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Physics · 123 journals indexed

Best open-access journals for Physics

The top Physics journals open-access only, ranked by Scimago quartile then cites/paper, drawn from an 88,000-venue index. Predatory venues are excluded. These are field-wide rankings — for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, paste your title and abstract into the free Journal Finder.

Match journals to your paper →
AllBest open-access journalsHighest-impact journals
  1. 1
    Light Science & Applications
    14.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  2. 2
    PRX Quantum
    9.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physical Society
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  3. 3
    Physical Review X
    8.5 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physical Society
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  4. 4
    The Astrophysical Journal Letters
    7.5 cites/paper · Q1 · IOP Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  5. 5
    Communications Materials
    6.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  6. 6
    Optica
    6.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Optica Publishing Group
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  7. 7
    npj Quantum Information
    6.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  8. 8
    SciPost Physics
    5.7 cites/paper · Q1 · SciPost.org
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  9. 9
    Nanophotonics
    5.2 cites/paper · Q1 · De Gruyter
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  10. 10
    The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Institute of Physics
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  11. 11
    APL Photonics
    4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · AIP Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  12. 12
    Communications Physics
    4.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  13. 13
    The Astrophysical Journal
    4.7 cites/paper · Q1 · IOP Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  14. 14
    APL Materials
    4.5 cites/paper · Q1 · American Institute of Physics
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  15. 15
    The European Physical Journal C
    4.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  16. 16
    Astronomy and Astrophysics
    4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · EDP Sciences
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  17. 17
    The Astronomical Journal
    4.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Institute of Physics
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  18. 18
    Physics Letters B
    3.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  19. 19
    Geophysical Research Letters
    3.8 cites/paper · Q1 · American Geophysical Union
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  20. 20
    Physical Review Research
    3.4 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physical Society
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  21. 21
    Nuclear Fusion
    3.4 cites/paper · Q1 · IOP Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  22. 22
    Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation
    3.3 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Surrey
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  23. 23
    The Planetary Science Journal
    3.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Institute of Physics
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  24. 24
    Space Weather
    3.0 cites/paper · Q1 · American Geophysical Union
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  25. 25
    Optics Express
    2.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Optica Publishing Group
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  26. 26
    New Journal of Physics
    2.6 cites/paper · Q1 · IOP Publishing
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  27. 27
    Radiation Oncology
    2.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed Central
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  28. 28
    Earth Planets and Space
    2.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Nature
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  29. 29
    Earth and Space Science
    2.4 cites/paper · Q1 · American Geophysical Union
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  30. 30
    Galaxies
    2.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  31. 31
    Nonlinear processes in geophysics
    2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Copernicus Publications
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  32. 32
    Journal of Synchrotron Radiation
    2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  33. 33
    Nuclear Materials and Energy
    2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  34. 34
    Clinical and Translational Radiation Oncology
    1.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  35. 35
    Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics
    1.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  36. 36
    Physical Review Accelerators and Beams
    1.7 cites/paper · Q1 · American Physical Society
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  37. 37
    Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics
    1.7 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Oxford
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
  38. 38
    Advances in Radiation Oncology
    1.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  39. 39
    Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems
    0.8 cites/paper · Q1 · American Institute of Mathematical Sciences
    Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
  40. 40
    Zeitschrift für Medizinische Physik
    0.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb 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.

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