There are several methods used to rank journals, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Some of the most commonly used methods include:
1. Impact Factor (IF)
This is a metric that measures the average number of citations received in a particular year by articles published in a journal during the two preceding years. The IF is widely used to rank and compare journals within a specific field and to evaluate the impact and influence of a journal.
2. Eigenfactor
Similar to the Impact Factor, the Eigenfactor is a metric that measures the influence of a journal based on the number of citations it receives. However, the Eigenfactor places more weight on citations from high-impact journals and is considered a more comprehensive measure of a journal’s influence than the Impact Factor.
3. H-index
This metric measures both the productivity and impact of an author’s published work, taking into account the number of articles published and the number of citations received. The h-index can also be used to rank journals, as it provides a measure of the impact and influence of the articles published in a particular journal.
4. SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)
This is a metric that measures the visibility and impact of a journal based on the number and quality of citations it receives. The SJR is similar to the Impact Factor, but places more weight on citations from high-impact journals.
Of all these ranking methods, journal ranking by Impact Factor is one of the most common methods. The impact factor is a metric used to evaluate the relative importance of a journal within its field. It was first introduced in the 1960s by Eugene Garfield, the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).
What is Journal Impact Factor?
Impact Factor (IF) or often called journal impact factor (JIF) is an index provided by an analytics company named Clarivate. Impact Factor is a measure of the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year.
How Impact Factor is calculated?
It is calculated by dividing the number of citations received by the number of articles published in a journal in the two preceding years.
- Total Citations in 2020 and 2021 = 500
- Total Number of Publications in 2020 and 2021 = 100
- Impact Factor of the Journal in 2022 = 500/100 = 5
Impact Factor Ranking of Top 100 Journals
| Sl. No. | Journal Name | Impact Factor |
| 1 | CA-A CANCER JOURNAL FOR CLINICIANS | 286.13 |
| 2 | LANCET | 202.731 |
| 3 | NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE | 176.079 |
| 4 | NATURE REVIEWS MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY | 113.915 |
| 5 | NATURE REVIEWS DRUG DISCOVERY | 112.288 |
| 6 | NATURE REVIEWS IMMUNOLOGY | 108.555 |
| 7 | Lancet Respiratory Medicine | 102.642 |
| 8 | BMJ-British Medical Journal | 93.333 |
| 9 | NATURE MEDICINE | 87.241 |
| 10 | Lancet Microbe | 86.208 |
| 11 | World Psychiatry | 79.683 |
| 12 | NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY | 78.297 |
| 13 | Lancet Psychiatry | 77.056 |
| 14 | Nature Reviews Materials | 76.679 |
| 15 | Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology | 73.082 |
| 16 | Lancet Public Health | 72.427 |
| 17 | CHEMICAL REVIEWS | 72.087 |
| 18 | LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES | 71.421 |
| 19 | NATURE REVIEWS CANCER | 69.8 |
| 20 | NATURE | 69.504 |
| 21 | NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY | 68.164 |
| 22 | Nature Energy | 67.439 |
| 23 | CELL | 66.85 |
| 24 | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | 65.038 |
| 25 | Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology | 65.011 |
| 26 | SCIENCE | 63.714 |
| 27 | CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS | 60.615 |
| 28 | LANCET NEUROLOGY | 59.935 |
| 29 | NATURE REVIEWS GENETICS | 59.581 |
| 30 | Psychological Science in the Public Interest | 56.2 |
