How Do You Find Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 Journals?

You found a journal, but is it Q1 or Q4? How can you be sure? This question trips up researchers at every career stage, from the PhD student submitting a first paper to the seasoned academic chasing promotion criteria. The usual problems are checking the wrong database for the field, reading the wrong subject category, or working from data that is two or three years old. A journal that was Q1 last year may be Q2 this year, and a predatory journal can look credible if you skip proper verification. Submission decisions made on bad quartile data cost months.

Quick answer: To find a journal’s quartile, search its name or ISSN on SCImago Journal Rank (free, SJR quartile) or in Journal Citation Reports (JCR, usually through a university library, JIF quartile), then read the quartile for the subject category that matches your paper. The two systems can disagree, so say which one you used.

Last verified against official sources: October 2026.

This guide shows how to use each tool, how to read the result, and the mistakes that most often lead people to the wrong answer.

How to Find Q1–Q4 Journals

Search the journal by title or ISSN on SCImago (scimagojr.com) for the free SJR quartile, or in Journal Citation Reports for the JIF quartile, then pick the subject category closest to your paper and read the quartile shown for it. Q1 is the top 25% of journals in the category, Q4 the bottom 25%. A third source, the Scopus Sources page, lets you filter by CiteScore quartile and shows a CiteScore rank and percentile for each category.

What Do Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 Quartiles Actually Mean?

A quartile tells you where a journal sits within one subject category, based on its influence relative to the other journals in that same field. It is never a single global score. It is always relative to a peer group.

Every journal indexed in Scopus or Web of Science is assigned to one or more subject categories, such as “Oncology,” “Environmental Engineering,” or “Economics and Econometrics.” Within each category the journals are sorted by an influence metric: the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) score for Scopus-based rankings, or the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) for Journal Citation Reports. The sorted list is then divided into four groups.

• Q1: the top 25% of journals in the category
• Q2: journals ranked between 25% and 50%
• Q3: journals ranked between 50% and 75%
• Q4: the bottom 25%

A Q1 journal is one of the most influential in its subject area, and a Q4 journal sits at the lower end. Neither label is permanent, because rankings are recalculated every year as new citation data arrives.

Why the Subject Category Matters More Than People Expect

A journal does not have one universal quartile. It has a quartile per subject category, and it can belong to several categories at once. A biomedical engineering journal, for example, might be Q1 in “Biomedical Engineering,” Q2 in “Materials Science” and Q3 in “Medicine.” All three can be correct, so when someone says a journal is “Q1,” ask: Q1 in what category?

It also means a Q1 journal in a niche field such as “Parasitology” cannot be compared directly with a Q1 journal in “Computer Science.” The peer groups differ in size and citation habits.

SJR Quartile vs. JIF Quartile: Two Different Systems

SJR and JIF quartiles answer the same question with different data and different maths, so the same journal can land in different quartiles.

The two systems cover overlapping but not identical sets of journals, use different citation windows and weighting, and group journals into different subject categories. A journal can be Q1 in SJR and Q2 in JCR, or the reverse, and neither ranking is wrong. A journal that is strong in one system and absent from the other is not automatically suspect, because the gap often reflects indexing coverage rather than quality. Checking both is good practice when a real submission decision depends on it.

What Quartile Rankings Don’t Tell You

A quartile says nothing about a journal’s acceptance rate, turnaround time or editorial rigour. It also says nothing about whether the journal fits your topic. Journals near a quartile boundary sit close together in the ranked list, so a small change in score can move a journal into the next quartile.

It also does not prove a journal is legitimate. Predatory journals claim indexing they do not have, and a journal can lose indexing after it was once listed. Check indexing directly in Scopus Sources or Web of Science, because a journal’s own website cannot confirm its status or its quartile. Quartiles also exist only for journals and book series: SCImago states that its quartile data is only available for those two source types, so a conference proceedings has no SJR quartile. The quartile is a starting point for judging fit and prestige, not a full picture of quality.

