What are the best journals for Social Science?

From an 88,000-venue index, the highest-ranked Social Science journals (by Scimago quartile then OpenAlex cites/paper) include Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, New England Journal of Medicine, Science, The Lancet, The Review of Economic Studies. Predatory venues are excluded. The full ranked list with open-access and indexing details is on this page; for a shortlist matched to your specific paper, use the free Journal Recommender.

How were these Social Science journals ranked?

By Scimago quartile first (Q1 → Q4), then by OpenAlex cites/paper over a 2-year window. Cites/paper is a transparent citation rate, not a licensed Impact Factor. We exclude journals flagged as predatory.

Why don't all Social Science 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 Social Science paper?

Paste your title and abstract into the free Journal Recommender — it returns a shortlist matched to your paper's topic from the same index, with acceptance-fit signals, open-access status, and predatory flags. No signup required.

Social Science · 6,084 journals indexed

Best journals for Social Science

The top Social Science journals ranked by Scimago quartile, then cites/paper (OpenAlex, 2-year window), 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 →

All Best open-access journals Highest-impact journals

1
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
111.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2
New England Journal of Medicine
25.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Massachusetts Medical Society
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3
Science
16.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Association for the Advancement of Science
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4
The Lancet
16.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of Science
5
The Review of Economic Studies
14.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press
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6
Technological Forecasting and Social Change
13.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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7
American Economic Review
12.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Economic Association
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8
International Journal of Information Management
12.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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9
British Journal of Educational Technology
12.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
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10
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
11.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of Science
11
Nature Human Behaviour
11.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Nature Portfolio
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12
Educational Psychology Review
11.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
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13
Technology in Society
10.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of Science
14
Computers & Education
10.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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15
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing
10.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
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16
Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity
9.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
Open AccessDOAJScopus
17
Journal of Economic Literature
9.7 cites/paper · Q1 · American Economic Association
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18
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
9.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Emerald Publishing Limited
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19
Computers in Human Behavior
9.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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20
Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ)
8.9 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing
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21
Reliability Engineering & System Safety
8.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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22
Business Horizons
8.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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23
Education and Information Technologies
8.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
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24
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
8.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
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25
ReCALL
8.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press
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26
Tourism Management
8.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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27
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
8.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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28
Government Information Quarterly
8.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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29
Academy of Management Learning and Education
8.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Academy of Management
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30
Tourism Review
7.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Emerald Publishing Limited
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31
Journal of Educational Computing Research
7.8 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing
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32
Service Industries Journal
7.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & Francis
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33
The Internet and Higher Education
7.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
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34
Ethics and Information Technology
7.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media
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35
Perspectives on Psychological Science
7.6 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing
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36
Counseling and Values
7.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley
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37
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management
7.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of Science
38
Computers Environment and Urban Systems
7.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BV
ScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
39
Smart Cities
7.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
40
Organization & Environment
7.1 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing
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.

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