The typical first recorded impact factor was modest. Among the 2,392 journals with exact values, the mean was 1.43 but the median was only 0.9. Another 62 journals received a threshold value of <0.1. A small group of high-opening journals pulled the average well above the midpoint.
First recorded JIF
2,454
No earlier metric appears in the retained history.
Value types
2,392 + 62
Exact values plus journals reported as <0.1.
Mean vs median
1.43 / 0.9
The mean is more sensitive to a few very high values.
Share of dataset
10.8%
Of 22,643 current journal records.
What does “first impact factor 2026” mean?
We used a strict operational definition: a journal must have an exact or threshold JIF in the JCR 2026 edition, released June 17, 2026 using 2025 citation data, and no older metric entry of any kind in its Journal Metrics history. If a journal had an earlier exact value, an earlier <0.1 threshold, or an unavailable historical entry, we did not count it.
This distinction matters because searches for “new journals impact factor 2026,” “JCR 2026 new journals,” and “newly indexed journals impact factor” often combine different concepts. A first recorded JIF does not necessarily mean a journal is newly launched or newly indexed in Web of Science. It means no earlier JIF appears in Journal Metrics' current canonical history record. The retained data cannot independently prove that every title is receiving an impact factor for the first time in all of Clarivate's historical editions.
What did a typical first JIF look like?
More than half of the exact values were below 1.0, and 87.2% were below 2.0. The middle half ran from 0.7 to 1.3, while the 90th percentile was 2.6. Only 33 journals—1.4% of the exact-value group—opened at 10.0 or higher.
| JIF range | Journals | Share |
|---|---|---|
| <1.0 | 1,323 | 55.3% |
| 1.0–1.9 | 764 | 31.9% |
| 2.0–2.9 | 93 | 3.9% |
| 3.0–4.9 | 98 | 4.1% |
| 5.0–9.9 | 81 | 3.4% |
| ≥10.0 | 33 | 1.4% |
Which quartiles did these journals enter?
Q4 was the largest group, with 1,007 journals, followed by Q3 with 650. Still, 223 journals entered at Q1. Quartiles are category-relative: a journal can have a moderate raw JIF and still rank strongly in a lower-citation field, or a higher JIF and rank lower in a citation-dense field.
| Quartile | Journals | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 223 | 9.1% |
| Q2 | 327 | 13.3% |
| Q3 | 650 | 26.5% |
| Q4 | 1,007 | 41.0% |
| N/A | 247 | 10.1% |
For a fuller explanation, see our guide to JCR quartiles.
Which research fields contained the most journals?
The cohort spans 249 JCR categories. Mathematics led with 116 journals, while Education & Educational Research and History each had 81. Public, Environmental & Occupational Health had fewer titles than Mathematics but a higher median first JIF of 1.3.
Because one journal can belong to several fields, these are category assignments rather than mutually exclusive journal totals. The cohort produced 3,224 assignments, so category counts should not be added together as if they represented different journals.
| JCR category | Journals | Cohort share | Mean exact JIF | Median exact JIF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MATHEMATICS | 116 | 4.7% | 0.81 | 0.80 |
| EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH | 81 | 3.3% | 1.33 | 0.90 |
| HISTORY | 81 | 3.3% | 0.63 | 0.60 |
| ECONOMICS | 63 | 2.6% | 1.05 | 0.90 |
| LAW | 62 | 2.5% | 0.75 | 0.65 |
| MATHEMATICS, APPLIED | 55 | 2.2% | 0.82 | 0.80 |
| RELIGION | 52 | 2.1% | 0.65 | 0.70 |
| LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS | 51 | 2.1% | 0.78 | 0.70 |
| POLITICAL SCIENCE | 51 | 2.1% | 0.79 | 0.65 |
| PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH | 51 | 2.1% | 1.71 | 1.30 |
| PHILOSOPHY | 45 | 1.8% | 0.60 | 0.60 |
| MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL | 43 | 1.8% | 1.43 | 0.90 |
Explore first impact factors by field
Neurosurgery
Seven explicitly named neurosurgery journals have a first recorded JIF in the retained JCR 2026 history. Chinese Neurosurgical Journal leads this group at 1.7.
Ophthalmology
Ten journals in the JCR Ophthalmology category have a first recorded JIF in 2026. Frontiers in Ophthalmology leads at 2.4.
Bioinformatics
Three journals in Mathematical & Computational Biology have a first recorded JIF in 2026. BioMedInformatics leads at 3.6 and is the only Q1 title.
Pediatrics
Twelve journals in the JCR Pediatrics category have a first recorded JIF in 2026. JAACAP Open leads at 3.1 and Q1.
