Journal rankings · indicator year 2025
Choose a field to open its ranking, or a journal to find its row in its subfield’s list.
Subfield ranking · 2025
Astronomy and Astrophysics journal rankings 2025
107 ranked journals · Subfield in Physics and Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrophysics has 107 ranked journals in 2025. The median journal has an OJR of 0.59, below the world average of 1.00, up 0.03 on 2024; Q1 starts at OJR 1.00. The highest-scoring journal with a stable rank is The Astrophysical Journal Letters: its likely rank is within the top 3.
Ranks and citation indicators: 2025. 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 2022–2024, the window the 2025 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 Physics and Astronomy (8)
107 ranked journals
Filters
Rank is the position by OJR within the list on screen; 1 is the highest. The small range under it is the likely rank range: in 95% of 1,000 resamples of the journal’s papers, it ranked inside that range. Journals whose ranges overlap are not clearly different. | 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 2024. This is OpenJournalRank’s own count, not Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor. | Citable documents (articles, reviews and conference papers) published in 2022–2024, the window the 2025 OJR is computed on. A journal needs at least 30 to be ranked. | Share of the journal’s 2022–2024 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 2016 to 2025. A label compares the 2022→2025 change with the median change of the journal’s field or domain. Rising needs a relative change of +10% or more that is at least 2 standard errors above zero; Falling needs -9.1% or less (rounded), at least 2 standard errors below zero. Sorting uses that relative change. | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank 1; likely between #1 and #2 of 107The Astrophysical Journal LettersOAIOP Publishing · United Kingdom | 3.29Q1 | 11.18 0.65 down from 2024 | 2,056 | 100% | $2,400 | Rising vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 2; likely between #1 and #5 of 107Reviews in Mineralogy and GeochemistryMineralogical Society of America · United States | 3.10Q1 | 9.92 2.97 up from 2024 | 75 | 27% | — | ||
Rank 3; likely between #2 and #5 of 107Nature AstronomyNature Portfolio · United Kingdom | 2.78Q1 | 8.19 0.52 up from 2024 | 817 | 48% | $12,690 | ||
Rank 4; likely between #2 and #6 of 107Space Science ReviewsSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 2.67Q1 | 9.54 1.62 up from 2024 | 237 | 93% | $5,290 | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 5; likely between #3 and #6 of 107The Astrophysical Journal Supplement SeriesOAInstitute of Physics · United Kingdom | 2.45Q1 | 7.55 0.09 down from 2024 | 910 | 100% | $4,499 | ||
Rank 6; likely between #2 and #16 of 107Publications of the Astronomical Society of the PacificInstitute of Physics · United Kingdom | 2.08Q1 | 6.75 0.57 down from 2024 | 358 | 74% | $3,325 | ||
Rank 7; likely between #6 and #14 of 107Journal of High Energy AstrophysicsElsevier BV · Netherlands | 1.83Q1 | 5.50 0.46 up from 2024 | 193 | 70% | $2,520 | ||
Rank 8; likely between #6 and #11 of 107Physics of the Dark UniverseElsevier BV · Netherlands | 1.83Q1 | 6.46 0.12 up from 2024 | 751 | 34% | $3,660 | Rising vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 9; likely between #6 and #13 of 107Fortschritte der PhysikWiley · Germany | 1.81Q1 | 4.73 1.81 down from 2024 | 212 | 58% | $3,460 | ||
Rank 10; likely between #6 and #15 of 107The Open Journal of AstrophysicsOAIreland | 1.73Q1 | 5.33 0.33 up from 2024 | 191 | 100% | — | ||
Rank 11; likely between #6 and #15 of 107Annual Review of Astronomy and AstrophysicsAnnual Reviews · United States | 1.71Q1 | 33.00 4.04 up from 2024 | 42 | 86% | — | ||
Rank 12; likely between #9 and #14 of 107Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle PhysicsInstitute of Physics · United Kingdom | 1.56Q1 | 6.37 0.99 up from 2024 | 2,472 | 65% | $3,290 | ||
Rank 13; likely between #10 and #16 of 107Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society LettersOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 1.46Q1 | 4.96 1.02 up from 2024 | 475 | 100% | $1,451 | ||
