Q1 journals are the most prestigious category in academic publishing, known for their high impact factor, rigorous peer review process, and global recognition. Researchers strive to publish in these journals to enhance their academic credibility, contribute to impactful research, and advance their careers. In this guide, we’ll explore Q1 journals’ significance, and how you can publish your research in them.
What Are Q1 Journals?
Q1 (Quartile 1) journals are ranked in the top 25% of journals in their respective fields, based on metrics like Impact Factor and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR). These journals are leaders in disseminating cutting-edge research across disciplines such as science, engineering, medicine, social sciences, and more.
Key Features of Q1 Journals:
- High Impact Factor: A metric reflecting the average number of citations to recent articles.
- Rigorous Peer Review: Ensures the highest quality of research publication.
- Global Recognition: Widely recognized by academic and professional institutions.
- Selective Acceptance Rates: Only the most significant and innovative studies are accepted.
List of Q1 journals
| Journal Rank | Journal Title | Publisher | Quartile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians | Wiley-Blackwell | Q1 |
| 2 | Quarterly Journal of Economics | Oxford University Press | Q1 |
| 3 | Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 4 | Cell | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 5 | New England Journal of Medicine | Massachussetts Medical Society | Q1 |
| 6 | Nature Medicine | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 7 | MMWR Recommendations and Reports | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Q1 |
| 8 | Nature Biotechnology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 9 | Nature Reviews Materials | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 10 | American Economic Review | American Economic Association | Q1 |
| 11 | Nature Reviews Cancer | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 12 | Nature | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 13 | Journal of Political Economy | University of Chicago | Q1 |
| 14 | Reviews of Modern Physics | American Physical Society | Q1 |
| 15 | Nature Energy | Springer Nature | Q1 |
| 16 | Nature Reviews Genetics | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 17 | Nature Reviews Drug Discovery | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 18 | Chemical Reviews | American Chemical Society | Q1 |
| 19 | Nature Reviews Immunology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 20 | Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | Department of Health and Human Services | Q1 |
| 21 | Nature Genetics | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 22 | Administrative Science Quarterly | Johnson School at Cornell University | Q1 |
| 23 | National Vital Statistics Reports | Public Health Services, US Dept of Health and Human Services | Q1 |
| 24 | Academy of Management Annals | Academy of Management | Q1 |
| 25 | Journal of Finance | Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd | Q1 |
| 26 | Annual Review of Immunology | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 27 | MMWR Surveillance Summaries | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Q1 |
| 28 | Chemical Society Reviews | Royal Society of Chemistry | Q1 |
| 29 | Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 30 | Immunity | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 31 | Lancet, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 32 | Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 33 | Review of Economic Studies | Oxford University Press | Q1 |
| 34 | Nature Methods | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 35 | World Psychiatry | Wiley-Blackwell | Q1 |
| 36 | IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. | Q1 |
| 37 | Nature Materials | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 38 | Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning | Now Publishers Inc | Q1 |
| 39 | Physiological Reviews | American Physiological Society | Q1 |
| 40 | MMWR supplements | Epidemiology Program Office | Q1 |
| 41 | Science | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Q1 |
| 42 | Nature Catalysis | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 43 | Nature Nanotechnology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 44 | Econometrica | Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd | Q1 |
| 45 | Journal of Economic Literature | American Economic Association | Q1 |
| 46 | American Economic Journal: Applied Economics | American Economic Association | Q1 |
| 47 | Cancer Cell | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 48 | Energy and Environmental Science | Royal Society of Chemistry | Q1 |
| 49 | Joule | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 50 | Lancet Oncology, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 51 | Review of Financial Studies | Oxford University Press | Q1 |
| 52 | Nature Neuroscience | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 53 | Advances in Physics | Taylor and Francis Ltd. | Q1 |
| 54 | Annals of Oncology | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 55 | Nature Photonics | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 56 | Living Reviews in Relativity | Springer International Publishing AG | Q1 |
| 57 | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 58 | Lancet Respiratory Medicine,The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 59 | Science immunology | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Q1 |
| 60 | Annual Review of Biochemistry | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 61 | Nature Reviews Chemistry | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 62 | Nature Electronics | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 63 | Nature Immunology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 64 | Academy of Management Journal | Academy of Management | Q1 |
| 65 | American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics | American Economic Association | Q1 |
