In June 2022, Clarivate Analytics released the annual update to its Journal Citation Reports reflecting data from the 2021 publishing year.

The Journal Citation Reports are annually each year to aggregate the meaningful connections of citations created by the research community through the delivery of a rich array of publisher-independent data, metrics and analysis of the world’s high-quality academic journals.

These metrics include the Journal Impact Factor and category rankings. The Journal Citation Reports calculate these metrics based on a variety of criteria, including the number of citations each article receives in other journals. Librarians, researchers, and tenure committees consider Journal Impact Factor rankings among the factors that determine a journal's benefit and reputation within the scholarly community.

The 2021 Journal Impact Factor ranking for Social Problems placed it among the top 10% in all of sociology—with an impact factor of 5.397. The 5-Year impact factor of 4.994 speaks to the consistent quality of the journal and the lasting importance of its content to the field, especially as the number sociology journals continues to grow over time. In recognition of this announcement, Social Problems invites you to access a virtual collection of freely accessible high impact articles.

While these rankings do not provide the entire picture of a journal, including its peer-review process, its history, or value to a niche audience, they do relay a journal's overall discoverability, significance in the field, and timeliness of content—aspects that result from the hard work and foresight of its editorial office, a healthy society membership and reader base, and a diligent publisher able to utilize every means possible to enhance visibility in a digital environment. Social Problems’ ongoing ranking among the highest-cited journals warrants hearty congratulations to the Editors of Social Problems -- past and present -- and their teams, whose efforts have ensured that Social Problems remains one of the most influential outlets in our discipline!