
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 Immunology 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 Immunology. If you would prefer to consider the rankings of journals dedicated to particular sub-topics within the field, such as cancer immunotherapy or transplantation, 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 Immunology. 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 Immunology Journals Ranked by Google (2022)
- Immunity – h5-index: 158
- Nature Reviews Immunology – h5-index: 141
- Frontiers in Immunology – h5-index: 134
- Nature Immunology – h5-index: 133
- Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – h5-index: 125
- Journal of Experimental Medicine – h5-index: 103
- The Journal of Immunology – h5-index: 90
- Immunological Reviews – h5-index: 84
- Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – h5-index: 82
- Trends in Immunology – h5-index: 80
- Autoimmunity Reviews – h5-index: 76
- Science Immunology – h5-index: 75
- The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice – h5-index: 69
- Mucosal Immunology – h5-index: 68
- European Journal of Immunology – h5-index: 65
- Mediators of Inflammation – h5-index: 65
- Cellular and Molecular Immunology – h5-index: 64
- Journal of Autoimmunity – h5-index: 63
- Annual Review of Immunology – h5-index: 62
- Current Opinion in Immunology – h5-index: 61
Top 20 Immunology Journals Ranked by SCImago (2021)
- Annual Review of Immunology – Journal Ranking: 17.814
- Nature Reviews Immunology – Journal Ranking: 17.109
- Immunity – Journal Ranking: 14.075
- Science Immunology – Journal Ranking: 11.962
- Nature Microbiology – Journal Ranking: 9.690
- Nature Immunology – Journal Ranking: 9.135
- Journal of Experimental Medicine – Journal Ranking: 7.265
- The Lancet Rheumatology – Journal Ranking: 6.633
- Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases– Journal Ranking: 5.366
- The Lancet HIV – Journal Ranking: 5.296
- Trends in Immunology – Journal Ranking: 4.890
- Blood – Journal Ranking: 4.834
- Immunological Reviews – Journal Ranking: 4.801
- Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – Journal Ranking: 3.810
- Cancer Immunology Research – Journal Ranking: 3.623
- Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer – Journal Ranking: 3.450
- Seminars in Immunology – Journal Ranking: 3.345
- Emerging Microbes and Infections – Journal Ranking: 3.322
- Mucosal Immunology – Journal Ranking: 3.248
- Arthritis and Rheumatology – Journal Ranking: 3.205
Top 50 Immunology Journals Ranked by Impact Factor (2022)
- Nature Reviews Immunology – Impact Factor: 53.106
- Immunity – Impact Factor: 31.745
- Annual Review of Immunology – Impact Factor: 28.527
- Nature Immunology – Impact Factor: 25.606
- Blood – Impact Factor: 22.113
- Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases – Impact Factor: 19.103
- Nature Microbiology – Impact Factor: 17.745
- Science Immunology – Impact Factor: 17.727
- Trends in Immunology – Impact Factor: 16.687
- Journal of Experimental Medicine – Impact Factor: 14.307
- Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer – Impact Factor: 13.751
- Allergy: European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – Impact Factor: 13.146
- Immunological Reviews – Impact Factor: 12.988
- The Lancet HIV – Impact Factor: 12.767
- Cellular and Molecular Immunology – Impact Factor: 11.53
- Cancer Immunology Research – Impact Factor: 11.151
- Seminars in Immunology – Impact Factor: 11.13
- Arthritis and Rheumatology – Impact Factor: 10.995
- Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – Impact Factor: 10.793
- Autoimmunity Reviews – Impact Factor: 9.754
- Seminars in Immunopathology – Impact Factor: 9.623
- Cell Death and Disease – Impact Factor: 8.469
- OncoImmunology – Impact Factor: 8.11
- Cytokine and Growth Factor Reviews – Impact Factor: 7.638
- Journal of Neuroinflammation – Impact Factor: 7.573
- Frontiers in Immunology – Impact Factor: 7.561
- Current Opinion in Immunology – Impact Factor: 7.486
- Immunology – Impact Factor: 7.397
- Mucosal Immunology – Impact Factor: 7.313
- Brain, Behavior, and Immunity – Impact Factor: 7.217
- Journal of Autoimmunity – Impact Factor: 7.094
- Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy – Impact Factor: 6.968
- PLoS Pathogens – Impact Factor: 6.823
- npj Vaccines – Impact Factor: 6.12
- Virulence – Impact Factor: 5.882
- mAbs – Impact Factor: 5.857
- Emerging Microbes and Infections – Impact Factor: 5.842
- European Journal of Immunology – Impact Factor: 5.532
- The Journal of Immunology – Impact Factor: 5.422
- Expert Review of Vaccines – Impact Factor: 5.217
- Immunology and Cell Biology – Impact Factor: 5.126
- Journal of Virology – Impact Factor: 5.103
- Clinical and Translational Immunology – Impact Factor: 5.028
- Cellular Immunology – Impact Factor: 4.868
- International Immunology – Impact Factor: 4.823
- Mediators of Inflammation – Impact Factor: 4.711
- Expert Review of Clinical Immunology – Impact Factor: 4.473
- Clinical and Experimental Immunology – Impact Factor: 4.33
- Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology – Impact Factor: 4.291
- Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS – Impact Factor: 4.283
Interested in learning about the rankings of journals from other fields? Consider checking out our other journal rankings.
Read about the latest immunology research and immuno-biotech news from ImmunoFrontiers.