Top 20 Economics Journals of 2022

Whether you are trying to decide where to publish your research findings, searching for a thought-provoking publication to share at journal club, or simply interested in exploring the latest literature, this article is likely to help you to achieve your aims. We have outlined the rankings of the best journals from the field of Economics according to impact factor, Google’s h5-index, and the scoring system of the research group SCImago.

Note that this article focuses on the “general” rankings of scientific journals related to Economics. If you would prefer to consider the rankings of journals dedicated to particular sub-topics within the field then this article may not satisfy your needs.

If the accessibility of a journal is of importance to you, keep in mind that the journals we have listed may not have open access status.

Historically, quantitative metrics such as impact factor have provided an objective method for comparing the relative influence and prestige of competing journals. However, the quality of a journal should be assessed holistically and not be based on metrics alone.

In addition to considering the data in this article, we encourage you to visit the website of each journal where you can learn about its purpose and scope, editorial board and practices, and detailed metrics beyond impact factor, which will better inform your search.

Google ranks scientific journals using the h5-index, an index that considers publications in the journal over the past 5 years and that is intended to take into account both the number and quality of publications.

Google’s h5-index value is calculated to maximize both the number of published papers and the number of citations. According to wikipedia, the “h-index is defined as the maximum value of h such that the given author/journal has published h papers that have each been cited at least h times.”

SCImago, a data science and visualization research group from Spain, has also ranked the top journals in Economics. Their most recent release is for the year 2021.

The SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR) considers not only the number of citations but also the relative prestige of the citation sources, with greater rank enhancement provided by citations from high prestige journals. The SJR is normalized to 1 with an SJR greater than 1 indicating “above average” citation potential.

Data regarding the impact factor of each journal represents the current two-year impact factor as identified by the Journal Citation Reports. Check out our article on the history, definition, and implications of impact factor for more information on the metric.

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Top 20 Economics Journals Ranked by Google (2022)

1. American Economic Review – h5-index: 158
2. The Quarterly Journal of Economics – h5-index: 110
3. The Review of Financial Studies – h5-index: 108
4. Journal of Political Economy – h5-index: 102
5. The Journal of Finance – h5-index: 99
6. Journal of Economic Perspectives – h5-index: 86
7. Econometrica – h5-index: 83
8. The Review of Economic Studies – h5-index: 81
9. Review of Economics and Statistics – h5-index: 74
10. The Economic Journal – h5-index: 71
11. Journal of Public Economics – h5-index: 69
12. Journal of Development Economics – h5-index: 69
13. Journal of International Economics – h5-index: 68
14. Journal of Monetary Economics – h5-index: 63
15. Economic Modelling – h5-index: 61
16. Journal of Economic Literature – h5-index: 60
17. European Economic Review – h5-index: 60
18. Journal of Labor Economics – h5-index: 59
19. Journal of the European Economic Association – h5-index: 58
20. Journal of International Money and Finance – h5-index: 56

Top 20 Economics Journals Ranked by SCImago (2021)

1. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics – Journal Ranking: 10.079
2. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics – Journal Ranking: 9.804
3. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy – Journal Ranking: 8.636
4. American Economic Journal: Microeconomics – Journal Ranking: 5.678
5. Journal of the European Economic Association – Journal Ranking: 5.535
6. Structural Equation Modeling – Journal Ranking: 3.302
7. Journal of Supply Chain Management – Journal Ranking: 3.034
8. Theoretical Economics – Journal Ranking: 2.909
9. Quantitative Marketing and Economics – Journal Ranking: 2.882
10. Work, Aging and Retirement – Journal Ranking: 2.380
11. Journal of Economic History – Journal Ranking: 2.306
12. Experimental Economics – Journal Ranking: 2.193
13. IMF Economic Review – Journal Ranking: 2.107
14. Journal of Financial Stability – Journal Ranking: 1.657
15. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal – Journal Ranking: 1.465
16. Extremes – Journal Ranking: 1.415
17. Economy and Society – Journal Ranking: 1.384
18. Journal of International Economic Law – Journal Ranking: 1.360
19. Asia Pacific Journal of Management – Journal Ranking: 1.315
20. Socio-Economic Review – Journal Ranking: 1.315

Top 50 Economics Journals Ranked by Impact Factor (2022)

1. Quarterly Journal of Economics – Impact Factor: 15.563
2. Economic Geography – Impact Factor: 11.767
3. American Economic Review – Impact Factor: 9.170
4. Journal of Political Economy – Impact Factor: 9.103
5. Journal of Economic Literature – Impact Factor: 8.604
6. Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society – Impact Factor: 8.300
7. Small Business Economics – Impact Factor: 8.164
8. Journal of Economic Perspectives – Impact Factor: 7.901
9. Review of International Organizations – Impact Factor: 7.795
10. Journal of Finance – Impact Factor: 7.544
11. American Economic Journal-applied Economics – Impact Factor: 7.272
12. Energy Economics – Impact Factor: 7.042
13. Journal of Financial Economics – Impact Factor: 6.988
14. Transportation Research Part E-logistics and Transportation Review – Impact Factor: 6.875
15. Journal of Business & Economic Statistics – Impact Factor: 6.565
16. Review of Economics and Statistics – Impact Factor: 6.548
17. Review of Economic Studies – Impact Factor: 6.345
18. Energy Policy – Impact Factor: 6.142
19. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy – Impact Factor: 6.049
20. Econometrica – Impact Factor: 5.844
21. Journal of Accounting & Economics – Impact Factor: 5.817
22. Review of Financial Studies – Impact Factor: 5.814
23. Value in Health – Impact Factor: 5.728
24. Transportation Research Part B-methodological – Impact Factor: 5.596
25. Transportation Research Part a-policy and Practice – Impact Factor: 5.594
26. Journal of Human Resources – Impact Factor: 5.485
27. Ecological Economics – Impact Factor: 5.389
28. American Economic Journal-economic Policy – Impact Factor: 5.347
29. World Development – Impact Factor: 5.278
30. Annual Review of Resource Economics – Impact Factor: 5.184
31. Work Employment and Society – Impact Factor: 5.116
32. World Bank Research Observer – Impact Factor: 5.111
33. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity – Impact Factor: 5.111
34. European Research on Management and Business Economics – Impact Factor: 5.024
35. Journal of Transport Geography – Impact Factor: 4.986
36. Pharmacoeconomics – Impact Factor: 4.981
37. Socio-economic Planning Sciences – Impact Factor: 4.923
38. Journal of Economic Geography – Impact Factor: 4.862
39. Journal of Economic Growth – Impact Factor: 4.800
40. American Economic Journal-macroeconomics – Impact Factor: 4.764
41. Journal of Competitiveness – Impact Factor: 4.725
42. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management – Impact Factor: 4.714
43. New Political Economy – Impact Factor: 4.681
44. Transport Policy – Impact Factor: 4.674
45. Regional Studies – Impact Factor: 4.672
46. Review of International Political Economy – Impact Factor: 4.659
47. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management – Impact Factor: 4.624
48. Journal of the European Economic Association – Impact Factor: 4.583
49. Econometrics Journal – Impact Factor: 4.571
50. Food Policy – Impact Factor: 4.552

Interested in learning about the rankings of journals from other fields? Consider checking out our other journal rankings.

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