Rank 14; likely between #12 and #18 of 107The Astronomical JournalOAInstitute of Physics · United States | 1.40Q1 | 5.62 0.58 up from 2024 | 1,690 | 100% | $4,499 | ||
Rank 15; likely between #10 and #22 of 107GalaxiesOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute · Switzerland | 1.39Q1 | 4.10 0.19 up from 2024 | 322 | 100% | $1,689 | Rising vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 16; likely between #15 and #19 of 107Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyOAOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 1.29Q1 | 5.18 0.63 up from 2024 | 10,434 | 100% | $3,046 | Rising vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 17; likely between #14 and #22 of 107Chinese Journal of PhysicsElsevier BV · Taiwan | 1.27Q1 | 5.47 0.45 up from 2024 | 1,118 | 10% | $2,000 | Rising vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 18; likely between #15 and #22 of 107Astronomy and AstrophysicsOAEDP Sciences · France | 1.24Q1 | 5.73 0.24 down from 2024 | 7,920 | 100% | $1,865 | ||
Rank 19; likely between #17 and #22 of 107The Astrophysical JournalOAIOP Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.22Q1 | 5.59 0.69 up from 2024 | 10,003 | 100% | $4,499 | ||
Rank 20; likely between #18 and #23 of 107Advances in Space ResearchElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 1.18Q1 | 3.41 0.25 up from 2024 | 2,337 | 20% | $2,780 | ||
Rank 21; likely between #16 and #27 of 107Classical and Quantum GravityIOP Publishing · United Kingdom | 1.13Q1 | 3.73 0.24 up from 2024 | 1,125 | 67% | $3,325 | ||
Rank 22; likely between #17 and #27 of 107Space WeatherOAAmerican Geophysical Union · United States | 1.13Q1 | 4.02 0.10 down from 2024 | 522 | 100% | $3,000 | ||
Rank 23; likely between #14 and #36 of 107Publications of the Astronomical Society of AustraliaCambridge University Press · Australia | 1.07Q1 | 3.33 0.94 down from 2024 | 234 | 100% | $3,550 | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 24; likely between #21 and #28 of 107Earth and Space ScienceOAAmerican Geophysical Union · United States | 1.06Q1 | 3.42 0.26 up from 2024 | 831 | 100% | $2,650 | ||
Rank 25; likely between #19 and #32 of 107General Relativity and GravitationSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 1.02Q1 | 2.92 0.12 up from 2024 | 432 | 49% | $2,290 | ||
Rank 26; likely between #8 and #65 of 107Philosophy of PhysicsOALSE Press | 1.00Q1 | 2.53 0.65 down from 2024 | 30 | 100% | — | ||
Rank 27; likely between #23 and #31 of 107The Planetary Science JournalOAInstitute of Physics · United Kingdom | 1.00Q1 | 3.80 0.63 down from 2024 | 792 | 100% | $1,800 | ||
Rank 28; likely between #24 and #32 of 107Journal of Geophysical Research PlanetsWiley · United States | 0.97Q2 | 3.68 0.35 down from 2024 | 795 | 68% | $4,070 | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 29; likely between #25 and #32 of 107IcarusElsevier BV · United States | 0.96Q2 | 3.19 0.13 up from 2024 | 1,110 | 58% | $3,810 | ||
Rank 30; likely between #22 and #39 of 107Space PolicyElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 0.93Q2 | 3.10 0.44 up from 2024 | 107 | 44% | $3,400 | ||
Rank 31; likely between #23 and #39 of 107Journal of Space Weather and Space ClimateOAEDP Open · France | 0.90Q2 | 2.82 0.19 down from 2024 | 111 | 100% | $1,413 | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 32; likely between #27 and #37 of 107UniverseOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute · Switzerland | 0.87Q2 | 2.61 0.13 down from 2024 | 1,607 | 100% | $1,930 | ||
Rank 33; likely between #29 and #37 of 107Frontiers in Astronomy and Space SciencesOAFrontiers Media · Switzerland | 0.85Q2 | 2.50 0.42 down from 2024 | 935 | 100% | $2,353 | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 34; likely between #26 and #50 of 107Frontiers in Space TechnologiesOAFrontiers Media · Switzerland | 0.80Q2 | 2.65 0.91 up from 2024 | 96 | 100% | $2,353 | ||
Rank 35; likely between #32 and #47 of 107AstrobiologyMary Ann Liebert, Inc. · United States | 0.76Q2 | 2.41 0.29 down from 2024 | 272 | 39% | — | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 36; likely between #30 and #50 of 107Astronomy and ComputingElsevier BV · Netherlands | 0.75Q2 | 2.55 0.48 up from 2024 | 237 | 46% | $2,260 | ||