| 66 | Journal of Marketing | American Marketing Association | Q1 |
| 67 | Academy of Management Review | Academy of Management | Q1 |
| 68 | Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 69 | Journal of Financial Economics | Elsevier | Q1 |
| 70 | Lancet Public Health, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 71 | Current Protocols in Bioinformatics | John Wiley & Sons Inc. | Q1 |
| 72 | Nature Reviews Microbiology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 73 | Annual Review of Economics | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 74 | Cell Host and Microbe | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 75 | Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 76 | Journal of Clinical Oncology | Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd. | Q1 |
| 77 | Cell Metabolism | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 78 | Annual Review of Public Health | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 79 | Astronomy and Astrophysics Review | Springer Verlag | Q1 |
| 80 | Lancet Neurology, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 81 | Nature Cancer | Q1 | |
| 82 | Nature Cell Biology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 83 | Molecular Cell | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 84 | Advanced Materials | Wiley-Blackwell | Q1 |
| 85 | Nature Reviews Methods Primers | Springer Nature | Q1 |
| 86 | Lancet Microbe, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 87 | Nature Reviews Physics | Springer Nature Switzerland AG | Q1 |
| 88 | Advances in Computers | Academic Press Inc. | Q1 |
| 89 | Genome Biology | BioMed Central Ltd. | Q1 |
| 90 | Annual Review of Psychology | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 91 | Nature Microbiology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 92 | Cell Stem Cell | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 93 | Reviews of Geophysics | Wiley-Blackwell | Q1 |
| 94 | Advanced Energy Materials | Wiley-VCH Verlag | Q1 |
| 95 | Electrochemical Energy Reviews | Springer Science and Business Media B.V. | Q1 |
| 96 | Molecular Cancer | BioMed Central Ltd. | Q1 |
| 97 | Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 98 | Journal of Economic Perspectives | American Economic Association | Q1 |
| 99 | Gut | BMJ Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 100 | Progress in Materials Science | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 101 | Strategic Management Journal | John Wiley and Sons Ltd | Q1 |
| 102 | Annual Review of Neuroscience | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 103 | Review of Economics and Statistics | MIT Press Journals | Q1 |
| 104 | Annual Review of Political Science | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 105 | Journal of the American College of Cardiology | Elsevier USA | Q1 |
| 106 | Advances in Optics and Photonics | Optica Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 107 | Nucleic Acids Research | Oxford University Press | Q1 |
| 108 | Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology,The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 109 | American Economic Journal: Economic Policy | American Economic Association | Q1 |
| 110 | Lancet Psychiatry,The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 111 | Lancet Infectious Diseases, The | Lancet Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 112 | Nature Chemistry | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 113 | Annual Review of Plant Biology | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 114 | Nature Reviews Endocrinology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 115 | JAMA Oncology | American Medical Association | Q1 |
| 116 | Cell Research | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 117 | Nature Physics | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 118 | ACS Energy Letters | American Chemical Society | Q1 |
| 119 | Circulation | Lippincott Williams and Wilkins Ltd. | Q1 |
| 120 | Neuron | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 121 | American Political Science Review | Cambridge University Press | Q1 |
| 122 | IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. | Q1 |
| 123 | Gastroenterology | W.B. Saunders Ltd | Q1 |
| 124 | Psychological Bulletin | American Psychological Association | Q1 |
| 125 | Marketing Science | INFORMS Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences | Q1 |
| 126 | Clinical Microbiology Reviews | American Society for Microbiology | Q1 |
| 127 | Nature Structural and Molecular Biology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 128 | Journal of Marketing Research | American Marketing Association | Q1 |
| 129 | American Sociological Review | American Sociological Association | Q1 |
| 130 | Journal of Hepatology | Elsevier | Q1 |
| 131 | JAMA Cardiology | American Medical Association | Q1 |
| 132 | Lancet Global Health,The | Elsevier BV | Q1 |
| 133 | Annual Review of Genetics | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 134 | Cancer Discovery | American Association for Cancer Research Inc. | Q1 |
| 135 | Living Reviews in Solar Physics | Springer International Publishing AG | Q1 |
| 136 | Journal of Management | SAGE Publications Inc. | Q1 |
| 137 | Endocrine Reviews | The Endocrine Society | Q1 |
| 138 | Lancet Regional Health – Europe, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 139 | Manufacturing and Service Operations Management | INFORMS Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences | Q1 |
| 140 | Cell Systems | Cell Press | Q1 |
| 141 | Nature Metabolism | Springer Berlin | Q1 |
| 142 | Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 143 | Nature Reviews Neuroscience | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 144 | European Urology | Elsevier | Q1 |
| 145 | Nature Reviews Cardiology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 146 | Annual Review of Biophysics | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 147 | Nature Climate Change | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 148 | Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports | Elsevier BV | Q1 |
