How do I check a journal's quartile?
A quartile can be checked in three places: the Scopus source list, SCImago Journal & Country Rank and Clarivate's Journal Citation Reports. The first two are free; the third needs a subscription. In all three the quartile is given per subject category: a journal can be Q1 in one category and Q3 in another.
Detail
1. Scopus (free)
On scopus.com/sources, search for the journal by title or ISSN and open its record. The journal's rank is shown per category and is based on CiteScore.
2. SCImago (free)
On scimagojr.com, search for the journal. Its record shows the quartile per category and per year, based on the SJR indicator.
3. Journal Citation Reports (subscription)
Clarivate's JCR gives the quartile based on the Journal Impact Factor. Two recent changes matter.
- Since 2023 every journal in the Web of Science Core Collection receives an Impact Factor, including AHCI and ESCI journals, and the value is displayed to one decimal place.
- Since 2024 there is a single ranking for each of the 254 categories, covering journals from all four indexes. With one decimal place there are more ties.
What to write down
Quartile, category, database and year — all four. "Q1" without a category and a database tells you nothing.