| 31 | LANCET ONCOLOGY | 54.433 |
| 32 | ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY | 51.769 |
| 33 | ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE | 51.598 |
| 34 | JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY | 50.717 |
| 35 | REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS | 50.485 |
| 36 | CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS | 50.129 |
| 37 | Nature Reviews Cardiology | 49.421 |
| 38 | PROGRESS IN MATERIALS SCIENCE | 48.165 |
| 39 | NATURE METHODS | 47.99 |
| 40 | NATURE MATERIALS | 47.656 |
| 41 | Nature Reviews Endocrinology | 47.564 |
| 42 | PHYSIOLOGICAL REVIEWS | 46.5 |
| 43 | CELL RESEARCH | 46.297 |
| 44 | Joule | 46.048 |
| 45 | Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology | 45.042 |
| 46 | Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology | 44.867 |
| 47 | Nature Reviews Neurology | 44.711 |
| 48 | JAMA Internal Medicine | 44.409 |
| 49 | IMMUNITY | 43.474 |
| 50 | Living Reviews in Relativity | 42.9 |
| 51 | Nature Reviews Nephrology | 42.439 |
| 52 | INTENSIVE CARE MEDICINE | 41.787 |
| 53 | Molecular Cancer | 41.444 |
| 54 | NATURE GENETICS | 41.307 |
| 55 | Nature Catalysis | 40.706 |
| 56 | Nature Nanotechnology | 40.523 |
| 57 | CIRCULATION | 39.918 |
| 58 | Nature Photonics | 39.728 |
| 59 | Energy & Environmental Science | 39.714 |
| 60 | JOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE | 39.194 |
| 61 | Lancet Global Health | 38.927 |
| 62 | NATURE REVIEWS NEUROSCIENCE | 38.755 |
| 63 | JOURNAL OF INFECTION | 38.637 |
| 64 | CANCER CELL | 38.585 |
| 65 | Cancer Discovery | 38.272 |
| 66 | Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy | 38.104 |
| 67 | Cell Discovery | 38.079 |
| 68 | Lancet Child & Adolescent Health | 37.746 |
| 69 | Journal of Public Transportation | 37.667 |
| 70 | Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics | 37.226 |
| 71 | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment | 37.214 |
| 72 | Lancet Digital Health | 36.615 |
| 73 | MMWR Recommendations and Reports | 36.286 |
| 74 | Nature Reviews Physics | 36.273 |
| 75 | EUROPEAN HEART JOURNAL | 35.855 |
| 76 | ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS REVIEW | 35.786 |
| 77 | Lancet Rheumatology | 35.482 |
| 78 | PROGRESS IN ENERGY AND COMBUSTION SCIENCE | 35.339 |
| 79 | Military Medical Research | 34.915 |
| 80 | Nature Reviews Chemistry | 34.571 |
| 81 | GASTROENTEROLOGY | 33.883 |
| 82 | IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials | 33.84 |
| 83 | EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL | 33.795 |
| 84 | MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING R-REPORTS | 33.667 |
| 85 | Nature Electronics | 33.255 |
| 86 | JAMA Oncology | 33.006 |
| 87 | Electrochemical Energy Reviews | 32.804 |
| 88 | Annual Review of Immunology | 32.481 |
| 89 | Annual Review of Pathology-Mechanisms of Disease | 32.35 |
| 90 | Nature Reviews Rheumatology | 32.286 |
| 91 | ADVANCED MATERIALS | 32.086 |
| 92 | GUT | 31.793 |
| 93 | Cell Metabolism | 31.373 |
| 94 | Cell Host & Microbe | 31.316 |
| 95 | PROGRESS IN POLYMER SCIENCE | 31.281 |
| 96 | NATURE IMMUNOLOGY | 31.25 |
| 97 | Nature Microbiology | 30.964 |
| 98 | Science Immunology | 30.63 |
| 99 | JAMA Cardiology | 30.154 |
| 100 | Lancet Haematology | 30.153 |
Ranking of Top 100 Journals based on H Index
| Title | Type | H index |
| 1 | Nature | 1276 |
| 2 | Science | 1229 |
| 3 | New England Journal of Medicine | 1079 |
| 4 | Cell | 814 |
| 5 | Lancet, The | 807 |
| 6 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | 805 |
| 7 | Chemical Reviews | 745 |
| 8 | JAMA – Journal of the American Medical Association | 709 |
| 9 | Physical Review Letters | 647 |
| 10 | Journal of the American Chemical Society | 644 |
| 11 | Circulation | 630 |
