The American Physical Society’s (APS) journals achieved record‑high performance across multiple metrics in Clarivate’s 2026 Journal Citation Reports (JCR), released on June 17. The annual report, which evaluates more than 22,600 indexed journals across 254 research fields, highlighted APS’s influence in both core physics categories and the broader scientific publishing landscape.
According to the report, five APS journals ranked in the top 1% of all indexed titles by total citations, while 10 placed in the top 5%. Physical Review Letters led the portfolio with 541,055 citations, making it the 11th most‑cited journal worldwide. Physical Review B and Physical Review D followed as the 13th and 25th most‑cited journals, respectively.
Measured by normalized eigenfactor, which reflects overall influence, four APS journals ranked in the top 1% and twelve in the top 5%. Physical Review Letters was identified as the most influential multidisciplinary physics journal, ranking 24th overall and scoring 54 times higher than the average scholarly journal. APS journals accounted for half of the top 10 publications in the multidisciplinary physics category, including Physical Review Letters in first place, Physical Review Research in second, and Physical Review X in fourth. Fourteen of APS’s 15 indexed journals ranked within the top 15% of their respective fields.
Other metrics reinforced APS’s standing. Reviews of Modern Physics maintained its position as the highest‑impact multidisciplinary physics journal, with a 2025 impact factor of 48.9 and an immediacy index of 13.2. Physical Review X led open access titles across multiple measures, including total citations (40,187), impact factor (16.8), journal citation indicator (4.01), immediacy index (4.1), and article influence score (5.968). Physical Review Research ranked first among open access titles in normalized eigenfactor.
Five APS journals reported their highest‑ever impact factors in 2025: Physical Review X (16.8), PRX Quantum (12.3), Physical Review Letters (9.4), Physical Review Fluids (3.0), and Physical Review Accelerators and Beams (2.0). PRX Quantum rose from 11.0 to 12.3, ranking first in quantum science and technology and placing in the top 10% of both applied physics and multidisciplinary physics. Overall, eight APS journals ranked in the top quartile for impact factor in at least one category.
As a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, APS emphasized that impact factor is only one measure of journal quality. The Society highlighted additional indicators such as the h‑5 index, SJR, and CiteScore, and reiterated that journal‑level metrics should not be used to evaluate individual authors or their research outputs.
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