This blog post on PhdTalks aims to provide an overview of the Science Citation Index (SCI) journals. The SCI is a citation index that includes high-quality research journals.
In this post, we discuss the following points:
- What are SCI Journals,
- Difference between SCI and SCIE Journals,
- List of SCI Journals (Top 20), and
- Free to publish SCI Journals.
The Science Citation Index (SCI), a citation index, was officially launched in 1964 by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). Clarivate Analytics now owns it.
At present, SCI journals are part of Clarivate’s Web of Science Core Collection.
SCI stands for Science Citation Index, while SCIE stands for Science Citation Index Expanded. SCIE is a larger and more comprehensive database, encompassing a broader range of scientific journals than SCI.
Difference between SCI, SCIE, and ESCI journals
Many researchers are confused about the difference between SCI and SCIE. Originally, SCI journals were distributed via CDs/DVDs, while SCIE journals are available online; however, today, both represent high-quality journals indexed by Clarivate.
Intially, SCI and SCIE databases were two separate databases. The SCIE contains a curated collection of over 9,200 journals that span 178 scientific disciplines. The SCI, on the other hand, comprised the most highly cited journals with the highest impact factors within the SCIE. Both these databases were overlapping.
Now, SCI has subsequently merged into SCIE and SCI was removed from the Clarivate Analytics master journal list. This reduced overlap and simplified the collections of research. Therefore, Web of Science’s collections of journals are now:
- Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE): clinical, natural and applied sciences
- Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI): social sciences
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI): arts and humanities
- Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI): all disciplines
| Web of Science Core collection | Number of Journals |
|---|---|
| Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) | 9,449 |
| Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) | 3,542 |
| Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) | 1,809 |
| Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) | 8,998 |
Final Verdict: The word SCI has vanished and Web of Science now uses only the word SCIE. SCIE is the updated version of SCI. These journals cover fields like engineering, medicine, natural sciences, computer science, biology, and more.
How to Identify SCI Journals?
SCI journals are peer reviewed journals and are recognized globally for publishing high-quality scientific research. These journals have impact factors and are included in the annually released Journal Citation Report (JCR).
1) Visit Clarivate Official Website:
2) Enter the journal name or ISSN:
List of SCI Journals
We list below the top 20 journals based on their impact factors. Researchers can use PhdTalks Journal Finder tool to select more SCI / SCIE journals based on their publication area.
| S. No. | Journal Title | ISSN | Scope of Publication | Impact Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CA-A CANCER JOURNAL FOR CLINICIANS | 1542-4863 | ONCOLOGY|Q1|1/322 | 503.1 |
| 2 | NATURE REVIEWS DRUG DISCOVERY | 1474-1784 | PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY|Q1|1/354 | 122.7 |
| 3 | LANCET | 1474-547X | MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL|Q1|1/325 | 98.4 |
| 4 | NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE | 1533-4406 | MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL|Q1|2/325 | 96.2 |
| 5 | BMJ-British Medical Journal | 1756-1833 | MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL|Q1|3/325 | 93.6 |
| 6 | NATURE REVIEWS MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY | 1471-0080 | CELL BIOLOGY|Q1|1/205 | 81.3 |
| 7 | Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology | 1759-4782 | ONCOLOGY|Q1|2/322 | 81.1 |
| 8 | Nature Reviews Materials | 2058-8437 | NANOSCIENCE & NANOTECHNOLOGY|Q1|1/140 | 79.8 |
| 9 | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | 2056-676X | MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL|Q1|4/325 | 76.9 |
| 10 | NATURE REVIEWS CANCER | 1474-1768 | ONCOLOGY|Q1|3/322 | 72.5 |
| 11 | NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY | 1740-1534 | MICROBIOLOGY|Q1|1/161 | 69.2 |
| 12 | NATURE REVIEWS IMMUNOLOGY | 1474-1741 | IMMUNOLOGY|Q1|1/181 | 67.7 |
| 13 | Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning | 1935-8245 | COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE|Q1|1/197 | 65.3 |
| 14 | JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION | 1538-3598 | MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL|Q1|5/325 | 63.1 |
| 15 | World Psychiatry | 2051-5545 | PSYCHIATRY|Q1|1/276 | 60.5 |
| 16 | NATURE MEDICINE | 1546-170X | MEDICINE, RESEARCH & EXPERIMENTAL|Q1|1/189 | 58.7 |
| 17 | ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY | 1569-8041 | ONCOLOGY|Q1|4/322 | 56.7 |
| 18 | CHEMICAL REVIEWS | 1520-6890 | CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY|Q1|1/230 | 51.4 |
| 19 | NATURE | 1476-4687 | MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES|Q1|1/134 | 50.5 |
| 20 | Nature Reviews Methods Primers | 2662-8449 | MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES|Q1|2/134 | 50.1 |
List of Free to Publish SCI journals
There are more than thousand SCI / SCIE journals that publish with no Article Processing Charges. A few no APC SCI journals are listed below.
More free SCI journals with impact factor: Multiple Subjects
1) Journal Of Rock Mechanics And Geotechnical Engineering
The journal is concerned with the latest research achievements in rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering. The Chinese Academy of Sciences covers the open access fees for this journal.
Publisher: Chinese Academy of Sciences
ISSN: 1674-7755
Impact Factor: 9.4
2) Journal Of Remote Sensing
The Journal is published in association with AIR-CAS, promotes the theory, science, and technology of remote sensing, as well as interdisciplinary research within earth and information science. The Journal of Remote Sensing, an Open Access journal published in association with AIR-CAS
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
ISSN: 2694-1589
Impact Factor: 8.8
3) Energy Material Advances
This journal publishes research in multiple fields from cutting-edge material to energy science. The journal is supported by the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), which covers the costs of publication.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
ISSN: 2692-7640
Impact Factor: 14.8
4) Big Data Mining and Analytics
This journal operates as an open access publication, with all publishing costs being subsidized by the IEEE Xplore.
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc..
ISSN: 2096-0654
Impact Factor: 7.7
5) CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems
All articles published in this journal are open access, and the open access fee is waived upon acceptance of the manuscript.
Publisher: China Electric Power Research Institute
ISSN: 2096-0042
Impact Factor: 6.9
6) Physics Letters B
Physics Letters B ensures the rapid publication of important new results in particle physics, nuclear physics and cosmology. The Journal does not have a publication fee for authors.
Publisher: Elsevier
ISSN: 0370-2693
Impact Factor: 4.3
7) Pediatrics And Neonatology
Publisher: Elsevier
ISSN: 1875-9572
Impact Factor: 2.3
8) Arabian Journal of Mathematics
Arabian Journal of Mathematics publishes significant research papers across all mainstream branches of pure and applied mathematics.
The Journal imposes no submission or publication charges for authors or their institutions.
Publisher: Springer Heidelberg
ISSN: 21935351
Impact Factor: 0.9
9) Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Publisher: SpringerOpen
ISSN: 1000-9345
Impact Factor: 4.6
10) Satellite Navigation
The publication costs for Satellite Navigation are covered by Aerospace Information Research Institute so authors do not need to pay an article-processing charge.
Publisher: Springer
ISSN: 2662-9291
Impact Factor: 9