| 12 | Nature Genetics | 597 |
| 13 | Angewandte Chemie – International Edition | 579 |
| 14 | Nature Medicine | 576 |
| 15 | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 574 |
| 16 | Nucleic Acids Research | 569 |
| 17 | Advanced Materials | 563 |
| 18 | Chemical Society Reviews | 552 |
| 19 | Journal of Biological Chemistry | 528 |
| 20 | Nano Letters | 511 |
| 21 | Nature Materials | 507 |
| 22 | Journal of Clinical Investigation | 505 |
| 23 | Neuron | 493 |
| 24 | Blood | 484 |
| 25 | Journal of Neuroscience | 471 |
| 26 | Cancer Research | 466 |
| 27 | Nature Biotechnology | 463 |
| 28 | Journal of Experimental Medicine | 462 |
| 29 | Nature Reviews Cancer | 462 |
| 30 | Physical Review B | 460 |
| 31 | BMJ, The | 453 |
| 32 | Genes and Development | 453 |
| 33 | Applied Physics Letters | 452 |
| 34 | Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology | 452 |
| 35 | Journal of the American College of Cardiology | 451 |
| 36 | Astrophysical Journal | 445 |
| 37 | Nature Neuroscience | 437 |
| 38 | Nature Reviews Neuroscience | 434 |
| 39 | Environmental Science & Technology | 425 |
| 40 | Gastroenterology | 423 |
| 41 | Immunity | 417 |
| 42 | Nature Reviews Immunology | 417 |
| 43 | Accounts of Chemical Research | 415 |
| 44 | Bioinformatics | 415 |
| 45 | Molecular Cell | 414 |
| 46 | ACS Nano | 413 |
| 47 | Nature Communications | 410 |
| 48 | EMBO Journal | 405 |
| 49 | Annals of Internal Medicine | 403 |
| 50 | Nature Immunology | 403 |
| 51 | Journal of Physical Chemistry B | 401 |
| 52 | Biomaterials | 397 |
| 53 | Journal of Cell Biology | 394 |
| 54 | Chemistry of Materials | 393 |
| 55 | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | 392 |
| 56 | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine | 390 |
| 57 | Journal of Immunology | 387 |
| 58 | Nature Cell Biology | 384 |
| 59 | Nature Reviews Genetics | 384 |
| 60 | NeuroImage | 381 |
| 61 | Diabetes Care | 380 |
| 62 | JAMA Psychiatry | 380 |
| 63 | Neurology | 378 |
| 64 | IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence | 377 |
| 65 | Energy and Environmental Science | 376 |
| 66 | Hepatology | 375 |
| 67 | Nature Nanotechnology | 368 |
| 68 | Journal of the National Cancer Institute | 367 |
| 69 | PLoS ONE | 367 |
| 70 | American Journal of Psychiatry | 366 |
| 71 | Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism | 363 |
| 72 | Physical Review D | 363 |
| 73 | Journal of Chemical Physics | 361 |
| 74 | Pediatrics | 361 |
| 75 | Plant Cell | 360 |
| 76 | Cancer Cell | 359 |
| 77 | JAMA Internal Medicine | 358 |
| 78 | Physiological Reviews | 358 |
| 79 | Trends in Ecology and Evolution | 357 |
| 80 | Lancet Oncology, The | 355 |
| 81 | Clinical Infectious Diseases | 353 |
| 82 | Oncogene | 353 |
| 83 | Circulation Research | 352 |
| 84 | Reviews of Modern Physics | 352 |
| 85 | American Journal of Clinical Nutrition | 351 |
| 86 | Brain | 351 |
| 87 | Advanced Functional Materials | 349 |
| 88 | Chemical Communications | 348 |
| 89 | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | 348 |
| 90 | Langmuir | 346 |
| 91 | Diabetes | 345 |
| 92 | Clinical Cancer Research | 344 |
| 93 | Analytical Chemistry | 343 |
| 94 | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | 340 |
| 95 | Applied and Environmental Microbiology | 339 |
| 96 | Nature Methods | 339 |
| 97 | Nature Photonics | 339 |
| 98 | Molecular and Cellular Biology | 338 |
| 99 | Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews | 337 |
| 100 | Academy of Management Journal | 336 |
SJR Ranking of Top 100 Journals
| Title | Journal Name | SJR |
| 1 | Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians | 56.204 Q1 |
| 2 | Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology | 33.213 Q1 |
| 3 | Quarterly Journal of Economics | 31.348 Q1 |
| 4 | Cell | 25.716 Q1 |
