What are the best journals for Anthropology?

From a 17,782-venue index, the highest-ranked Anthropology journals include Journal of Human Evolution, Current Anthropology, Ethos, American Anthropologist, Cultural Anthropology. The top 40 of 184 ranked venues are listed on this page; all 40 are Scimago Q1. Each shows its open-access status and indexing, and predatory venues are excluded. For a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the Journal Finder (15 credits; free account starts with 25).

How were these Anthropology journals ranked?

Journals are placed by two independent classifications, OpenAlex's and Scimago's, plus any documented corrections. A journal both place under Anthropology ranks ahead, within its Scimago quartile, of one only OpenAlex places there — because Scimago does not cover it, files it as Multidisciplinary, or files it under a neighbouring subject or only under a broad “(miscellaneous)” category (which counts as agreement when Anthropology is the journal's main OpenAlex subfield). 2 journals OpenAlex files under Anthropology are left out because OpenAlex's main field for them and Scimago's categories both place them in another discipline. By Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4, then venues without one). Within a quartile, journals both sources place under Anthropology come first, then venues whose main OpenAlex subfield is Anthropology come before those that list it second or third, and ties go to OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window. A venue whose main subfield is unrelated to Anthropology — fewer than a quarter of the venues filed under that subfield (or fewer than five) are also filed under Anthropology — is listed after all the others. Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor, and journals flagged as predatory are excluded.

Why don't all Anthropology journals show a quartile?

Scimago doesn't cover every journal — many strong regional and open-access venues are absent from it. We show "no Scimago quartile" for those rather than hide them; it's a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.

How do I find the best journal for my specific Anthropology paper?

Paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder — it returns a shortlist matched to your paper's topic from the same index, with acceptance-fit signals, open-access status, and predatory flags. A free account starts with 25 welcome credits; each run costs 15.

Anthropology · 184 journals ranked · top 40 listed

Best journals for Anthropology

The top 40 of 184 Anthropology journals, ranked by Scimago quartile, then by whether OpenAlex and Scimago agree on the subject and how central Anthropology is to each journal, then OpenAlex cites/paper (2-year window), leaving out journals both place in another discipline, drawn from a 17,782-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded; the FAQ below gives the exact ranking rule. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the Journal Finder (a free account starts with 25 welcome credits).

Match journals to your paper →

All Best open-access journals

1
Journal of Human Evolution
2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
Current Anthropology
1.5 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Chicago Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Ethos
1.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
American Anthropologist
1.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5
Cultural Anthropology
0.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6
African Studies
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7
Ethnos
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Routledge
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9
Social Anthropology
0.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10
History and Anthropology
0.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
11
Anthropology Today
0.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
12
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
0.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13
L Anthropologie
0.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
14
American Ethnologist
0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
15
KIVA
0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16
Africa
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
17
Anthropology & Humanism
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusPubMed
18
African Studies Review
0.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
19
Azania Archaeological Research in Africa
1.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Routledge
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20
African Affairs
1.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
21
World Archaeology
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Routledge
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
22
American Antiquity
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
23
Journal of Historical Geography
0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
24
Classical Philology
0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Chicago Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
25
Philippine Studies Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints
0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Ateneo de Manila University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
26
Historical Archaeology
0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27
Slavery and Abolition
0.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Frank Cass & Co.
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28
Research in African Literatures
0.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Indiana University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
29
Postcolonial Studies
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Routledge
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30
Journal of Religion in Africa
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Brill
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31
The Journal of African History
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
32
The American Journal of Philology
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Johns Hopkins University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33
Itinerario
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
34
Cambridge Archaeological Journal
1.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
35
Hesperia The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
0.5 cites/paper · Q1 · American School of Classical Studies at Athens
ScopusWeb of Science
36
The Annual of the British School at Athens
0.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
37
Journal of Roman Archaeology
0.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of Science
38
American Journal of Archaeology
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Archaeological Institute of America
ScopusWeb of Science
39
Klio
0.2 cites/paper · Q1 · De Gruyter
Open AccessScopus
40
Britannia
0.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed

“Cites/paper” is the OpenAlex 2-year citation rate — a transparent signal, not a licensed Impact Factor. Many regional and open-access journals are strong but aren’t covered by Scimago, so they show “no Scimago quartile”; that’s a coverage gap, not a quality judgement.