Journal rankings · indicator year 2023
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2023
Communication journal rankings 2023
73 ranked journals · Subfield in Social Sciences
Communication has 73 ranked journals in 2023. The median OJR rose 0.14 on 2022 to 1.62, above the world average of 1.00; Q1 starts at OJR 2.44. The top three are Political Communication, The International Journal of Press/Politics, and Annals of the International Communication Association.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2023. 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 2020–2022, the window the 2023 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)
73 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 2022. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2020–2022, the window the 2023 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2020–2022 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 2014 to 2023. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Political CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United States | 7.50Q1 | 7.23 2.06 down from 2022 | 124 | 50% | — | ||
2The International Journal of Press/PoliticsSAGE Publishing · United States | 5.96Q1 | 5.65 2.93 down from 2022 | 172 | 62% | $3,900 | ||
3Annals of the International Communication AssociationTaylor & Francis | 5.74Q1 | 8.86 0.55 down from 2022 | 62 | 33% | $3,368 | ||
4Digital JournalismTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 4.87Q1 | 7.63 0.26 up from 2022 | 313 | 49% | — | ||
5Journal of Knowledge ManagementEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 4.57Q1 | 9.56 0.80 up from 2022 | 450 | 30% | — | ||
6Journal of CommunicationOxford University Press · United States | 4.18Q1 | 5.97 1.03 down from 2022 | 148 | 37% | $4,235 | ||
7Communication TheoryWiley · United States | 3.97Q1 | 3.82 0.88 down from 2022 | 89 | 76% | $4,235 | ||
8Journal of Studies in International EducationSAGE Publishing · United States | 3.62Q1 | 4.48 0.61 up from 2022 | 105 | 61% | $3,650 | ||
9Public Relations ReviewElsevier BV · United States | 3.48Q1 | 6.10 0.31 up from 2022 | 263 | 20% | $4,310 | ||
10Media and CommunicationOACogitatio · Portugal | 3.32Q1 | 4.02 0.78 down from 2022 | 356 | 100% | $1,132 | ||
11Journalism StudiesRoutledge · United Kingdom | 3.06Q1 | 4.50 0.03 down from 2022 | 342 | 55% | — | ||
12JournalismSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.99Q1 | 3.21 0.21 down from 2022 | 344 | 61% | $3,900 | ||
13Media International AustraliaPublisher not listed | 2.94Q1 | 2.39 2.05 down from 2022 | 194 | 65% | $3,650 | ||
14Journal of Information Technology & PoliticsRoutledge · United States | 2.79Q1 | 3.73 0.18 down from 2022 | 112 | 43% | — | ||
15Journalism & Mass Communication QuarterlySAGE Publishing · United States | 2.77Q1 | 3.98 0.33 up from 2022 | 159 | 31% | $3,900 | ||
16Journal of Communication ManagementEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.71Q1 | 4.21 0.27 down from 2022 | 86 | 50% | — | ||
17Journal of Public Relations ResearchTaylor & Francis · United States | 2.59Q1 | 4.81 1.69 up from 2022 | 56 | 15% | — | ||
18El Profesional de la InformacionOAEdiciones Profesionales de la Informacion SL · Spain | 2.45Q1 | 3.36 1.54 down from 2022 | 472 | 100% | — | ||
19Discourse & CommunicationSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.44Q1 | 2.96 0.14 down from 2022 | 96 | 35% | $3,650 | ||
20VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management SystemsEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.41Q2 | 4.51 0.24 up from 2022 | 226 | 12% | — | ||
21Journalism and MediaOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute · Switzerland | 2.41Q2 | 3.33 0.30 up from 2022 | 114 | 100% | $1,207 | ||
22European Journal of CommunicationSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.38Q2 | 2.03 0.62 down from 2022 | 180 | 27% | $3,650 | ||
23Journal of Quantitative Description Digital MediaOASwitzerland | 2.32Q2 | 3.63 0.11 down from 2022 | 49 | 100% | — | ||
24International Journal of Strategic CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United States | 2.30Q2 | 3.87 0.76 up from 2022 | 87 | 35% | — | ||
25Nordicom review/NORDICOM reviewOADe Gruyter Open · Sweden | 2.25Q2 | 3.13 1.46 up from 2022 | 83 | 100% | — | ||
26Knowledge Management Research & PracticeTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.21Q2 | 4.76 0.30 down from 2022 | 213 | 28% | — | ||