| 149 | Chem | Elsevier Inc. | Q1 |
| 150 | Annals of Mathematics | Department of Mathematics at Princeton University | Q1 |
| 151 | Annual Review of Clinical Psychology | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 152 | Nature Protocols | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 153 | JAMA Neurology | American Medical Association | Q1 |
| 154 | JAMA – Journal of the American Medical Association | American Medical Association | Q1 |
| 155 | Foundations and Trends in Signal Processing | Now Publishers Inc | Q1 |
| 156 | Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy | Springer Nature | Q1 |
| 157 | Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 158 | Nature Biomedical Engineering | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 159 | Publications Mathematiques de l’Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques | Springer Verlag | Q1 |
| 160 | JAMA Psychiatry | American Medical Association | Q1 |
| 161 | Nature Sustainability | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 162 | IEEE Wireless Communications | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. | Q1 |
| 163 | Organization Science | INFORMS Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences | Q1 |
| 164 | Nature Reviews Neurology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 165 | Nature Reviews Nephrology | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 166 | Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases | BMJ Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 167 | Science Robotics | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Q1 |
| 168 | Lancet Digital Health, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 169 | Annual Review of Physiology | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 170 | Accounts of Chemical Research | American Chemical Society | Q1 |
| 171 | Science Translational Medicine | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Q1 |
| 172 | Acta Numerica | Cambridge University Press | Q1 |
| 173 | Psychological Science in the Public Interest | SAGE Publications Inc. | Q1 |
| 174 | Physical Review X | American Physical Society | Q1 |
| 175 | EnergyChem | Elsevier BV | Q1 |
| 176 | Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science | Springer New York | Q1 |
| 177 | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine | American Thoracic Society | Q1 |
| 178 | Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 179 | Journal of Experimental Medicine | Rockefeller University Press | Q1 |
| 180 | Intensive Care Medicine | Springer Verlag | Q1 |
| 181 | Molecular Systems Biology | Wiley-Blackwell | Q1 |
| 182 | Nature Machine Intelligence | Springer Nature Switzerland AG | Q1 |
| 183 | Materials Today | Elsevier | Q1 |
| 184 | Nature Reviews Earth and Environment | Springer Nature Switzerland AG | Q1 |
| 185 | Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 186 | InfoMat | John Wiley and Sons Ltd | Q1 |
| 187 | Journal of Business and Economic Statistics | Taylor and Francis Ltd. | Q1 |
| 188 | Journal of Applied Psychology | American Psychological Association | Q1 |
| 189 | Nature Geoscience | Nature Publishing Group | Q1 |
| 190 | Journal of Accounting and Economics | Elsevier | Q1 |
| 191 | Journal of the European Economic Association | Wiley-Blackwell | Q1 |
| 192 | NCHS data brief | U.S. National Center for Health Statistics | Q1 |
| 193 | Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 194 | Journal of Hematology and Oncology | BioMed Central Ltd. | Q1 |
| 195 | Journal of Consumer Research | Oxford University Press | Q1 |
| 196 | Diabetes Care | American Diabetes Association Inc. | Q1 |
| 197 | Trends in Cell Biology | Elsevier Ltd. | Q1 |
| 198 | Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science | Annual Reviews Inc. | Q1 |
| 200 | Journal of the American Chemical Society | American Chemical Society | Q1 |
| 201 | Journal of Monetary Economics | Elsevier | Q1` |
Why Publish in Q1 Journals?
Publishing in Q1 journals offers several benefits, including:
- Career Advancement: Boosts your academic profile and credibility.
- Global Reach: Ensures your research is read and cited by an international audience.
- Funding Opportunities: Attracts research grants and collaborations.
- Enhanced Reputation: Positions you as a leader in your field.
Steps to Publish in Q1 Journals
Here’s how you can successfully publish in a Q1 journal:
- Choose the Right Journal:
- Use tools like SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports to identify Q1 journals in your field.
- Ensure the journal’s scope aligns with your research.
- Prepare a High-Quality Manuscript:
- Conduct innovative and original research.
- Write a clear, concise, and well-structured paper.
- Follow Submission Guidelines:
- Adhere to the journal’s specific formatting and submission requirements.
- Engage with Peer Review:
- Be open to constructive criticism.
- Revise your manuscript as per reviewer suggestions.
- Promote Your Published Research:
- Share your work on academic platforms like ResearchGate.
- Leverage social media and conferences to increase visibility.
Top Q1 Journals by Discipline
Here are some notable Q1 journals in various fields:
- Science & Technology:
- Nature
- Science
- IEEE Transactions on Information Theory
- Medicine & Healthcare:
- The Lancet
- New England Journal of Medicine
- JAMA
- Social Sciences:
- American Journal of Sociology
- Journal of Marketing
- Engineering:
- Journal of Engineering Mechanics
- IEEE Transactions on Robotics
Resources for Finding Q1 Journals
- SCImago Journal & Country Rank: www.scimagojr.com
- Web of Science: www.webofscience.com
- Journal Citation Reports (JCR): www.clarivate.com
Conclusion
Publishing in Q1 journals is a challenging but rewarding process. By understanding the expectations of high-impact journals and following the best practices outlined here, you can significantly increase your chances of success. Whether you’re an experienced researcher or just starting your academic journey, Q1 journals provide the perfect platform to showcase your groundbreaking work.