Social Science · 1,782 journals indexed
Best open-access journals for Social Science
The top Social Science 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.
- 1Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity9.8 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business MediaOpen AccessDOAJScopus
- 2Smart Cities7.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing InstituteOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
- 3The Journal of Economic Perspectives6.9 cites/paper · Q1 · American Economic AssociationOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 4Molecular Medicine6.4 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 5Journal of Medical Internet Research6.1 cites/paper · Q1 · JMIR PublicationsOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 6The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning5.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Athabasca University PressOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
- 7Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication5.4 cites/paper · Q1 · WileyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 8PNAS Nexus5.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University PressOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 9Emerging Science Journal5.1 cites/paper · Q1Open AccessScopus
- 10Journal of Behavioral Addictions5.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Akadémiai KiadóOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 11Papers of the Regional Science Association5.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 12Journal of Intensive Care4.8 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 13International Journal of Digital Earth4.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & FrancisOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 14Humanities and Social Sciences Communications4.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Palgrave MacmillanOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 15Systematic Reviews4.5 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 16Australasian Journal of Educational Technology4.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary EducationOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
- 17Sustainability4.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing InstituteOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 18Journal of Global Information Management4.1 cites/paper · Q1 · IGI GlobalOpen AccessScopusWeb of Science
- 19International Journal of Computational Intelligence Systems4.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer NatureOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 20Civil Engineering Journal4.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Salehan Institute of Higher EducationOpen AccessScopusWeb of Science
- 21Medical Education Online4.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & FrancisOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 22BMC Medical Research Methodology3.9 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 23Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research3.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing InstituteOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
- 24Social Media + Society3.8 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE PublishingOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 25JMIR Public Health and Surveillance3.8 cites/paper · Q1 · JMIR PublicationsOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 26CBE—Life Sciences Education3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · American Society for Cell BiologyOpen AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 27International Journal of Qualitative Methods3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE PublishingOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 28Laboratory Animal Research3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · BioMed CentralOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 29Frontiers in Climate3.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Frontiers MediaOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 30Education Sciences3.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing InstituteOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 31Language learning & technology3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
- 32Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & FrancisOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 33Campbell Systematic Reviews3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · The Campbell CollaborationOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 34Geo-spatial Information Science3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Taylor & FrancisOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 35Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice3.5 cites/paper · Q1 · University of WollongongOpen AccessScopusWeb of Science
- 36Vaccines3.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing InstituteOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 37Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation3.3 cites/paper · Q1 · University of SurreyOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 38Online Learning3.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Online Learning ConsortiumOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 39Regional Science Policy & Practice3.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
- 40SSM - Population Health3.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Elsevier BVOpen 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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