Clarivate Plc has officially released the 2025 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), marking the 50th anniversary of one of the most trusted resources for evaluating journal impact and quality. The JCR remains a cornerstone in scholarly publishing, offering metrics like the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and the Journal Citation Indicator, widely used by researchers, institutions, and publishers to assess journal performance.
This year’s JCR features 22,249 journals from 111 countries, covering 254 subject categories. Among them, over 6,200 journals are gold open access, emphasizing the growing shift toward open science. Of the total indexed journals, 14,591 are from the sciences, 7,559 from the social sciences, and 3,368 from the arts and humanities. Notably, 618 journals have received a JIF for the first time, expanding recognition for emerging and high-quality journals worldwide.
A key policy update in the 2025 release is the exclusion of citations from retracted content in JIF calculations, a move intended to strengthen the credibility and accountability of the impact factor. While such citations are now excluded from the JIF numerator, retracted articles still count in the denominator—affecting approximately 1% of journals—to maintain transparency.
Dr. Nandita Quaderi, Editor-in-Chief of Web of Science, stated, “As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the JCR, we are proud to uphold our commitment to a more equitable, transparent, and trustworthy scholarly ecosystem, true to the legacy of Eugene Garfield.”
Echoing the sentiment, Emmanuel Thiveaud, SVP at Clarivate, emphasized the JCR’s enduring value: “These data empower researchers and institutions to make informed decisions, helping to advance global knowledge and innovation.”
The Journal Citation Reports continue to play a vital role in maintaining scholarly integrity, supporting evidence-based publishing decisions, and reflecting the evolving landscape of academic research evaluation.