How to Check Quartile Rankings Using Free Tools

Two free resources cover most needs: SCImago Journal Rank and the Scopus Sources list. Both are public, regularly updated and widely accepted by universities and funding bodies.

Check Quartile Using SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)

Go to scimagojr.com and use the search bar. Type the journal’s full name or its ISSN. The ISSN is more reliable, because names appear with slight variations that can pull up the wrong record.

On the journal’s profile page, find the Subject Category section, which lists every category the journal is assigned to. Then scroll to the quartile history, which shows the quartile year by year for each category, so you can see whether the journal has moved up or down. Use the most recent complete year, since the current year’s data is often incomplete. The summary at the top of the profile shows the journal’s Best Quartile and the category where it earned it. That is its strongest result, not necessarily the one for your field, so read the row for the category that matches your paper.

Things to watch for:

• If the journal appears in several categories, note which one is closest to your research. Grant committees and supervisors usually judge the quartile in the field nearest your paper’s topic.
• SJR is built on Scopus data, so a journal that Scopus does not cover will not appear. An absent result is not automatically a red flag, but you cannot use SJR to verify that title. Very new journals may also have no score yet.
• SJR and JIF quartiles are calculated differently and are not interchangeable.

The SCImago site also lets you browse its journal rankings by subject area and category, which is useful when you are looking for journals to target rather than verifying one. SCImago groups journals under the Scopus classification, which has 27 major subject areas and more than 300 specific subject categories.

Check Indexing and CiteScore Quartile Using Scopus Sources

Scopus Sources (scopus.com/sources) is Elsevier’s searchable list of the titles indexed in Scopus. Search by title, publisher or ISSN. The list can be filtered by CiteScore quartile and by source type (journal, book series, conference proceedings or trade publication), and each source’s detail page shows its CiteScore rank and percentile for every category it belongs to, along with SJR. This is your first check of indexing status, because a journal can drop out of Scopus coverage and an old reference list will not tell you.

Be clear about which quartile you are reading. The CiteScore quartile on Scopus Sources comes from Scopus’s own CiteScore metric, which counts citations over four years and is reported once a year (a separate CiteScore Tracker figure for the current year updates monthly). The SJR quartile on scimagojr.com comes from the SJR metric. Both use Scopus data, but they are different metrics and can differ for the same journal and category. Scopus advises naming the subject category whenever you quote a CiteScore percentile, rank or quartile.

A practical routine is to confirm on Scopus Sources that the journal is active and note its coverage years, then read the SJR quartile by subject category on SCImago. Used as a pair, the two tools give a fuller picture than either alone, and both are free.

Paid Tool: How to Check Quartile Using Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

JCR is a Clarivate product behind a subscription, so you usually reach it through a university library or an institutional account. If your institution has Web of Science, JCR is often included. Sign in through your institution, type the journal name or ISSN into the search bar, and open the journal’s profile page, where the impact factor and the subject category rankings are shown.

How to View Quartile by Subject Category in JCR

JCR also gives a separate quartile for each Web of Science subject category a journal belongs to, so the position can differ between categories. Read the one that matches your field:

1. Open the journal’s JCR profile page.
2. Scroll to the ranking by Journal Impact Factor.
3. Find the table listing each subject category, the journal’s rank in it (for example, 14 out of 120 journals) and the JIF Quartile (Q1, Q2, Q3 or Q4).
4. Pick the category that matches your field and read the quartile from that row.

JCR sorts all journals in a category by Journal Impact Factor from highest to lowest and divides them into four groups by rank position. The label is shown directly in the table, so you are not working it out yourself. Check the latest JCR release year, because impact factors and quartiles update annually. The 2026 edition was released on 17 June 2026 and reflects 2025 data, with metrics for 22,643 journals across 254 categories.

Which Quartile System Does Your Institution Accept?

Before you cite a quartile, find out which system your institution, funding body or target conference recognizes. Some ask for SJR, some for JIF, and some for both. Submitting proof of a Q1 SJR ranking when the requirement is a Q1 JIF quartile is a real problem. When you record a quartile on a CV, grant application or institutional report, name the source, the year and the category.

