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 Pharmacology 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 Pharmacology. If you would prefer to consider the rankings of journals dedicated to particular sub-topics within the field, such as computational pharmacology, 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 Pharmacology. 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 Pharmacology Journals Ranked by Google (2022)
- Nature Reviews Drug Discovery – h5-index: 118
- Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews – h5-index: 115
- Journal of controlled release – h5-index: 102
- Journal of Medicinal Chemistry – h5-index: 98
- Neuropsychopharmacology – h5-index: 86
- British Journal of Pharmacology – h5-index: 85
- Pharmacology and Therapeutics – h5-index: 85
- Pharmacological Research – h5-index: 82
- International Journal of Pharmaceutics – h5-index: 79
- Trends in Pharmacological Sciences – h5-index: 77
- International Journal of Nanomedicine – h5-index: 75
- Neuropharmacology – h5-index: 68
- Drugs – h5-index: 67
- Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics – h5-index: 65
- Journal of Ethnopharmacology – h5-index: 64
- Biochemical Pharmacology – h5-index: 63
- British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology – h5-index: 62
- European Journal of Pharmacology – h5-index: 62
- Phytotherapy Research – h5-index: 58
- Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry – h5-index: 58
Top 20 Pharmacology Journals Ranked by SCImago (2021)
- Nature Reviews Drug Discovery – Journal Ranking: 11.296
- Pharmacological Reviews – Journal Ranking: 5.540
- Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology – Journal Ranking: 4.002
- Drug Resistance Updates – Journal Ranking: 3.845
- Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer – Journal Ranking: 3.450
- Trends in Pharmacological Sciences – Journal Ranking: 3.389
- Pharmacology and Therapeutics – Journal Ranking: 3.085
- Molecular Therapy – Journal Ranking: 3.064
- npj Vaccines – Journal Ranking: 2.953
- Cell Chemical Biology – Journal Ranking: 2.650
- Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences – Journal Ranking: 2.424
- Medicinal Research Reviews – Journal Ranking: 2.300
- Neuropsychopharmacology – Journal Ranking: 2.277
- Antiviral Research – Journal Ranking: 2.213
- Pain – Journal Ranking: 2.135
- British Journal of Pharmacology – Journal Ranking: 1.993
- Pharmacological Research – Journal Ranking: 1.738
- Neurotherapeutics – Journal Ranking: 1.725
- Current Neuropharmacology – Journal Ranking: 1.722
- Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics – Journal Ranking: 1.689
Top 50 Pharmacology Journals Ranked by Impact Factor (2022)
- Nature Reviews Drug Discovery – Impact Factor: 84.694
- Pharmacological Reviews – Impact Factor: 25.468
- Drug Resistance Updates – Impact Factor: 18.500
- Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews – Impact Factor: 15.470
- Trends in Pharmacological Sciences – Impact Factor: 14.819
- Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology – Impact Factor: 13.820
- Medicinal Research Reviews – Impact Factor: 12.944
- Pharmacology and Therapeutics – Impact Factor: 12.310
- Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B – Impact Factor: 11.614
- Journal of Controlled Release – Impact Factor: 9.776
- Drugs – Impact Factor: 9.546
- British Journal of Pharmacology – Impact Factor: 8.740
- Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics – Impact Factor: 8.171
- Neuropsychopharmacology – Impact Factor: 7.855
- Drug Discovery Today – Impact Factor: 7.851
- Pharmacological Research – Impact Factor: 7.658
- Neurotherapeutics – Impact Factor: 7.620
- Current Neuropharmacology – Impact Factor: 7.390
- Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets – Impact Factor: 6.902
- Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics – Impact Factor: 6.889
- Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents – Impact Factor: 6.681
- Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery – Impact Factor: 6.648
- European Heart Journal: Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy – Impact Factor: 6.617
- Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences – Impact Factor: 6.598
- Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy – Impact Factor: 6.530
- Clinical Pharmacokinetics – Impact Factor: 6.447
- Drug Delivery – Impact Factor: 6.419
- International Journal of Nanomedicine – Impact Factor: 6.400
- Pharmaceutics – Impact Factor: 6.321
- Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs – Impact Factor: 6.206
- Acta Pharmacologica Sinica – Impact Factor: 6.150
- Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery – Impact Factor: 6.098
- Biomedicines – Impact Factor: 6.081
- Journal of Food and Drug Analysis – Impact Factor: 6.079
- Antiviral Research – Impact Factor: 5.970
- Phytotherapy Research – Impact Factor: 5.882
- International Journal of Pharmaceutics – Impact Factor: 5.875
- Pharmaceuticals – Impact Factor: 5.863
- Biochemical Pharmacology – Impact Factor: 5.858
- Frontiers in Pharmacology – Impact Factor: 5.811
- Biodrugs – Impact Factor: 5.807
- Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research – Impact Factor: 5.800
- Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy – Impact Factor: 5.790
- Pharmacopsychiatry – Impact Factor: 5.788
- Vascular Pharmacology – Impact Factor: 5.773
- CNS Drugs – Impact Factor: 5.754
- Drug Safety – Impact Factor: 5.606
- European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics – Impact Factor: 5.571
- Current Opinion in Pharmacology – Impact Factor: 5.547
- Reviews of Physiology Biochemistry and Pharmacology – Impact Factor: 5.545
Interested in learning about the rankings of journals from other fields? Consider checking out our other journal rankings.
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