Q1 or Q2? What a Journal Quartile Really Tells You, and What It Doesn’t
“Is it Q1?” is one of the first questions many researchers ask about a journal. Promotion committees, graduate schools and grant panels often name a quartile in their rules, so the question makes sense. The trouble is that “Q1” is not a single fact about a journal. It depends on which database you look at, which subject category you check and which year’s data you use. A paper can be sent to the “right” journal and still fail an institutional check because the author looked at the wrong quartile.
This post explains what quartiles are, why two sources can disagree, and a simple routine for checking them before you submit. For the step-by-step version with screenshots of where each number lives, see our guide on how to check journal impact factor and quartiles.
A quartile is a rank, not a score
A quartile splits the journals in one subject category into four equal groups according to a metric. Q1 is the top 25%, Q2 the next 25%, and so on. The key words are “in one subject category”. A journal is ranked against its neighbours, not against every journal in the world.
That has two consequences. First, a journal can sit in Q1 in one category and Q2 in another, because it is listed in more than one field. Second, a modest metric can still be Q1 in a small field where citation rates are low, while a much higher metric might only reach Q2 in a fast-moving field such as oncology or machine learning. Comparing raw numbers across fields tells you very little.
Two families of quartiles
Most institutional rules refer to one of two sources.
- Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports (JCR). These quartiles are based on the Journal Impact Factor, which is calculated from citations in one year to items the journal published in the previous two years. JCR is updated once a year and needs a subscription, often provided by your library.
- Scopus-based quartiles. The SCImago Journal and Country Rank (SJR) portal publishes free quartiles derived from Scopus data, using its own weighted citation metric. Scopus itself also shows CiteScore and percentile ranks inside each subject area.
Because the metrics and the category lists are different, the same journal can be Q1 in SJR and Q2 in JCR, or the other way round. Neither is wrong. They are measuring different things.
Why your rule wording matters
If your university says “Q1 or Q2 journals,” ask the obvious follow-up questions before you shortlist anything:
- Which source counts: JCR, SJR, CiteScore percentiles, or any of them?
- If a journal sits in several categories, does the best one count, or the one closest to your discipline?
- Which year’s data applies: the year you submit, the year of acceptance, or the year of publication?
- Does the journal also need to be in a specific index, such as Web of Science SCIE or SSCI, or Scopus?
Get the answer in writing if you can. Research offices usually have a standard answer, and it saves arguments later when your paper comes up for review.
A five-step checking routine
- Confirm indexing first. Search the journal by title and ISSN in the free Scopus Sources list and in Clarivate’s Master Journal List. A quartile means nothing if the journal is not actually indexed where your rule requires.
- Find the right category. Note every subject category the journal is listed in, and pick the one that matches your institution’s rule.
- Read the quartile from the official source. Use JCR through your library, or the SJR portal, not a number printed on the journal’s own website or in an email invitation.
- Record the date. Take a dated screenshot or PDF of what you saw. Quartiles move each year, and evidence from the time of submission is useful if anyone asks later.
- Check the journal is a good fit anyway. Scope, article types, word limits, review times and fees matter as much as the quartile. A Q1 journal that does not publish your kind of study will desk-reject it.
Common traps
Quartiles shown on journal websites. Some sites display badges or numbers that are out of date, refer to a different category, or are simply invented. Hijacked journal websites copy real titles and their metrics. Always go to the database yourself.
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“Impact factor” from other providers. You may see metrics with similar names from organisations that are not Clarivate. They are not the Journal Impact Factor and will rarely satisfy an institutional rule.
Assuming last year’s quartile still holds. Journals rise and fall. If you are close to a deadline, check the newest release when it appears.
Chasing the quartile over the reader. The best journal for your paper is the one whose readers need your findings. A slightly lower quartile with the right audience often brings more citations than a higher one where your paper sits outside the core scope.
Keep the decision yours
Metrics are tools for choosing, not targets in themselves. Once you have a shortlist that meets your institution’s rule, read recent articles in each journal and ask whether yours would look at home among them.
If you would like help building that shortlist, our journal submission support service checks each candidate journal’s indexing and quartile in the official sources and shares the evidence with you. You choose where to submit, and the journal’s editors and reviewers decide on publication.
On Time Publication Editorial Team, https://www.ontimepublication.com/