Q1 in JCR (2025 edition), subject category: Oncology.

That is far more credible and verifiable than a bare “Q1 journal” claim.

Common Mistakes People Make When Checking Quartile Rankings

Getting the quartile wrong is not unusual, even for experienced researchers. Watch for these errors too, beyond the ones already covered above (reading the first quartile listed instead of the subject category that matches your field, and mixing up SJR and JIF).

Using an Outdated Source

A journal that was Q1 in 2019 may be Q2 or Q3 now. Researchers sometimes rely on screenshots, old PDFs or cached pages. Check the live database, select the year you need (SCImago has a year selector, and JCR rankings are tied to an annual release), and note which year you are citing.

Trusting Third-Party Lists Without Verification

Many websites publish journal ranking lists that are outdated, inaccurate or based on unofficial sources, and some circulate in academic WhatsApp groups and department email threads. Verify any quartile in SCImago, Scopus Sources or JCR. Treat anything else as unverified until it is cross-checked against one of them.

Assuming Scopus Coverage Equals a High Quartile

Being covered by Scopus means a journal passed Scopus’s selection process. It says nothing about where the journal ranks in its category, and Scopus includes Q1 and Q4 journals alike. The quartile, not the logo, shows relative standing.

Overlooking Predatory Journals That Appear in Listings

A listing, or even a brief appearance in a database, is not permanent proof of legitimacy. If a journal’s quartile looks surprisingly high for its obvious lack of editorial infrastructure, check its publication history, its editorial board and whether its Scopus listing is active or discontinued. A journal that has been discontinued or removed is a signal to take seriously before you submit.

Checking the Wrong Journal Entirely

Titles are often very similar. “Journal of Applied Science” and “Applied Sciences Journal” are different publications with different rankings. Clicking the first search result without checking the publisher, ISSN and subject category has led researchers to cite the wrong journal’s quartile. Always confirm that the ISSN matches the journal you are targeting.

Does Quartile Ranking Change Every Year?

Yes. Both SJR quartiles and JIF quartiles are recalculated every year. A journal in Q1 this year can drop to Q2 next year, and a journal stuck in Q3 can climb. The ranking is a snapshot tied to a specific data year, not a permanent label.

Why the Rankings Shift

A journal’s quartile depends on its own metric (the SJR score or the Journal Impact Factor) and on the metric of every other journal in the same category. If competing journals improve faster, your target’s relative position falls even when its own score stays flat or rises slightly.

New journals entering a category can also compress the rankings. Highly cited newcomers that get indexed in Scopus or Web of Science push into the upper quartiles and move established journals down.

What This Means for Your Publication Strategy

Verify the ranking for the current data year before you submit. Do not rely on a quartile mentioned in a lab meeting six months ago, a screenshot from a group chat, or an institutional list that has not been updated.

On SCImago you can view how a journal’s quartile has changed over time. A journal with a stable Q1 across five consecutive years is a safer target than one that bounced between Q1 and Q2. JCR shows the current JIF quartile for the active release year, so if your institution has access, pull the data directly rather than copying it from third-party sites.

How Often to Re-Check

SJR and JCR are each updated once a year. The 2026 JCR was released on 17 June 2026. CiteScore is reported once a year, and SCImago shows its quartiles by year on each journal profile. Check each tool’s own pages for the release date, and re-check any journal on your shortlist after each release.

Predatory journals sometimes advertise a quartile from years ago, or invent one. A fresh check on Scopus Sources or SCImago takes about two minutes and shows whether the journal is currently indexed. Do not skip it because you checked once before.

Predatory Journals and the Quartile System: What Many Researchers Do Not Know

A journal’s own claim of being “Q1” or “Q2” is not evidence, especially when it appears only on the journal’s website or in an unsolicited email. Predatory publishers borrow the language of legitimate publishing with remarkable precision, using phrases such as “listed in Scopus,” “high impact factor” and “Q1 ranked” in ways that are false, outdated or invented. An email promising rapid publication in a “Q1 Scopus journal” is often none of those things.