27Journalism PracticeTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 2.19Q2 | 3.28 0.14 up from 2022 | 416 | 41% | — | ||
28Public Relations InquirySAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.09Q2 | 2.97 0.13 down from 2022 | 54 | 52% | $3,650 | ||
29International Journal of Cross Cultural ManagementSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 2.07Q2 | 3.36 0.41 up from 2022 | 70 | 52% | $3,650 | ||
30Corporate Communications An International JournalEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 2.05Q2 | 4.27 1.39 up from 2022 | 155 | 29% | — | ||
31Asian Journal of CommunicationRoutledge · United Kingdom | 1.97Q2 | 1.85 1.83 down from 2022 | 99 | 10% | — | ||
32Media War & ConflictSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.97Q2 | 1.97 0.05 down from 2022 | 66 | 46% | $3,650 | ||
33Journal of International and Intercultural CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.92Q2 | 1.94 0.02 down from 2022 | 73 | 25% | — | ||
34Global Media and CommunicationSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.91Q2 | 2.35 0.15 up from 2022 | 55 | 48% | $3,650 | ||
35Journal of Political MarketingTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.91Q2 | 2.71 0.96 up from 2022 | 51 | 37% | — | ||
36Communication & SocietyOAUniversity of Navarre · Spain | 1.72Q2 | 2.77 0.54 up from 2022 | 201 | 100% | $301 | ||
37Revista ICONO14OAIcono 14 · Spain | 1.62Q2 | 2.15 0.48 down from 2022 | 96 | 100% | — | ||
38Critical Studies in Television The International Journal of Television StudiesSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.48Q3 | 1.71 0.02 up from 2022 | 93 | 50% | $3,650 | ||
39Communication Research and PracticeTaylor & Francis · Australia | 1.42Q3 | 1.60 0.01 up from 2022 | 68 | 48% | — | ||
40Journal of International StudentsOAEditors of the journals · United States | 1.42Q3 | 1.93 0.20 down from 2022 | 315 | 100% | — | ||
41International Communication GazetteSAGE Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.40Q3 | 1.44 0.61 down from 2022 | 96 | 48% | $3,650 | ||
42Studies in Communication SciencesOAElsevier BV · Switzerland | 1.39Q3 | 2.24 1.12 up from 2022 | 98 | 100% | — | ||
43African Journalism StudiesTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.38Q3 | 1.78 0.26 up from 2022 | 83 | 29% | — | ||
44Journal of Global Mobility The Home of Expatriate Management ResearchEmerald Publishing Limited · United Kingdom | 1.32Q3 | 3.42 1.03 up from 2022 | 74 | 24% | — | ||
45Journal of Intercultural Communication ResearchTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.27Q3 | 1.43 0.23 up from 2022 | 119 | 21% | — | ||
46Journal of International CommunicationTaylor & Francis · United Kingdom | 1.19Q3 | 1.03 0.67 down from 2022 | 50 | 14% | — | ||
47Studies in Communication and MediaOANomos · Germany | 1.16Q3 | 1.47 0.30 down from 2022 | 64 | 100% | — | ||
48CommunicationsDe Gruyter Mouton · Germany | 1.06Q3 | 1.49 0.27 up from 2022 | 111 | 49% | $2,712 | ||
49Journal of Deliberative DemocracyOAUnited Kingdom | 1.05Q3 | 0.95 0.40 down from 2022 | 88 | 100% | — | ||
50Journal of Radio & Audio MediaTaylor & Francis · United States | 1.00Q3 | 1.83 0.34 up from 2022 | 97 | 29% | — |
Subfields of Social Sciences, with Communication highlighted.
- Sociology and Political Science1,403
- Education732
- Political Science and International Relations334
- Communication73
- Gender Studies66
- Safety Research59
- Health55
- Transportation53
- Public Administration52
- Urban Studies52
- Linguistics and Language49
- Law45
- Library and Information Sciences41
- Demography40
- Anthropology38
- Geography, Planning and Development33
- Cultural Studies9
- Development4
- General Social Sciences4
- Human Factors and Ergonomics1
- Life-span and Life-course Studies1
- Archeology0
Journals
Citations made in 2023. Corpus-wide, 88.9% 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 2020–2022, 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: 2023. Publication window: 2020–2022. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 73
- Window papers (baseline)
- 44,324 +22.0% from indicator year 2020
- Median OJR
- 1.62 +14.0% from indicator year 2020
- Rising journals (2025)
- 3
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2020–2022 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.