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JEMS publishes 20 issues per year, making it one of the highest-volume journals in the field.

Two-year run at the top

The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (JEMS), edited and hosted by academics at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR), a University Centre of Excellence, has been ranked number one in the Ethnic Studies category of the 2025 Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate, 2026), for the second consecutive year.

JEMS’ Impact Factor, a journal-level metric calculated from data indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection, has risen to 3.3, up from 3.1 in the previous cycle and 2.3 in 2018. Of the 41 journals in the category, JEMS also recorded the highest citation count (12,527).

About the Journal

The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies publishes leading research on migration and its consequences, alongside work on ethnic conflict, discrimination, racism, nationalism, citizenship and integration policies. It promotes original empirical research that advances knowledge and understanding across the field.

The editorial team is led by SCMR Director and Editor-in-Chief Professor Paul Statham and includes Professor James Hampshire, Dr Laura Morosanu, Dr Sarah Scuzzarello and Dr Selin Sivis at Sussex, alongside international researchers Professor Rahsaan Maxwell (New York University), Dr Nik Ostrand (University for Continuing Education Krems), Professor Reinhard Schweitzer (Universitat Abat Oliba CEU), Dr Laura Cleton (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Dr Alexander Kustov (University of Notre Dame), Dr Agnese Pacciardi (Lund University), Dr Floris Peters (Utrecht University) and Professor Bingyu Wang (Nankai University).

JEMS’ Editor-in-Chief Professor Paul Statham said: "This ranking reflects not only the quality of the Journal but also its structural importance as the core forum for advancing migration and ethnic relations research in the social sciences. JEMS publishes 20 issues per year, making it one of the highest-volume journals in the field."

While Impact Factor matters, it represents only one way of evaluating the Journal and the strategic role it plays in the academic community. For example, JEMS undertakes various outreach activities to expand the global community of migration researchers by increasing participation and the visibility of scholarship from underrepresented regions.

This includes setting up mentoring workshops and dedicated publication pathways for early career scholars from Latin America and China, in collaboration with UCLA and Nankai University.

JEMS is also a founding partner of the Nafeer Community Knowledge Lab, which works with NGOs and communities to advance academic scholarship, debates and knowledge on diaspora humanitarian action, community-led crisis response and mutual aid networks.

Find out more

The success of the Journal, alongside Sussex being ranked number one in the world for Migration Studies in the ScholarGPS Rankings 2025, further strengthens the University’s international reputation as a leading centre for migration scholarship and public engagement.

Explore JEMS to learn more about its mission and latest publications and discover more about the Sussex Centre for Migration Research and its contribution to global scholarship on migration and social change.