Why Predatory Journals Exploit Quartile Claims

Quartiles carry weight in hiring, grants and promotion, so predatory publishers put quartile language at the centre of their pitch. Common patterns:

• A journal was briefly indexed in Scopus years ago, was removed for quality concerns, and still advertises its former Q2 status as current.
• A journal lists an SJR score with no date, so a 2016 ranking looks like current standing.
• A journal invents a quartile, knowing most researchers will not check SCImago or Scopus Sources.

None of these journals will tell you they were delisted.

JCR and the Impact Factor Problem

Journal Citation Reports, maintained by Clarivate, is the authoritative source for the Journal Impact Factor and JIF quartile. Predatory journals often display a self-reported or third-party “impact factor” that does not come from JCR at all. Several third-party platforms calculate their own impact-factor-style numbers and give almost any journal a score. They are not JCR figures, yet they look official enough to mislead. If a journal cites an impact factor, check whether it appears in JCR under a Web of Science subject category. If it does not, the number means nothing for quartile purposes.

A Note for PhD Students Specifically

The pressure to publish quickly in the final stages of a PhD is exactly what predatory journals target. An acceptance within two weeks from a journal claiming Q2 status should raise questions rather than settle them, because a very fast acceptance can mean the peer review was thin or missing, so run the checks below before you reply.

Your supervisor or the university’s research librarian can help check indexing. Many university libraries have access to JCR, Scopus or both, and the help costs nothing. It protects your record from a mistake that is hard to correct later.

Which Quartile Should You Target Based on Your Situation?

It depends on where you are in your career and what the publication needs to achieve. There is no single correct quartile for everyone.

If You Are a PhD Student or Early Career Researcher

The instinct is to aim only at Q1, but that can mean months of repeated rejection and a record with nothing to show. Your first priority is getting peer-reviewed, indexed work into print. A solid Q2 journal in the right subject category is respected in most fields, and reviewers and hiring committees do not dismiss anything outside Q1.

What to avoid is a journal with no verifiable quartile at all. If it does not appear in Scopus Sources or Web of Science and has no SJR quartile on SCImago, take that warning seriously. Indexing matters far more than a vague claim of “high impact” on the journal’s own site.

A practical shortlist: one or two Q1 options, a couple of Q2 options, and perhaps one Q3 journal as a fallback. Submit one at a time, based on fit and scope as well as ranking. A Q2 paper in a journal that truly covers your topic serves you better than a Q1 rejection followed by nothing.

If your institution or funder requires a minimum quartile (some require Q1 or Q2 for certain grants or doctoral completion), find out before you write the paper, not after. Requirements vary by country and department.

If You Need a High-Impact Publication

“High impact” usually means one of two things: a strong JIF quartile in JCR, or a journal that a specific institution, funder or national system treats as Q1 for your field. Q1 is the target here, but the category matters. Q1 in a narrow sub-discipline carries different weight than Q1 in a broad, competitive field such as Medicine or Computer Science. If the journal is Q1 on SJR but Q2 in JCR, decide which ranking your institution or audience treats as authoritative.

Raw impact factor numbers without quartile context can mislead. A journal with an impact factor of 2.5 might be Q1 in a small field and Q3 in a larger one. For career advancement, grant eligibility or a competitive postdoctoral application, verify the journal in both Scopus and Web of Science and confirm the current quartile, not last year’s. The check takes five minutes.

Common Myths About Q3 and Q4 Journals

Many researchers, especially PhD students and early career researchers, have absorbed unhelpful ideas about lower-quartile journals. Some come from senior academics who learned the rules in a different era, others from misreading what a quartile measures.

Myth 1: Q3 and Q4 journals are predatory journals.

A quartile is a citation-based position within a category, not a legitimacy verdict. A journal in Q3 or Q4 has been selected for Scopus or Web of Science and simply ranks lower than others in its category. That is a performance distinction. Calling a Q4 journal “predatory” mixes up two separate assessments. The legitimacy question is answered by checking current indexing and the journal’s practices, as described above.

Myth 2: Publishing in Q3 or Q4 is a waste of time.

