World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Criminology
H-index 22

Criminology

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Social Sciences and Humanities 155 36 48 17

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 62
Documents by Best Scientists*: 66
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 10
SCIMAGO H-index: 167
SCIMAGO SJR: 2.287
Impact Factor: 5.2

Overview

Top Research Topics at Criminology?

The aim of the journal is to expand the discussion of research in Criminology, Social psychology, Juvenile delinquency, Developmental psychology and Human factors and ergonomics. Criminology explores issues in Criminology which can be linked to other research areas like Law and Race (biology). Social psychology research featured in Criminology incorporates concerns from various other topics such as Test (assessment), Context (language use), Perception, Sample (statistics) and Social control.

The work on Human factors and ergonomics tackled in it brings together disciplines like Injury prevention and Suicide prevention.

  • Criminology (37.26%)
  • Social psychology (30.81%)
  • Juvenile delinquency (13.37%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency (3010 citations)
  • USING THE CORRECT STATISTICAL TEST FOR THE EQUALITY OF REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS (1921 citations)
  • DOES CORRECTIONAL TREATMENT WORK? A CLINICALLY RELEVANT AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY INFORMED META-ANALYSIS * (1698 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at Criminology:

The most cited publications mostly deal with topics like Social psychology, Criminology, Juvenile delinquency, Developmental psychology and Human factors and ergonomics. While the primary focus in the published papers is Criminology, they also dissect topics surrounding Ethnic group and Sentencing disparity as a whole. While Human factors and ergonomics is the focus of the most cited publications, it also provides insights into the studies of Injury prevention and Suicide prevention.

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Law
  • Internal medicine
  • World War II

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

Criminology primarily focuses on research topics in Criminology, Internal medicine, Social psychology, Developmental psychology and Identity (social science). Prison is a major topic of Criminology research presented in the journal. Prison is the main point of discussion in it but it also connects with fields such as

  • Sentencing guidelines that intertwine with fields like Disadvantage,
  • Corporate governance, which have a strong connection to Discretion..

In addition to Social psychology, the journal tackled discussions on Intermittency. Topics in Developmental psychology were tackled in line with various other fields like Socioeconomic status and Cohabitation. Narrative and Psychoanalysis are some topics wherein Identity (social science) research discussed in it have an impact.

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • Sanction risk perceptions, coherence, and deterrence* (3 citations)
  • The contemporary transformation of american youth: An analysis of change in the prevalence of delinquency, 1991–2015 (3 citations)
  • Changing routine activities and the decline of youth crime: A repeated cross-sectional analysis of self-reported delinquency in Sweden, 1999–2017* (2 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in Criminology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Francis T. Cullen (29 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • Steven F. Messner (29 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Alex R. Piquero (22 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Richard B. Felson (21 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Ronald L. Simons (20 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in Criminology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of Maryland, College Park (115 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition,
  • Pennsylvania State University (88 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 2 more than at the previous edition,
  • Florida State University (80 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • University at Albany, SUNY (73 papers) published 5 papers at the last edition, 3 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Missouri–St. Louis (66 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 5.41% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 42.86% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 14.29% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 8.57% of all publications and 34.29% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

How to Contribute to Criminology Journal

This section is for those interested in contributing to the Criminology Journal. It's crucial to note that this field of research involves multidisciplinary areas, including psychology, social justice, human factors, and more. Authors are encouraged to explore diverse themes and discourses within these topics that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of criminology. Before you begin drafting your article for submission, familiarize yourself with all author guidelines and follow them rigorously to ensure your work aligns with the journal’s standards and scholarly expectations. It's also essential to understand that the journal values originality, so it's important not to duplicate existing works in the field, and always ensure to use properly cited references where necessary. Contributing authors should also be prepared to provide a clear, concise abstract that accurately summarizes their article's content and the research methodology used if applicable. Remember, the objective of your contribution should be to add significant value to the existing body of knowledge in the field of criminology. If you are a professional in a related field, such as marriage, family, and therapy, and wish to enhance your knowledge, it may be beneficial to understand and meet the Marriage counseling education requirements in Utah. Specializing your skills can help bring a fresh perspective in the research field of criminology, enriching your contributions to this journal. Potential contributors should be aware that the submission process may involve rigorous peer-review, and constructive feedback should be received in the spirit of academic development. After receiving comments from reviewers, authors are expected to fully address these comments and revise their draft accordingly, ensuring their research findings are as accurate, relevant, and comprehensive as possible.

Top Publications

  • Criminal records and college admissions: A modified experimental audit

    Robert Stewart;Christopher Uggen

    (2020)
    112 Citations
  • The American racial divide in fear of the police

    (2022)
    71 Citations
  • Does contact with the justice system deter or promote future delinquency? Results from a longitudinal study of British adolescent twins

    Ryan T. Motz;J.C. Barnes;Avshalom Caspi;Louise Arseneault

    (2020)
    50 Citations
  • Public fear of protesters and support for protest policing: An experimental test of two theoretical models*

    Christi Metcalfe;Justin T. Pickett

    (2021)
    42 Citations
  • Testing hot‐spots police patrols against no‐treatment controls: Temporal and spatial deterrence effects in the London Underground experiment

    Barak Ariel;Lawrence W. Sherman;Mark Newton

    (2020)
    41 Citations
  • The contemporary transformation of american youth: An analysis of change in the prevalence of delinquency, 1991–2015

    Eric P. Baumer;Kelsey Cundiff;Liying Luo

    (2021)
    38 Citations
  • Structural predictors of choice: Testing a multilevel rational choice theory of crime

    (2022)
    37 Citations
  • Long-term consequences of being placed in disciplinary segregation†

    Christopher Wildeman;Lars Højsgaard Andersen

    (2020)
    36 Citations
  • The public salience of crime, 1960–2014: Age–period–cohort and time–series analyses†

    Luzi Shi;Yunmei Lu;Justin T. Pickett

    (2020)
    33 Citations
  • Body-worn cameras, lawful police stops, and NYPD officer compliance: A cluster randomized controlled trial*

    Anthony A. Braga;John M. MacDonald;James McCabe

    (2021)
    27 Citations

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Best Scientists Contributing to This Journal