What does Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 mean for academic journals?

Quartiles divide journals in a subject category into four equal groups based on their citation rate or SJR score. Q1 contains the top 25% (highest impact), Q2 the next 25%, Q3 the third quartile, and Q4 the bottom 25%.

Is a Q1 journal always better than a Q2 journal?

Q1 journals have higher citation rates within their subject category, but 'better' depends on your research scope, audience, and field norms. Some specialized Q2 journals are more appropriate venues than broad Q1 journals.

How are these rankings calculated?

Rankings are derived from the latest citation rate data for each journal in our database. When official quartile data is available we use it directly; otherwise quartiles are computed by ranking journals within the selected subject category.

Journal Rankings 2026 — Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

Browse 34 ranked journals grouped into quartiles by citation rate. Use the subject filter below to narrow down by research field.

Data last refreshed: Sep 21, 2026

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All Subjects Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies Human auditory perception and evaluation Plant and animal studies Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques Geology and Paleoclimatology Research Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies Climate variability and models RNA modifications and cancer earthquake and tectonic studies Geological and Geochemical Analysis Immune Cell Function and Interaction Medicine Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development Conducting polymers and applications Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies Analytical Chemistry and Chromatography RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms Advancements in Battery Materials Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment MicroRNA in disease regulation Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet Catalytic Processes in Materials Science Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth Meat and Animal Product Quality Neural dynamics and brain function Species Distribution and Climate Change

Q1 — Top 25%

9 journals

Journal	IF
Cell Reports Elsevier	64.50
Cell Death and Disease Springer Nature	64.50
DNA and Cell Biology Mary Ann Liebert	64.50
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology Frontiers Media SA	64.50
Cell Research Springer Nature	64.50
Cell Biology International Wiley	64.50
Cancer Letters Elsevier BV	8.60
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy Elsevier BV	7.27
Trends in Biochemical Sciences Elsevier BV	6.58

Q2 — 50th-75th Percentile

8 journals

Journal	IF
Cancer Biology & Therapy Taylor & Francis	6.11
Oncogene Springer Nature	5.61
Communications Biology Nature Portfolio	5.25
Biomolecules Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute	4.97
Structure Elsevier BV	3.96
iScience Cell Press	3.93
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine Wiley	3.68
Cancer Science Wiley	3.65

Q3 — 25th-50th Percentile

9 journals

Journal	IF
Journal of Cancer Ivyspring International Publisher	3.63
Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences Frontiers Media	3.33
Methods Elsevier BV	3.21
Tumor Biology SAGE Publishing	3.18
FEBS Journal Wiley	2.85
Genes Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute	2.74
Molecular Carcinogenesis Wiley	2.69
Biochimie Elsevier BV	2.58
Human Molecular Genetics Oxford University Press	2.48

Q4 — Bottom 25%

8 journals

Journal	IF
Frontiers in Genetics Frontiers Media	2.39
Bioscience Reports Portland Press	2.32
IUBMB Life Wiley	2.15
Discover Oncology Springer Nature	1.83
Biochemical Genetics Springer Science+Business Media	1.64
Human Mutation Wiley	0.89
BioMed Research International Hindawi Publishing Corporation	0.89
Cancer Research American Association for Cancer Research	0.46

Understanding Journal Quartile Rankings

Quartile rankings (Q1-Q4) are a standard way to categorize academic journals within a subject. They're calculated by ordering all journals in a category by their citation rate (or SJR score) and dividing them into four equal groups.

Q1 — Top 25%, highest impact in the field
Q2 — 50th to 75th percentile
Q3 — 25th to 50th percentile
Q4 — Bottom 25%

Note: When official Scopus/JCR quartile data is available we use it. Otherwise quartiles are approximated by ranking journals within the selected subject by their latest citation rate.