Context matters. In some emerging or specialized categories, only a handful of journals are indexed, and the quartile shows where a journal sits in its category, not how important the research field is. Springer Nature has also noted that newer journals can climb: of 86 Springer and BMC titles added to JCR between 2019 and 2023, 80 that started in Q3 or Q4 or were unranked later received rankings, and 40 of those reached Q1 or Q2. A researcher publishing solid work in a niche Q3 journal has added something real to their record.

Myth 3: Q1 is always worth the wait, no matter how long.

For researchers facing funding renewals, contract deadlines or probation reviews tied to publication output, waiting many months for a Q1 response only to receive a desk rejection is a costly strategy. A well-matched Q2 or Q3 journal with faster turnaround and a good scope fit can be the more rational choice. Q1 journals tend to have higher citation impact on average, but the right quartile depends on the paper’s scope, your timeline and the realistic chance of acceptance.

A quartile describes citation impact relative to other journals in the same category, nothing more. Treating it as the only variable tends to push researchers toward decisions that do not serve their work.

How to Verify Whether a Journal Is Still Active and Indexed

Finding the quartile is only half the job. A journal can appear in SCImago or Scopus Sources with a respectable Q2 label and still be discontinued, suspended or quietly delisted. Here is how to check.

Start With the Current Scopus Source List

Scopus runs an ongoing re-evaluation program and discontinues titles that no longer meet its standards, so a journal that was indexed three years ago may have been dropped while its website still shows the Scopus logo and an old quartile. Search Scopus Sources (scopus.com/sources) by ISSN, not just name, because names get recycled, slightly changed or imitated. If the journal does not appear, it is not currently indexed in Scopus, whatever its website says.

Check the coverage years on the source details page too. Coverage that ends in 2020 means Scopus is no longer adding content from the journal, so papers submitted now will not be indexed and a Q ranking from three years ago is irrelevant. The page can also show a status. Inactive means Scopus has received no records from the publisher for three years, Discontinued means the title no longer meets Scopus’s standards, and Stopped means the journal changed its title and ISSN and the former title’s coverage ended. Elsevier lists discontinued titles in the downloadable Scopus source title list, which it updates monthly. Content already indexed stays in Scopus, so a discontinued journal can still appear in a search.

Cross-Check Against the SCImago Journal Rank Database

SJR data on scimagojr.com is organized by year. If the most recent year shown is two or three years behind and there is no newer data, check the journal’s status on Scopus Sources before you submit, because a gap can mean the title is inactive or discontinued.

Check the Journal’s Own Website and ISSN Status

This step is often skipped. Look for recently published issues and check the dates. A journal whose latest issue is from 2021 is effectively dormant, even if older indexing records still list it. Also check the ISSN in the ISSN Portal (portal.issn.org). A serial journal normally has a registered ISSN, and if the number does not resolve or the title does not match the record, something is wrong.

Use Web of Science to Confirm JIF Quartile Status

A journal needs to be currently covered by Web of Science to receive a JIF quartile. Confirm current status by searching the Web of Science Master Journal List, which is separate from JCR. Historical data in JCR does not prove current indexing, so check the master list for the journal’s present status.

Watch for Journals That Changed Publishers or Titles

Mergers, title changes and publisher transfers happen regularly. A journal may have been a strong Q1 title under one name and publisher, then relaunched under a new name with different editorial standards, or none. The ISSN usually changes with the title, so if the ISSN, title and subject category data look inconsistent, dig deeper before assuming continuity.

Journals That Mimic Active Journals

Some predatory journals copy the names and website designs of real, indexed publications and falsely claim to be covered by Scopus or Web of Science. Verification has to go through the official Scopus Sources list and the Web of Science master list, not the journal’s homepage. If a journal says it is indexed but you cannot find it in the official database search, trust the database.