Cell Biology
Five journals in the JCR Cell Biology category have a first recorded JIF in 2026. Cell Insight leads at 6.4 and Q1.
Which journals opened with the highest JIFs?
The top of the list is not representative of the typical journal. The maximum was 34.8, compared with a median of 0.9. Engineering, materials, energy, AI, and review-oriented titles are prominent among the highest values, but an opening JIF cannot establish long-term stability.
| Rank | Journal | JIF | Quartile | JCR categories | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering | 34.8 | Q1 | ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC | 2,048 |
| 2 | Nature Chemical Engineering | 29.7 | Q1 | ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL | 1,997 |
| 3 | Opto-Electronic Science | 26.9 | Q1 | OPTICS | 1,733 |
| 4 | Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence | 23.4 | Q1 | COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE; COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS; EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH | 7,468 |
| 5 | Responsive Materials | 22.9 | Q1 | CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | 1,246 |
| 6 | Nano Research Energy | 22.6 | Q1 | ENERGY & FUELS; NANOSCIENCE & NANOTECHNOLOGY | 2,652 |
| 7 | Smart Molecules | 16.8 | Q1 | CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | 1,350 |
| 8 | Energy Reviews | 16.5 | Q1 | ENERGY & FUELS; MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | 1,233 |
| 9 | Biomedical Technology | 16.4 | Q1 | ENGINEERING, BIOMEDICAL; MATERIALS SCIENCE, BIOMATERIALS | 1,023 |
| 10 | Biogeotechnics | 15.9 | Q1 | ENGINEERING, GEOLOGICAL | 1,085 |
| 11 | International Journal of Network Dynamics and Intelligence | 15.3 | Q1 | COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS | 927 |
| 12 | Nature Cities | 15.3 | Q1 | ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; REGIONAL & URBAN PLANNING; URBAN STUDIES | 1,605 |
| 13 | Electron | 15.2 | Q1 | CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | 801 |
| 14 | Green Carbon | 14.2 | Q1 | ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL; GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | 967 |
| 15 | JMIR Medical Education | 13.9 | Q1 | EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES | 4,697 |
| 16 | Materials Genome Engineering Advances | 13.9 | Q1 | MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | 923 |
| 17 | npj Antimicrobials and Resistance | 13.6 | Q1 | INFECTIOUS DISEASES; MICROBIOLOGY | 1,147 |
| 18 | Meta-Radiology | 13.3 | Q1 | COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE; COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS; RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING | 696 |
| 19 | Smart Materials in Manufacturing | 13.3 | Q1 | MATERIALS SCIENCE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | 642 |
| 20 | Green Technologies and Sustainability | 12.2 | Q1 | GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | 1,197 |
What this means for authors
Use the first JIF as one signal
It adds a citation benchmark, but one year cannot show whether a journal's influence will persist.
Compare inside the field
Quartile and category context are more useful than comparing raw JIFs across unrelated disciplines.
Check the publishing fit
Review scope, audience, indexing, article types, publication model, timelines, and author instructions.
Do not rate individual papers by JIF
A journal-level citation average does not measure the quality or expected impact of a particular article.
You can inspect current values and category context in our journal rankings, then use the journal selection guide to evaluate fit beyond the metric.
Methodology and limitations
Source and release
The analysis is generated from the canonical `public/ifqbt.json` artifact for the JCR 2026 edition, released June 17, 2026 and based on 2025 citation data.
Strict cohort rule
We included current exact and <0.1 records only when no earlier metric entry of any qualifier was retained. Archived, unavailable, and previously recorded journals were excluded.
Statistics
Mean, median, percentiles, and numeric ranges use only the 2,392 exact values. The 62 threshold values remain <0.1 and are never converted to zero or 0.05.
Interpretive limits
Category assignments can overlap. The retained history cannot prove first-ever status across all Clarivate editions, explain causal drivers, or predict future JIFs.
Further reading
Impact factors 2026: what changed?
Compare 19,208 journals with exact values in both consecutive releases.
How to use the JCR 2026 release
Understand release naming, suppression, and practical journal selection.
How impact factors are calculated
See how citations and citable items produce the two-year metric.
Understanding JCR quartiles
Learn why field-relative rank changes how a raw JIF should be read.
Written by Dr. Meng Zhao
Physician-Scientist · Founder, LabCat AI
MD · Former Neurosurgeon · Medical AI Researcher
Dr. Meng Zhao is a former neurosurgeon turned medical-AI researcher. After years in the operating room, he moved into applied AI for clinical workflows and now leads LabCat AI, a medical-AI company working on decision support and research tooling for clinicians. He built Journal Metrics as a free resource for researchers who need reliable journal metrics without paid database subscriptions.
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