Frontiers journal ranking analysis: Immunology

With an Impact Factor of 6.429, Frontiers in Immunology is the 5th most cited Immunology journal in the world. 

This year, 150 journals are listed in the category of Immunology in the 2016 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), of which 18 are open-access (OA).

The Impact Factor (IF) is measured each year and reported in the JCR by Clarivate Analytics (formerly known as Thomson Reuters), along with citations and other metrics of journal impact. The IF of a journal is the average number of citations received last year to articles published in the previous two years – and is universally regarded as a metric of journal quality. The total number of citations captures how much research is built on the papers published in a journal and is therefore a measure of influence of a journal on a field. As such, the 2016-JCR analysis is based on citations in 2016 to articles published in 2014 and 2015.

Our analysis shows that the quality, impact and influence of Frontiers journals are steadily growing.

With an Impact Factor of 6.429, Frontiers in Immunology is the 5th most cited of all journals in the category of Immunology, with a total of 7,091 citations in 2016 to 1,103 articles published in 2014 and 2015 (Figure 1).  It is also the 1st most cited open-access journal in Immunology (Figure 2)

In 2016, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology  received 1,087 citations to 253 articles published in 2014 and 2015. With an Impact Factor of 4.300, the journal is the 7th most cited open-access journal in the Immunology category (Figure 2). It is also the 5th most cited open-access journal in Microbiology (see the Microbiology analysis here).

Overall, with journals listed across 20 JCR categories, Frontiers’ Impact Factors are consistently ranked among the best performing journals, ranking as high as at the 96th percentile.

In summary, Frontiers in Immunology:

  • Is the 5th most-cited journal, with 7,091 citations.

  • Ranks at the 86th percentile of Journal Impact Factors in the category of Immunology.

Read Frontiers in Immunology Report here.

In summary,  Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology:

  • Is the 7th most-cited open-access journal, with 1,087 citations.

  • Ranks at the 74th percentile of Journal Impact Factors in Immunology.

Read Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology Report here.

Top 10 most cited journals in Immunology

Frontiers in Immunology_ALL top journals

Figure 1. Total number of citations in 2016 to articles published in 2014 and 2015, for the top 10 most cited journals in Immunology. Bar plot shows Frontiers in Immunology (in red) ranks 5th most cited over 150 journals indexed. The results are based on the 2016 Journal Citation Reports, released in 2017 by Clarivate Analytics.

Top 10 most cited open-access journals in Immunology

Frontiers in Immunology_OpenAccess top journals

Figure 2. Total number of citations in 2016 to articles published in 2014 and 2015, for the top 10 most cited open-access journals in Immunology. Bar plot shows Frontiers in Immunology (in red) ranks 1st most cited over 18 open-access journals indexed, while Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (in red) ranks 7th most cited open-access journal in Immunology. The results are based on the 2016 Journal Citation Reports, released in 2017 by Clarivate Analytics.

Scientific Excellence at Scale

Frontiers has become one of the largest open-access publishers in the world and is leading many of the technological innovations in Open Science. We engineered our Collaborative Peer Review with a review mandate focused on enhancing article quality by means of rigorous and constructive feedback from expert reviewers, quick and direct interactions between authors, reviewers and the editor. We enable their work with our unique review forum platform, and we introduced transparency and accountability by acknowledging reviewers and editors on the published articles.

With journals listed across 20 academic categories in the 2016-JCR, Frontiers journals rank in the top percentiles of Impact Factors and total citations. This confirms the rapidly growing success and influence of the Frontiers Open Science model, that consistently delivers scientific excellence at scale.

All of this is only possible with a stellar editorial board of researchers. Frontiers congratulates Field Chief Editor Luigi Notarangelo and all Specialty Chief Editors, as well as the diligent work of the Associate and Review Editors and the Frontiers Journal Management team for this outstanding achievement.

Read Frontiers in Immunology Report here.

Read Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology Report here.

Frontiers in Immunology Editorial Board

(see full  board here)

Luigi Notarangelo, Bethesda | Field Chief Editor, Immunology

Antoine Toubert, Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7 | Specialty Chief Editor, Alloimmunity and Transplantation

Effie Petersdorf, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | Specialty Chief Editor, Alloimmunity and Transplantation

Hermann Wagner, Technische Universität München | Specialty Chief Editor, Antigen Presenting Cell Biology

Thomas Rothstein, Western Michigan University | Specialty Chief Editor, B Cell Biology

John Manis, Harvard University | Specialty Chief Editor, B Cells – Clinical Perspectives

Katy Rezvani, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center | Specialty Chief Editor, Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

Catherine Sautes-Fridman, UMRS 1138 | Specialty Chief Editor, Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

Miki Nakao, Kyushu University | Specialty Chief Editor, Comparative Immunology

Silvano Sozzani, University of Brescia | Specialty Chief Editor, Cytokines and Soluble Mediators in Immunity

Nina Bhardwaj, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | Specialty Chief Editor, HIV and AIDS

John de Wit, University of New South Wales | Specialty Chief Editor, HIV and AIDS

Scott Mueller, University of Melbourne | Specialty Chief Editor, Immunological Memory

Herman Waldmann, University of Oxford | Specialty Chief Editor, Immunological Tolerance and Regulation

Pietro Ghezzi, Brighton and Sussex Medical School | Specialty Chief Editor, Inflammation

Ian Marriott, University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Specialty Chief Editor, Microbial Immunology

Ulrich Schaible, Forschungszentrum Borstel (LG) | Specialty Chief Editor, Microbial Immunology

Imtiaz Khan, George Washington University | Specialty Chief Editor, Microbial Immunology

Francesca Granucci, University of Milan-Bicocca | Specialty Chief Editor, Molecular Innate Immunity

Nils Lycke, University of Gothenburg | Specialty Chief Editor, Mucosal Immunity

Yenan Bryceson, Karolinska Institute | Specialty Chief Editor, NK and Innate Lymphoid Cell Biology

Chiara Romagnani, Deutsches Rheuma Forschungszentrum | Specialty Chief Editor, NK and Innate Lymphoid Cell Biology

Luigi Notarangelo, Other | Specialty Chief Editor, Primary Immunodeficiencies

Isabelle Meyts, KU Leuven | Specialty Chief Editor, Primary Immunodeficiencies

Chen Dong, Tsinghua University | Specialty Chief Editor, T Cell Biology

Denise Doolan, James Cook University | Specialty Chief Editor, Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics


Read more about Frontiers journals

Read the analysis for other Frontiers journals here. This year, 24 Frontiers journals were indexed in the 2016 edition of the Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics, 2017). 

Read the analysis for other Frontiers journals here. 

Discover the latest Frontiers report here, with key facts and contributions, and details on our leading journals, their impact  and outstanding researchers on board.

Discover the latest Frontiers report here