Practical Verification Checklist

Cross-check at least two independent sources before submitting. For a journal that claims Q1 status:

• Search the ISSN on Scopus Sources and confirm active coverage includes recent years
• Check SCImago for the quartile in your subject category and for recent annual data, not a single snapshot
• If Web of Science or JCR matters for your field, confirm the journal is on the Web of Science master journal list
• Visit the journal’s website and confirm that recent issues have been published
• Confirm the ISSN through the ISSN Portal
• Ask your librarian or supervisor if anything seems off

If any check fails, stop. A journal that cannot be verified in the primary databases has not earned your manuscript. Quartiles show relative standing at a point in time, and indexing checks show the journal is still a working, indexed publication today. You need both.

From our experience at MS International: A quartile belongs to a journal, and a conference does not have one. Our conferences use double-blind peer review, and authors receive an acceptance, revision request or rejection decision by email, with most review decisions returned within about 10 working days. Accepted papers may be considered for conference proceedings where applicable, and we do not promise indexing in any database. Treat any event that promises Scopus or Web of Science coverage with the same checks described above. A paper must also not be published or under review elsewhere when you submit it to us, so decide whether you want the journal route or the conference route before you send the work anywhere.

FAQ

Checking a journal’s quartile gets murky when SJR and JIF disagree, a journal ranks Q1 in one category and Q3 in another, or the title is missing from JCR and SCImago.

What is the difference between SJR quartile and JIF quartile?

SJR quartile comes from SCImago and uses Scopus data, while JIF quartile comes from Journal Citation Reports and uses Web of Science data and the Journal Impact Factor. A journal can be Q1 in one system and Q2 or Q3 in the other because the databases and methods differ. Check both if you need a complete picture.

Can a journal be Q1 in one subject category and Q3 in another?

Yes. A journal classified under several subject categories can hold a different quartile in each. When you check SCImago or JCR, read the category that matches your research field. That is the quartile your department or funder will usually care about.

Is a Q1 journal always better than a Q2 journal?

No. A quartile shows a journal’s position relative to others in its category, not the quality of every paper it publishes. In a narrow field, a long-established Q2 journal with rigorous peer review can carry more weight for your topic than a Q1 journal in a less active category.

How often do quartile rankings update?

Once a year. JCR released its 2026 edition on 17 June 2026, CiteScore is reported once a year, and SCImago shows quartiles year by year. A journal’s quartile can move up or down with each cycle, so verify the latest release before you submit.

Can a predatory journal appear in Scopus or get a quartile ranking?

It can happen. Some journals with questionable practices have passed Scopus’s review and held a ranking before being removed, and there can be a lag between a decline in quality and delisting. A quartile is one signal, not a guarantee, so also check the editorial board, publication history and retraction record before submitting.

What if the journal I want to check doesn’t appear in JCR or SCImago?

It has no official quartile in that system, and it may not be indexed in Web of Science or Scopus. Some journals are indexed elsewhere, for example in PubMed or DOAJ, without an SJR or JIF quartile. Many universities and funders require a paper to appear in Scopus or Web of Science to count it, so check your institution’s policy before submitting to an unranked journal.

Is the impact factor the same as a quartile ranking?

No. The impact factor is a raw number: average citations per paper over a defined period. The quartile is a relative position among journals in the same category. A high impact factor in a citation-heavy field such as oncology can still be Q2 if the top journals have even higher numbers.

Where is the most reliable free tool for checking quartile rankings?

SCImago Journal & Country Rank (scimagojr.com) is the most accessible free tool for SJR quartiles. Scopus Sources is free to search, confirms current coverage and lets you filter by CiteScore quartile. JCR needs institutional access, which many university libraries provide.

Does a conference or proceedings have a Q1 to Q4 quartile?

No SJR quartile exists for it: SCImago says quartile data is only available for journals and book series. Scopus Sources lists conference proceedings as a source type, so check the source’s own page before assuming anything about its ranking or indexing.

Conclusion: Know the Right Quartile, Choose the Right Journal

Check the quartile before you submit, in the right category, for the current year, and from a source your institution accepts. Then confirm that the journal is still indexed. A well-regarded Q2 journal that fits your paper often reaches a more relevant audience than a broad Q1 journal where it risks getting buried, so match the journal to the work, not just to the ranking.