Rankings and Ratings
Academic journals are one of the main ways that scholars disseminate the results of their research and create new knowledge. Writing in Library Journal, Carol Tenopir estimated there were about 43,500 scholarly journals at the end of 2003. About 21,000 of these were refereed. Between 1/3 to 1/2 were online-only.
There are various methods to evaluate the relative rankings of academic journals. One way is to look at the acceptance rate versus the rejection rate to get a picture of how competitive it is. A journal's influence may also be gauged by examining how often articles in its pages are cited in subsequent research. The links on this page use these and other methods to create journal rankings. They are meant to be used as a guide only.
Business - Finance
SCI-Bites Ranks the Top 10 Finance Journals by Impact.
Economics
From The University of Leicester, this report uses the number of citations in 1998 to create rankings of top economic journals. Click on "Journal Rankings" to open Excel table.
From the European Economic Association, this paper provides rankings of academic journals and institututions in Economics. [pdf]
Education
Le Moyne College provides guidance regarding Journal Rankings in Education for 1997
Management & MIS
The Association for Information Systems compiles rankings for scholarly journals in MIS, POS, and Management.
Multiple Disciplines
Vienna University rates over 1800 international journals. The 2001 version covers Business Administration; Information Science; Economics; Mathematics and Statistics; Economic Geography; Regional and Environmental Sciences; Humanities; Language Science; Social Science; and Law.
SCI-Bites from ISI uses citation analysis to develop rankings of top 10 journals, hot papers, research fronts, and more.
Political Science
SCI-Bites Ranks the Top 10 Political Science Journals by Impact
Psychology
APA publishes yearly statistics on acceptance rates for psychology journals.
Science& Math
Prof. Propescu uses ISI data to develop Journal Rankings of 2288 international journals in the scientific fields. Choose from Phys Sci, Chem Sci, Math Sci, Materials Sci, Computer Sci, or Sci & Edu on dropdown box on left.
SCI-Bites Ranks the Top 10 Chemistry Multidisciplinary Journals by Impact.
SCI-Bites Ranks the Top 10 Oceanogaphy Journals by Impact
Other Library Guides to Ratings & Rankings
Cal Poly Pomona University
California State University, Fullerton
Ohio State University Extension
San Diego State
Related Articles
Dul, J. and Karwowski, W. An assessment system for rating scientific journals in the field of ergonomics and human factors. Working Paper. https://ep.eur.nl/handle/1765/432
University of Wisconsin at Madison, “Who Publishes What: A Guide to Opportunities in Magazines and Journals”
Scholarly Tribes and Tribulations: How Tradition and Technology Are Driving Disciplinary Change. Annotated Bibliography
Developed by C&IM of St. John's University Libraries. September 2004.