Top-Ranked Journals in Each JCR Category: 2026 Rankings Released

On June 17, 2026, Clarivate released the 2026 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR™) on its official website. The report provides comprehensive coverage of high-quality scholarly journals and ranks them by subject category, enabling academic institutions, researchers, and publishers to evaluate the significance and influence of journals across the global research landscape. The 2026 JCR covers 254 subject categories and includes 22,643 journals.

According to Clarivate, beginning with the 2025 JCR release, citations from and to retracted content are excluded from the numerator used to calculate the Journal Impact Factor (JIF), ensuring that citations associated with retracted publications do not contribute to the JIF value. However, retracted articles continue to be included in the publication count (the JIF denominator) to maintain transparency and accountability. This year, Clarivate further strengthened its commitment to Research Integrity. The previously introduced policy of excluding citations related to retracted literature has now become a standard component of JIF calculations, while quality oversight of journal selection criteria and citation practices has been further enhanced. These measures improve the rigor, transparency, and credibility of the journal evaluation system.

The Journal Citation Reports includes only journals that meet the stringent quality criteria of the Web of Science Core Collection, ensuring that users can confidently rely on the information and descriptive data provided. Published annually, JCR offers a rich set of publisher-independent data, metrics, and analyses, including the widely recognized Journal Impact Factor (JIF™) and Journal Citation Indicator (JCI™), helping users better understand the scholarly impact of journals.

Based on the 254 subject categories defined by the Web of Science, journals are classified by discipline and ranked according to their Journal Impact Factors. Within each category, journals are divided into four quartiles (Q1–Q4), with Q1 representing the top 25% of journals in that field. It should be noted that a journal may be assigned to multiple subject categories and may therefore receive different quartile rankings across disciplines—for example, Q1 in one category and Q2 in another. In common usage, the term “JCR quartile ranking” generally refers to the JIF-based quartile classification.

The top-ranked journal in each JCR category for 2026 is listed below (the 2026 JCR reports the 2025 Journal Impact Factors).