Pastoral Psychology
Leading citation impact metric from Clarivate Journal Citation Reports
36 papers with at least that number of citations each
State Council for Professorship (HĐGSNN) Scoring
Quyết định số 26/QĐ-HĐGSNN ngày 11/7/2025 (Mục quốc tế)
HĐGSNN Score History
By article publication year| Year | Max Score | Evaluation Details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.00đ | WoS Q1(IF: 1.2) | 🔵 Computed |
| 2025 | 2.00đ | WoS Q1(IF: 0.7) | 🔵 Computed |
| 2024 | 2.00đ | WoS Q1(IF: 0.8) | 🔵 Computed |
| 2023 | 2.00đ | WoS Q1(IF: 0.8) | 🔵 Computed |
Note: Domestic journal scores are officially collected from annual HĐGSNN decisions across councils. International journal scores are dynamically computed according to Decision 26/QĐ-HĐGSNN based on quartile and citation metrics in the publication year.
Aims & Scope
Pastoral Psychology, founded in 1950, is one of the most well-established and respected journals in the field of psychology and religion/spirituality. Pastoral Psychology is an international forum that publishes scholarly, peer-reviewed original articles that address varied aspects of religion and spirituality from physical, human science, and interfaith perspectives. Historically, the word “pastoral” has referred to the care of individuals, families, and communities. Today, we additionally consider “pastoral” in terms of lived experience as it relates to embodiment, the social-political, economic, spiritual, and environmental dimensions of life. All theoretical perspectives are welcome, as Pastoral Psychology regularly publishes articles from a variety of schools of thought, including, but not limited to, psychoanalytic and other dynamic psychologies, cognitive psychologies, experimental and empirical psychologies, humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology, and cultural psychology. Insights from existential perspectives, intersectional theories, philosophical and theological theories, gender and queer studies, sociology, anthropology, public mental health, and cultural and empirical studies are welcome. Theoretical contributions that have direct or indirect relevance for practice, broadly construed, are especially desirable, as our intended audience includes not only academics and scholars in religion and science, but also religious and spiritual leaders, as well as caregivers, chaplains, social workers, counselors/therapists, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and persons interested in matters of religion/spirituality and psychology. Pastoral Psychology welcomes scholarship and reflection from all religious and spiritual traditions. In addition to scholarly research papers, the journal welcomes thoughtful essays on a wide range of issues and various genres of writing, including book reviews and film reviews. The community of scholars represented in its pages has demonstrated that the life challenges the journal seeks to address are universally shared, yet also reflect individual social, cultural, and religious locations. The journal, therefore, welcomes submissions from scholars from around the world.
SCImago & Scopus Journal Intelligence
Global SCImago ranking, SJR prestige index, Scopus coverage, and societal policy impact
Weighted prestige citation metric per document indexed in the Scopus database.
Measures cumulative publication volume and citation impact.
Average citations received per document published in the 2-year window.
Estimated Article Processing Charge for Open Access publication.
Scopus 3-Year Publication & Citation Window
Aggregated from Scopus database across the 3-year SJR evaluation window.
Societal Impact & Inclusivity (SCImago)
Citations in government and international policy documents
Percentage of female authors published in the journal
Real-world societal policy reach and author gender diversity tracked by SCImago.
Scopus Subject Categories
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Classification
Major / minor zone classification and CAS Early Warning List history
Publishing & Editorial Information
Detailed publisher, peer-review turnaround, and publication cycle specifications
WoS Categories & Quartiles
Detailed JCR / JCI category rankings and quartile breakdown from Clarivate
| Category | Index | Rank | Quartile |
|---|---|---|---|
PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | JCRESCI | 143/222 | Q3 |
RELIGION | JCRESCI | N/A | N/A |
PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY | JCIESCI | 61/222 | Q2 |
RELIGION | JCIESCI | 79/340 | Q1 |
Annual Historical Statistics & Publications
Track annual publication volume, total citations, and Impact Factor evolution
| Year | Impact Factor | Articles / Year | Total Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | — | 86 | 10 |
| 2025 | 0.7 | 127 | 96 |
| 2024 | 0.8 | 73 | 183 |
| 2023 | 0.8 | 70 | 303 |
| 2022 | — | 62 | 295 |
| 2021 | — | 49 | 284 |
| 2020 | — | 39 | 206 |
| 2019 | — | 27 | 233 |
| 2018 | — | 57 | 569 |
| 2017 | — | 47 | 432 |
| 2016 | — | 64 | 474 |
| 2015 | — | 50 | 292 |
Journal Metrics & Citation Visualizations
Impact Factor Trend (2018–2024)
Clarivate IF trend for Pastoral Psychology
Total Cites vs Self-Cites
Evaluation of scholarly independence and citation reach
Citations per Document
Citation metric windows across 2, 3, and 4 years
Similar Journals in Discipline
Journals in the same research field with comparable impact metrics