| 5 | MMWR Recommendations and Reports | 25.045 Q1 |
| 6 | New England Journal of Medicine | 24.907 Q1 |
| 7 | Nature Medicine | 24.161 Q1 |
| 8 | Nature Reviews Materials | 23.876 Q1 |
| 9 | Nature Reviews Genetics | 23.027 Q1 |
| 10 | Reviews of Modern Physics | 21.151 Q1 |
| 11 | American Economic Review | 20.361 Q1 |
| 12 | Nature Biotechnology | 20.120 Q1 |
| 13 | Chemical Reviews | 18.718 Q1 |
| 14 | Journal of Political Economy | 18.476 Q1 |
| 15 | Nature | 17.897 Q1 |
| 16 | Annual Review of Immunology | 17.814 Q1 |
| 17 | Administrative Science Quarterly | 17.357 Q1 |
| 18 | Nature Reviews Immunology | 17.109 Q1 |
| 19 | Nature Reviews Cancer | 16.955 Q1 |
| 20 | Nature Energy | 16.736 Q1 |
| 21 | Nature Genetics | 16.517 Q1 |
| 22 | Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | 16.513 Q1 |
| 23 | Journal of Finance | 16.463 Q1 |
| 24 | Lancet, The | 15.652 Q1 |
| 25 | Review of Economic Studies | 15.527 Q1 |
| 26 | Academy of Management Annals | 14.781 Q1 |
| 27 | Science | 14.589 Q1 |
| 28 | Chemical Society Reviews | 14.529 Q1 |
| 29 | Immunity | 14.075 Q1 |
| 30 | IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials | 13.519 Q1 |
| 31 | Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning | 13.206 Q1 |
| 32 | Econometrica | 13.199 Q1 |
| 33 | Annual Review of Biochemistry | 13.085 Q1 |
| 34 | Physiological Reviews | 13.021 Q1 |
| 35 | World Psychiatry | 12.991 Q1 |
| 36 | Nature Catalysis | 12.887 Q1 |
| 37 | Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics | 12.750 Q1 |
| 38 | Living Reviews in Relativity | 12.365 Q1 |
| 39 | Nature Materials | 12.229 Q1 |
| 40 | Nature Methods | 12.115 Q1 |
| 41 | Nature Neuroscience | 12.017 Q1 |
| 42 | Science immunology | 11.962 Q1 |
| 43 | Nature Reviews Chemistry | 11.811 Q1 |
| 44 | Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology | 11.764 Q1 |
| 45 | Lancet Oncology, The | 11.710 Q1 |
| 46 | Nature Nanotechnology | 11.698 Q1 |
| 47 | Lancet Neurology, The | 11.674 Q1 |
| 48 | Review of Financial Studies | 11.670 Q1 |
| 49 | Energy and Environmental Science | 11.558 Q1 |
| 50 | Lancet Public Health, The | 11.372 Q1 |
| 51 | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | 11.296 Q1 |
| 52 | Lancet Respiratory Medicine | 11.120 Q1 |
| 53 | Nature Photonics | 10.991 Q1 |
| 54 | Academy of Management Journal | 10.874 Q1 |
| 55 | Joule | 10.451 Q1 |
| 56 | Journal of Financial Economics | 10.418 Q1 |
| 57 | Lancet Infectious Diseases, The | 10.236 Q1 |
| 58 | MMWR Surveillance Summaries | 10.129 Q1 |
| 59 | Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease | 10.113 Q1 |
| 60 | American Economic Journal: Applied Economics | 10.079 Q1 |
| 61 | Cancer Cell | 9.975 Q1 |
| 62 | Molecular Cell | 9.959 Q1 |
| 63 | Nature Cell Biology | 9.897 Q1 |
| 64 | American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics | 9.804 Q1 |
| 65 | Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology | 9.767 Q1 |
| 66 | Journal of the American College of Cardiology | 9.756 Q1 |
| 67 | Nature Microbiology | 9.690 Q1 |
| 68 | Astronomy and Astrophysics Review | 9.607 Q1 |
| 69 | Annual Review of Plant Biology | 9.575 Q1 |
| 70 | Annual Review of Genetics | 9.498 Q1 |
| 71 | Journal of Economic Literature | 9.445 Q1 |
| 72 | Strategic Management Journal | 9.443 Q1 |
| 73 | Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics | 9.438 Q1 |
| 74 | Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology | 9.409 Q1 |
| 75 | Journal of Clinical Oncology | 9.378 Q1 |
| 76 | Cell Host and Microbe | 9.373 Q1 |
| 77 | Genome Biology | 9.371 Q1 |
| 78 | Cell Metabolism | 9.297 Q1 |
| 79 | Nature Immunology | 9.135 Q1 |
| 80 | Nature Reviews Microbiology | 9.103 Q1 |
| 81 | Nature Reviews Physics | 8.971 Q1 |
| 82 | Clinical Microbiology Reviews | 8.964 Q1 |
| 83 | Progress in Materials Science | 8.941 Q1 |
