicologyOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 1.06Q2 | 3.22 0.09 down from 2020 | 262 | 100% | $3,090 | ||
18Musculoskeletal Science and PracticeElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.01Q2 | 2.91 0.23 up from 2020 | 338 | 36% | $3,500 | ||
19Experimental and Clinical PsychopharmacologyAmerican Psychological Association · United States | 0.97Q2 | 3.09 0.38 down from 2020 | 191 | 56% | — | ||
20WorkIOS Press · Netherlands | 0.90Q2 | 2.20 0.25 up from 2020 | 691 | 30% | $4,150 | ||
21The Journal of AntibioticsSpringer Nature · Japan | 0.86Q2 | 3.76 0.96 up from 2020 | 371 | 24% | $4,590 | ||
22British Journal of PainSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 0.82Q2 | 1.90 0.32 up from 2020 | 111 | 100% | $4,150 | ||
23Scandinavian Journal of PainOAElsevier BV · Germany | 0.79Q2 | 2.08 0.36 down from 2020 | 301 | 68% | $2,260 | ||
24Therapeutic Drug MonitoringLippincott Williams & Wilkins · United States | 0.79Q2 | 2.75 0.49 down from 2020 | 368 | 37% | — | ||
25Canadian Journal of PainOATaylor & Francis · United States | 0.79Q2 | 1.77 0.37 up from 2020 | 97 | 100% | $1,459 | ||
26Hong Kong Physiotherapy JournalOAWorld Scientific · Netherlands | 0.69Q2 | 1.50 0.04 up from 2020 | 48 | 100% | — | ||
27Journal of Manipulative and Physiological TherapeuticsElsevier BV · United States | 0.67Q2 | 1.60 0.27 down from 2020 | 268 | 34% | $2,900 | ||
28Ozone Science and EngineeringTaylor & Francis · United States | 0.65Q3 | 2.56 0.52 up from 2020 | 181 | 16% | — | ||
29Translational and Clinical PharmacologyOASouth Korea | 0.65Q3 | 2.04 1.01 up from 2020 | 76 | 100% | — | ||
30Chiropractic & Manual TherapiesOABioMed Central · United Kingdom | 0.64Q3 | 2.38 0.30 down from 2020 | 182 | 100% | $2,290 | ||
31Current Drug SafetyBentham Science Publishers · Netherlands | 0.58Q3 | 1.69 0.44 down from 2020 | 98 | 8% | — | ||
32Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal ChemistryBentham Science Publishers · Netherlands | 0.57Q3 | 1.62 0.25 down from 2020 | 48 | 19% | — | ||
33CannabisOAUnited States | 0.54Q3 | 1.23 0.16 down from 2020 | 35 | 100% | — | ||
34International journal of medicinal mushroomsBegell House · United States | 0.52Q3 | 1.41 0.05 down from 2020 | 328 | 13% | — | ||
35International journal of osteopathic medicineElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 0.52Q3 | 2.03 0.35 down from 2020 | 88 | 30% | $2,740 | ||
36Journal of Chiropractic MedicineElsevier BV · United States | 0.51Q3 | 1.22 0.12 down from 2020 | 116 | 73% | $3,300 | ||
37Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and TherapeuticsWiley · United Kingdom | 0.49Q3 | 1.52 0.05 up from 2020 | 283 | 30% | $4,520 | ||
38Journal of Caffeine and Adenosine ResearchMary Ann Liebert, Inc. · United States | 0.48Q3 | 1.51 0.09 down from 2020 | 59 | 14% | — | ||
39Journal of Manual & Manipulative TherapyTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 0.47Q3 | 1.46 0.09 down from 2020 | 106 | 100% | — | ||
40Drug Safety - Case ReportsAdis, Springer Healthcare · Switzerland | 0.47Q3 | 1.27 0.12 up from 2020 | 39 | — | $1,095 | ||
41Der SchmerzSpringer Science+Business Media · Germany | 0.44Q3 | 1.59 0.53 up from 2020 | 220 | 60% | $3,390 | ||
42Planta Medica International OpenGeorg Thieme Verlag · Germany | 0.35Q4 | 1.17 1.00 up from 2020 | 116 | 90% | — | ||
43European Journal of PhysiotherapyTaylor & Francis · United States | 0.34Q4 | 1.11 0.10 up from 2020 | 175 | 44% | — | ||
44International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and SimulationInderscience Publishers · United Kingdom | 0.29Q4 | 1.14 0.41 up from 2020 | 58 | 0% | — | ||
45Physiotherapy Practice and ResearchIOS Press · Netherlands | 0.29Q4 | 0.93 0.24 up from 2020 | 48 | 35% | $4,150 | ||
46Pharmacy & Pharmacology International JournalMedCrave Group · United States | 0.28Q4 | 0.94 0.48 up from 2020 | 167 | 87% | — | ||
| 0.26Q4 | 1.12 0.94 down from 2020 | 46 | 100% | — | |||
48Bulletin of Faculty of Physical TherapyOASpringer Nature · Egypt | 0.25Q4 | 0.85 0.45 up from 2020 | 48 | 100% | $0 listed | ||
49Humboldt Journal of Social RelationsPublisher not listed | 0.23Q4 | 0.13 0.09 down from 2020 | 47 | 83% | — | ||
50Current PsychopharmacologyeBentham Science Publishers · Netherlands | 0.18Q4 | 0.65 0.28 up from 2020 | 50 | 35% | — |
Subfields of Medicine, with Pharmacology highlighted.
- Surgery985
- Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine362
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health303
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine297
- Oncology239
- Infectious Diseases234
- Epidemiology204
- Neurology172
- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging170
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism163
- Physiology163
- Psychiatry and Mental health145
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine124
- Ophthalmology103
- Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health101
- Dermatology99
- Hematology83
- Obstetrics and Gynecology83
- Rheumatology67
- Nephrology61
- Pharmacology54
- Complementary and alternative medicine50
- Reproductive Medicine49
- Emergency Medicine45
- Geriatrics and Gerontology39
- Rehabilitation37
- Otorhinolaryngology35
- Hepatology29
- Pathology and Forensic Medicine26
- Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine24
- Immunology and Allergy23
- Genetics20
- Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine14
- Urology14
- Gastroenterology6
- Health Informatics5
- Internal Medicine5
- Transplantation3
- Family Practice2
- Biochemistry1
- Anatomy0
- Microbiology0
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.
11 additional Pharmacology 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
- 54
- Window papers (baseline)
- 65,359 +12.9% from indicator year 2018
- Median OJR
- 0.662 +1.1% from indicator year 2018
- Rising journals (2025)
- 1
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 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 29 | 33 | 32 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 43 | 42 | 44 | 46 | 51 | 54 | 53 | 54 | 51 | 52 | 49 | 49 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 19,603 | 22,467 | 24,630 | 27,412 | 29,324 | 32,358 | 35,691 | 39,107 | 42,145 | 45,380 | 48,527 | 52,153 | 54,359 | 55,921 | 57,834 | 58,910 | 59,488 | 58,462 | 57,882 | 58,590 | 61,076 | 65,359 | 69,176 | 70,919 | 70,967 | 72,738 | |
| Median OJR | 0.50 | 0.59 | 0.56 | 0.672 | 0.51 | 0.62 | 0.715 | 0.667 | 0.7235 | 0.80 | 0.892 | 0.91 | 1.001 | 0.891 | 0.7936 | 0.7943 | 0.77 | 0.76 | 0.65 | 0.644 | 0.642 | 0.662 | 0.75 | 0.659 | 0.7243 | 0.73 |
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.