Best open-access journals for Sociology and Political Science

1. 1
   PNAS Nexus

   5.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Oxford University Press

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
2. 2
   International Journal of Qualitative Methods

   3.7 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
3. 3
   Qualitative Research

   2.3 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing

   Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
4. 4
   SAGE Open

   2.1 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
5. 5
   Demography

   2.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Springer Science+Business Media

   Open AccessScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
6. 6
   European Societies

   1.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Routledge

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
7. 7
   Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

   1.9 cites/paper · Q1 · SAGE Publishing

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
8. 8
   Frontiers in Sociology

   1.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Frontiers Media

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
9. 9
   Politics and Religion

   1.6 cites/paper · Q1 · Cambridge University Press

   Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
10. 10
    GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites

    1.2 cites/paper · Q1 · Editura Universitatii din Oradea

    Open AccessDOAJScopus
11. 11
    Revista de Estudios Sociales

    1.0 cites/paper · Q1 · Universidad de Los Andes

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
12. 12
    Surveillance & Society

    0.9 cites/paper · Q1 · Surveillance Studies Network

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
13. 13
    Sotsiologicheskoe Obozrenie / Russian Sociological Review

    0.9 cites/paper · Q1 · National Research University – Higher School of Economics

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
14. 14
    Refuge Canada s Journal on Refuge

    0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · York University

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
15. 15
    Religions

    0.7 cites/paper · Q1 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
16. 16
    Monitoring obŝestvennogo mneniâ: èkonomičeskie i socialʹnye peremeny

    0.6 cites/paper · Q1 · VTSIOM

    Open AccessDOAJScopus
17. 17
    资源科学

    0.5 cites/paper · Q1 · Chinese Academy of Sciences Geography

    Open AccessDOAJScopus
18. 18
    Estudios Eclesiásticos Revista de investigación e información teológica y canónica

    0.4 cites/paper · Q1 · Comillas Pontifical University

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
19. 19
    Zygon®

    0.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Wiley

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
20. 20
    The New Research of Tuva

    0.3 cites/paper · Q1 · Novye Issledovaniâ Tuvy

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
21. 21
    Bijdragen tot de taal- land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia

    0.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Brill

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
22. 22
    Tydskrif vir letterkunde

    0.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
23. 23
    Scripta Theologica

    0.1 cites/paper · Q1 · University of Navarre

    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
24. 24
    проект байкал

    0.1 cites/paper · Q1 · Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences

    Open AccessDOAJScopus
25. 25
    Societies

    2.9 cites/paper · Q2 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
26. 26
    Cogent Social Sciences

    2.8 cites/paper · Q2 · Cogent OA

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
27. 27
    Social Sciences

    1.9 cites/paper · Q2 · Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
28. 28
    Obstetrics & Gynecology Science

    1.9 cites/paper · Q2 · Indonesian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
29. 29
    Journal of Science Communication

    1.8 cites/paper · Q2 · Sissa Medialab

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
30. 30
    Frontiers in Communication

    1.6 cites/paper · Q2 · Frontiers Media

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
31. 31
    Tourism and hospitality management

    1.5 cites/paper · Q2 · Faculty of tourism and hospitality management

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
32. 32
    tripleC Communication Capitalism & Critique Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society

    1.4 cites/paper · Q2 · tripleC

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
33. 33
    Social Inclusion

    1.4 cites/paper · Q2 · Cogitatio

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of SciencePubMed
34. 34
    Open Research Europe

    1.0 cites/paper · Q2 · European Commission

    Open AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
35. 35
    Dados

    0.9 cites/paper · Q2 · Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
36. 36
    Estudos Avançados

    0.7 cites/paper · Q2 · University of São Paulo

    Open AccessDOAJScopus
37. 37
    Психология Журнал Высшей школы экономики

    0.7 cites/paper · Q2 · National Research University – Higher School of Economics

    Open AccessScopusWeb of Science
38. 38
    Revue européenne de migrations internationales

    0.5 cites/paper · Q2 · University of Poitiers

    Open AccessDOAJScopusPubMed
39. 39
    PASOS Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural

    0.5 cites/paper · Q2 · Instituto de Investigación Social y Turismo

    Open AccessDOAJScopusWeb of Science
40. 40
    Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics

    0.4 cites/paper · Q2 · The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies

    Open AccessScopusPubMed

“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.