| 84 | Lancet Psychiatry | 8.932 Q1 |
| 85 | Lancet Global Health | 8.845 Q1 |
| 86 | Advances in Physics | 8.837 Q1 |
| 87 | Annual Review of Psychology | 8.804 Q1 |
| 88 | Advanced Materials | 8.663 Q1 |
| 89 | Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior | 8.656 Q1 |
| 90 | American Economic Journal: Economic Policy | 8.636 Q1 |
| 91 | Annals of Oncology | 8.590 Q1 |
| 92 | Nature Reviews Endocrinology | 8.561 Q1 |
| 93 | Reviews of Geophysics | 8.527 Q1 |
| 94 | Nature Structural and Molecular Biology | 8.497 Q1 |
| 95 | Annual Review of Public Health | 8.451 Q1 |
| 96 | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | 8.409 Q1 |
| 97 | Nature Chemistry | 8.384 Q1 |
| 98 | JAMA Cardiology | 8.324 Q1 |
| 99 | Nature Electronics | 8.302 Q1 |
| 100 | Circulation | 8.281 Q1 |
Reliability of the Impact Factor
The impact factor is a widely used metric to measure the relative importance of a journal within its field. However, it is important to note that the IF has several limitations and criticisms, and its reliability has been the subject of much debate.
One of the main criticisms of the IF is that it is based on a narrow set of data (only the number of citations received by articles published in the journal over a two-year period) and does not take into account other factors that may impact the quality and importance of a journal or its articles, such as the peer-review process, the reputation of the editorial board, or the relevance of the journal to the field.
Another criticism is that it does not take into account the self-citation (citation from journal’s own articles), the IF can be artificially inflated by a journal that encourages its authors to cite articles from the same journal.
Additionally, the IF is only a measure of the average number of citations per article, it does not indicate the quality or impact of individual articles. Therefore, it may be misleading to use the IF as a sole indicator of a journal or article’s quality or importance.
It is also important to note that the IF can be affected by the size of the field, a journal publishing in a smaller field may have a higher IF due to the fewer number of journals in the field, while a journal in a larger field may have a lower IF but still be considered as a reputable journal.
In conclusion, while the IF can be a useful tool for evaluating the relative importance of a journal within its field, it should not be used as the sole indicator of a journal or article’s quality or importance, other metrics and factors should be taken into account to make a comprehensive evaluation.
What is considered a high Journal Impact Factor?
A high Journal Impact Factor is generally considered to be above 6.0. However, it is important to note that the Impact Factor is just one measure of a journal’s quality and should not be used as the sole criterion for evaluating a journal or article.
Other factors, such as the reputation of the journal, the scope and focus of the journal, and the number of articles published in the journal, should also be taken into account when evaluating the quality of a journal.
Should you care about the impact factor Journal?
Whether or not you should care about the impact factor of a journal depends on your specific needs and goals. For some researchers, publishing in high-impact journals is important for advancing their careers and building their professional reputations.
For others, the most important factor may be the audience or readership of a particular journal. Additionally, Some fields have more stringent criteria for publishing papers, thus it may be important to publish in high-impact journals to be considered as a reputable researcher.
On the other hand, some fields may not be as concerned about the journal’s impact factor, the most important thing is the content and the advances in the field.
