Last Updated on July 1, 2026 by Dr. Bhagat
JCR DATA GUIDE·Updated June 2026
The JCR Impact Factor 2025 data (Clarivate, June 2026) covers 22,643 journals across 254 categories. This guide explains the release, how to read the rankings, and what changed this year.
WHAT IT ISWhat Is the JCR Impact Factor 2025?
The JCR Impact Factor 2025 refers to the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) data released as part of the 2026 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), published by Clarivate on June 17, 2026.
Each year, Clarivate releases the JCR report using citation data from the previous year. So the JCR 2026 edition contains 2025 citation data — making it the source for what the global academic community commonly calls the “Impact Factor 2025” or “JIF 2025.”
KEY FACTSWhat You Need to Know About JCR Impact Factor 2025
Here are the essential facts for researchers navigating the new rankings:
- 22,643 journals received a JIF in the JCR 2026 edition, up from approximately 21,800 in the prior year.
- 7,200+ journals are Open Access (OA) — roughly 32% of the total.
- 47% of journals saw their JIF increase, while 37% decreased and 16% remained stable.
- 17% of indexed journals hold a JIF above 5.0, up from 15% in the previous cycle.
- 18,800+ journals have a JIF below 3.0 — confirming the continued concentration of high scores at the top.
BY CATEGORYJCR Impact Factor 2025 Highlights by Discipline
Multidisciplinary Science
| Journal | JIF 2025 | Quartile |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | 50.5 | Q1 |
| Science | 32.1 | Q1 |
| PNAS | 8.0 | Q1 |
| Scientific Reports | 3.8 | Q2 |
| PLOS ONE | 2.9 | Q2 |
Medicine & Oncology
| Journal | JIF 2025 | Quartile |
|---|---|---|
| CA – A Cancer Journal for Clinicians | 685.2 | Q1 |
| Lancet Oncology | 41.6 | Q1 |
| Journal of Clinical Oncology | 32.2 | Q1 |
| The BMJ | 93.6 | Q1 |
Computer Science & AI
| Journal | JIF 2025 | Quartile |
|---|---|---|
| IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) | 48.5 | Q1 |
| IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence | 21.5 | Q1 |
| NeurIPS (conference proceedings) | 32.5 | Q1 |
METHODOLOGYHow JCR Impact Factor Is Calculated
The JIF formula is straightforward: divide the number of citations in the current year to items published in the previous two years by the total number of citable items published in those two years.
Example: A journal published 100 articles in 2023 and 120 in 2024. Those articles received 400 citations in 2025. The JIF = 400 / ((100 + 120) / 2) = 3.64.
Clarivate also applies suppressions and corrections for anomalous citation patterns, including excessive self-citation or citation stacking.
TRENDSKey Trends in JCR 2026 Edition
- Expanding beyond JIF: Clarivate continues to emphasize the Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) and category-normalized metrics alongside raw JIF.
- ESCI journals now have JIFs: Since the 2023 edition, journals in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) receive JIFs, dramatically expanding coverage.
- OA performance gap narrowing: Gold OA journals now average roughly 80% of the JIF of subscription journals in the same category, up from 70% five years ago.
- AI-assisted research detection: Clarivate is piloting tools to detect AI-generated content anomalies in submission patterns, though this does not yet directly affect JIF.
ACCESSHow to Access the Full JCR Rankings
The complete JCR database is available through:
- Web of Science subscribers: Access directly at jcr.clarivate.com via institutional login.
- University libraries: Most research universities provide campus-wide access through their library portal.
- Free summaries: Our site publishes curated category rankings and top-journal lists updated after each release.
Key Takeaways
- The JCR 2026 edition (Impact Factor 2025) covers 22,643 journals across 254 categories.
- 47% of journals saw their JIF increase compared to the previous cycle.
- The highest JIF belongs to CA – A Cancer Journal for Clinicians at 685.2.
- Access the full data via jcr.clarivate.com through an institutional subscription.
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
When was the JCR Impact Factor 2025 released?
The JCR 2026 edition, containing 2025 citation data, was released by Clarivate on June 17, 2026.
How many journals are in the JCR Impact Factor 2025?
22,643 journals across 254 subject categories received a Journal Impact Factor in the JCR 2026 edition.
Which journal has the highest impact factor in 2025?
CA – A Cancer Journal for Clinicians holds the highest JIF at 685.2, followed by The BMJ at 93.6 and Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology at 118.0.
What is the difference between JCR 2025 and JCR Impact Factor 2025?
JCR 2025 (released June 2025) contains 2024 citation data. JCR Impact Factor 2025 refers to 2025 citation data published in the JCR 2026 report released in June 2026.
How do I find my target journal’s impact factor?
Use the Clarivate JCR portal (institutional login required) or search our site by journal name or ISSN for curated 2025 JIF data.
Are Open Access journals included in JCR?
Yes. Over 7,200 OA journals (~32% of total) received a JIF in the 2026 edition, and their average performance continues to improve relative to subscription journals.
Sources & Methodology
All figures are sourced from the Journal Citation Reports 2026 edition (Clarivate, June 2026). Category tables are compiled from JCR subject-category listings. Methodology details follow Clarivate’s publicly documented JIF calculation formula.
Disclaimer: Journal Impact Factor is one of many metrics for evaluating scholarly journals. Researchers should consider multiple indicators when selecting publication venues or assessing research quality.