Rank 37; likely between #32 and #51 of 107Publications of the Astronomical Society of JapanOxford University Press · United Kingdom | 0.74Q2 | 2.62 0.53 up from 2024 | 308 | 57% | $2,398 | ||
Rank 38; likely between #28 and #56 of 107RAS Techniques and InstrumentsOAOxford University Press | 0.73Q2 | 2.46 0.05 down from 2024 | 132 | 100% | $1,732 | ||
Rank 39; likely between #22 and #59 of 107Research in Astronomy and AstrophysicsIOP Publishing · China | 0.72Q2 | 2.57 0.10 down from 2024 | 795 | 22% | — | ||
Rank 40; likely between #35 and #52 of 107Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial PhysicsElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 0.69Q2 | 2.48 0.32 up from 2024 | 354 | 11% | $2,770 | ||
Rank 41; likely between #32 and #57 of 107Experimental AstronomySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 0.68Q2 | 2.62 0.61 up from 2024 | 154 | 48% | $2,590 | ||
Rank 42; likely between #36 and #52 of 107International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern PhysicsWorld Scientific · Singapore | 0.68Q2 | 2.29 0.18 up from 2024 | 960 | 15% | — | Rising vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 43; likely between #35 and #54 of 107Planetary and Space ScienceElsevier BV · United Kingdom | 0.68Q2 | 1.90 0.07 up from 2024 | 289 | 41% | $3,680 | Falling vs field, 2022–25 | |
Rank 44; likely between #36 and #55 of 107New AstronomyElsevier BV · Netherlands | 0.67Q2 | 2.20 0.05 down from 2024 | 362 | 24% | $2,690 | ||
Rank 45; likely between #35 and #57 of 107Astrophysics and Space ScienceSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 0.67Q2 | 2.24 0.67 up from 2024 | 343 | 29% | $3,490 | ||
Rank 46; likely between #32 and #60 of 107Geoscientific instrumentation, methods and data systemsOACopernicus Publications · Germany | 0.66Q2 | 1.96 1.04 down from 2024 | 74 | 100% | $1,035 | ||
Rank 47; likely between #38 and #57 of 107International Journal of Modern Physics DWorld Scientific · Singapore | 0.64Q2 | 1.80 0.33 down from 2024 | 478 | 22% | — | ||
Rank 48; likely between #31 and #63 of 107AstronomyOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute | 0.64Q2 | 1.97 0.23 down from 2024 | 54 | 100% | $1,207 | ||
Rank 49; likely between #36 and #59 of 107Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical AstronomySpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands | 0.64Q2 | 1.69 0.18 up from 2024 | 170 | 50% | $3,190 | ||
Rank 50; likely between #38 and #58 of 107Radio ScienceWiley · United States | 0.63Q2 | 1.90 0.21 up from 2024 | 270 | 53% | $3,700 |
7 Astronomy and Astrophysics journals are labelled rising: their OJR moved up between 2022 and 2025 clearly faster than the median journal of their field or domain.
A journal is rising when its OJR grew from 2022 to 2025 faster than the median journal of its field (or domain, when the field is small), by two tests: the relative change is +10% or more, and it is at least 2 standard errors above zero. So the range of the change at 2 standard errors stays above zero, though not necessarily above +10%.
The bar is that range on a ratio scale; the shaded band, -9.1% to +10%, holds changes too small for a label. The list is ordered by the low end of the range, so the surest rises come first.
- 1GalaxiesOAMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute · Switzerland+95% vs groupOJR 0.82 → 1.39range +49% to +154%
- 2Gravitation and CosmologyPleiades Publishing · Russia+125% vs groupOJR 0.27 → 0.54range +33% to +281%
- 3Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyOAOxford University Press · United Kingdom+24% vs groupOJR 1.19 → 1.29range +19% to +29%
- 4Chinese Journal of PhysicsElsevier BV · Taiwan+26% vs groupOJR 1.16 → 1.27range +9.6% to +44%
- 5International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern PhysicsWorld Scientific · Singapore+29% vs groupOJR 0.60 → 0.68range +9.2% to +51%
- 6Physics of the Dark UniverseElsevier BV · Netherlands+23% vs groupOJR 1.70 → 1.83range +5.3% to +43%
- 7The Astrophysical Journal LettersOAIOP Publishing · United Kingdom+24% vs groupOJR 3.04 → 3.29range +4.0% to +47%
No-label zone, -9.1% to +10%Group median changeBar scale -75% to +307% (ratio scale)
12 Astronomy and Astrophysics journals are labelled falling: their OJR moved between 2022 and 2025 clearly behind the median journal of their field or domain.
