About the numbers on this page: The primary metric and current comparison values reflect the August 2026 OpenAlex snapshot. The Journal Metrics Score is a 2-year citation average computed from OpenAlex (CC0) data. For live verification, use our homepage search tool.
2026 Journal Metrics Score
20.0
Updated August 2026 · 2-year citation average from OpenAlex data
Science is one of the world's most influential academic journals, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Verify the exact title and ISSN 0036-8075 before using this metric in a submission shortlist.
Compare Science with Other Top Journals
Nature
Cell
PNAS
Science Family Journal Metrics
Science Journal Family · Current release
About Science Journal
Journal Overview
- Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- Founded: 1880
- Frequency: Weekly
- ISSN: 0036-8075
- Subject Areas: Multidisciplinary Sciences
- Language: English
Why Science Has High Impact
- • Publishes breakthrough research across all scientific fields
- • Rigorous peer review with high editorial standards
- • Strong emphasis on reproducibility and methodology
- • Wide readership in academic and policy communities
- • Historical significance in scientific publishing
- • Strong connection to scientific policy and education
Science vs Nature: Key Differences
Science Journal
- • Journal Metrics Score: 20.0
- • Publisher: AAAS (American)
- • Focus: Broad scientific research
- • Founded: 1880
- • Special Features: Policy focus, News section
- • Submission: More accessible to US researchers
Nature Journal
- • Journal Metrics Score: 18.0
- • Publisher: Springer Nature (British)
- • Focus: Multidisciplinary sciences
- • Founded: 1869
- • Special Features: News & Views, Commentary
- • Submission: Global reach, European base
An Editorial Perspective on Science
Although Science and Nature are usually spoken of in the same breath, in practice they behave differently as venues. A few observations from the receiving end of many submission decisions:
Science has a slightly higher tolerance for method papers.
A well-motivated new technique with convincing applications has historically had a reasonable home at Science. Nature tends to require the method and a landmark biological finding in the same paper.
The Research Article vs. Report distinction matters.
Science publishes both Research Articles (longer, discursive) and Reports (short, single-claim). Picking the right format up front reduces one category of editorial friction — an important claim with a single experimental arc is almost always a Report.
Policy and health topics often land better at Science than Nature.
Science's affiliation with AAAS gives it a stronger public-policy orientation. Papers where the novel finding has immediate public-health or policy implications sometimes get more traction here than at Nature's more basic-science tilt.
The AAAS family is smaller, so specialty fallbacks are limited.
Nature has dozens of specialty titles to cascade to; the Science family is much smaller (Science Advances, Science Translational Medicine, Science Immunology, Science Signaling, Science Robotics). Plan your backup journal list accordingly — many Science rejections end up at non-AAAS specialty venues.
A note on year-over-year values
Two-year citation averages for journals like Science fluctuate within a narrow band from year to year. The current headline number (20.0) reflects the August 2026 OpenAlex snapshot. We deliberately do not publish a multi-year trend, because small swings in a citation average rarely indicate anything meaningful about a journal — they are mostly a function of which specific works fall inside the two-year window. Each snapshot is recomputed in full from OpenAlex (CC0) data.
Science Journal Metrics Score FAQ
What is Science's current Journal Metrics Score?
Science's 2026 Journal Metrics Score is 20.0, updated August 2026 from OpenAlex citation data.
How is the 2026 Journal Metrics Score calculated?
The Journal Metrics Score is the two-year mean citedness of a journal, computed from OpenAlex (CC0) data: citations received in the most recent complete year to works published in the two prior years, divided by the number of those works. Quartiles rank journals within each OpenAlex subfield by score.
What is the journal quartile for Science?
Science is ranked Q1 within its OpenAlex subfield.
Should I submit to Science based only on the Journal Metrics Score?
No. Science's score is only one signal. Scope, novelty, editorial fit, methods, article type, timeline, and comparable journals matter more for an actual submission decision.
Publishing in Science: What You Need to Know
Submission Requirements
- • Significant advance in scientific knowledge
- • Broad interest across multiple disciplines
- • Rigorous methodology and reproducible results
- • Clear writing accessible to general scientific audience
- • Ethical compliance and data availability
Review Process
- • Initial editorial screening (1-2 weeks)
- • Peer review by 2-4 experts (4-8 weeks)
- • High rejection rate (~93%)
- • Emphasis on novelty and broad impact
- • Revision process typically 2-4 rounds
Search More Journal Metrics Scores
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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.