A journal is falling when its OJR changed from 2022 to 2025 by less than the median journal of its field (or domain, when the field is small), by two tests: the relative change is -9.1% or less (rounded), and it is at least 2 standard errors below zero. So the range of the change at 2 standard errors stays below zero, though not necessarily below -9.1%.
The bar is that range on a ratio scale; the shaded band, -9.1% to +10%, holds changes too small for a label. The list is ordered by the high end of the range, so the surest falls come first.
- 1AstrobiologyMary Ann Liebert, Inc. · United States-41% vs groupOJR 1.46 → 0.76range -53% to -26%
- 2Journal of Geophysical Research Space PhysicsWiley · United States-28% vs groupOJR 0.97 → 0.61range -34% to -22%
- 3Journal of Geophysical Research PlanetsWiley · United States-29% vs groupOJR 1.55 → 0.97range -37% to -20%
- 4Solar System ResearchPleiades Publishing · United States-41% vs groupOJR 0.25 → 0.13range -60% to -15%
- 5Annales GeophysicaeOACopernicus Publications · Germany-34% vs groupOJR 0.88 → 0.51range -49% to -13%
- 6Space Science ReviewsSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands-28% vs groupOJR 4.26 → 2.67range -41% to -13%
- 7Publications of the Astronomical Society of AustraliaCambridge University Press · Australia-43% vs groupOJR 2.16 → 1.07range -63% to -12%
- 8Solar PhysicsSpringer Science+Business Media · Netherlands-26% vs groupOJR 0.94 → 0.60range -39% to -10%
- 9Planetary and Space ScienceElsevier BV · United Kingdom-23% vs groupOJR 1.00 → 0.68range -37% to -4.8%
- 10Journal of Low Temperature PhysicsSpringer Science+Business Media · United States-24% vs groupOJR 0.49 → 0.32range -40% to -4.6%
- 11Frontiers in Astronomy and Space SciencesOAFrontiers Media · Switzerland-18% vs groupOJR 1.19 → 0.85range -31% to -3.4%
- 12Journal of Space Weather and Space ClimateOAEDP Open · France-25% vs groupOJR 1.38 → 0.90range -43% to -1.8%
No-label zone, -9.1% to +10%Group median changeBar scale -65% to +186% (ratio scale)
Subfields of Physics and Astronomy, with Astronomy and Astrophysics highlighted.
- Astronomy and Astrophysics107
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics105
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics65
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics49
- Radiation25
- Condensed Matter Physics7
- Acoustics and Ultrasonics0
- Instrumentation0
Journals
The endpoints below each rank show its likely range. How rank ranges are calculated
Citations made in 2025. Corpus-wide, 84.3% of core-journal articles and reviews published that year have at least one matched reference; the share varies by journal and field.
20 additional Astronomy and Astrophysics journals with metrics are unranked under this release’s eligibility rules: a journal needs at least 30 citable documents in 2022–2024, 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: 2025. Publication window: 2022–2024. How these summaries are calculated
- Ranked journals
- 107
- Window papers (baseline)
- 91,149 -6.7% from indicator year 2022
- Median OJR
- 0.590 +6.0% from indicator year 2022
- Rising journals (2025)
- 7
Window papers are the baseline paper population: citable papers (articles, reviews and conference papers) from 2022–2024 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 | 62 | 63 | 62 | 68 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 76 | 78 | 78 | 82 | 91 | 94 | 99 | 102 | 102 | 107 | 106 | 108 | 116 | 119 | 117 | 111 | 110 | 109 | 107 | |
| Window papers (baseline) | 49,871 | 52,213 | 55,700 | 60,437 | 65,920 | 70,690 | 73,394 | 77,611 | 78,966 | 83,523 | 84,714 | 89,298 | 90,669 | 93,523 | 93,711 | 96,932 | 98,375 | 101,058 | 100,696 | 101,399 | 101,729 | 100,324 | 97,739 | 94,651 | 92,261 | 91,149 | |
| Median OJR | 0.385 | 0.41 | 0.526 | 0.386 | 0.44 | 0.455 | 0.529 | 0.52 | 0.48 | 0.567 | 0.525 | 0.505 | 0.50 | 0.38 | 0.36 | 0.451 | 0.454 | 0.49 | 0.513 | 0.54 | 0.585 | 0.616 | 0.56 | 0.617 | 0.565 | 0.590 |
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.