Science Communication Journals: Core Venues Compared

Science communication journals are peer-reviewed titles that publish research on how science is communicated to and perceived by the public. The two names researchers meet most often are Journal of Science Communication (JCOM, published by SISSA Medialab) and Science Communication (published by SAGE), and they are different journals with different ISSNs, owners and access models. This page separates them, adds a companion title and a third SAGE journal, and shows how to find the rest in the indexes.

Which journals count as science communication journals?

There is no single official list. The phrase is used for journals whose scope is the study and practice of communicating science: public engagement, science journalism, informal learning, risk and health communication, and public perceptions of science. Four venues are described below, each documented from the publisher’s own pages or from a bibliographic registry (DOAJ, Crossref) read on 14 November 2026. They are a starting set, not a ranking.

Journal of Science Communication (JCOM)

JCOM describes itself as a diamond open access, peer-reviewed journal focused on science communication, aiming to encourage interdisciplinary exchange across fields such as the sociology of science, media studies and museum studies. It has published since 2002 and its ISSN is 1824-2049. The publisher is SISSA Medialab srl. Its own pages list indexing in Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, Dimensions, OpenAlex, Diamond Discovery Hub and Scilit.

The DOAJ record for JCOM lists double anonymous peer review, no article processing charge, a CC BY licence, open access since 2002, and keywords such as risk communication, science communication, environmental and health communication, citizen science and informal learning. DOAJ records English, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese as the languages of the journal.

JCOM America Latina

The same publisher runs a regional companion, JCom America Latina (ISSN 2611-9986). DOAJ lists it as a Portuguese and Spanish language journal with double anonymous peer review, no article processing charge, a CC BY licence and open access since 2018. Its keywords include science communication, science journalism and popularization of science. It is a separate journal from JCOM.

Science Communication (SAGE)

Science Communication is published by SAGE Publications. Crossref records its print ISSN as 1075-5470 and its electronic ISSN as 1552-8545, with 1,160 registered DOIs as of the read date. A search of the DOAJ API by those ISSNs returns no record, so it is not a DOAJ-listed open access journal; whether a given article is open is decided article by article under SAGE’s own publishing options, which this page does not describe. The page for the journal on the publisher’s site is where scope, article types and the current editors are stated.

Public Understanding of Science (SAGE)

Public Understanding of Science is also published by SAGE (print ISSN 0963-6625, electronic ISSN 1361-6609 in Crossref, 1,955 registered DOIs on the read date) and is not found in DOAJ either. It is often shortlisted next to Science Communication because both sit in the same research area, which is the reason the titles are so easily confused. Check the ISSN before you cite or submit.

Journal of Science Communication versus Science Communication: how not to confuse them

Searches for “journal of science communication”, “science communication journal” and “JCOM” all converge on the same small set of names, so use identifiers rather than titles.

• Journal of Science Communication or JCOM: ISSN 1824-2049, SISSA Medialab, DOAJ listed, no author or reader fees.
• Science Communication: ISSN 1075-5470 (print) / 1552-8545 (electronic), SAGE, not in DOAJ.
• Public Understanding of Science: ISSN 0963-6625 / 1361-6609, SAGE, not in DOAJ.

When a reference manager or a reference list gives only “Sci Commun”, check the ISSN against the Crossref REST API journal record, which returns the publisher and ISSNs for any title that registers DOIs. OpenAlex, the open scholarly index described in our OpenAlex guide, also keeps a source record per journal. At the read date OpenAlex lists 1,640 works for the SAGE Science Communication and 1,482 for JCOM; counts change as indexes update and say nothing about quality.

Publishing in JCOM: article types and the submission route

Where JCOM’s author guidelines state requirements, they are specific. Manuscripts are submitted through the link on the JCOM home page after registering and logging in; a partial submission can be saved and finished later. The preferred upload is a .docx file. Because review is double anonymous, all identifying information has to be removed from every version of the manuscript, and the author profile (institution, country, ORCID iD) is completed separately. Revised versions are accepted only when an editor requests them, with a cover letter describing the changes.

Article type	Length stated in the guidelines	Review route
Article (research)	5,000 to 8,000 words, abstract of 100 to 150 words	Peer-reviewed
Practice insight	3,000 to 5,000 words, abstract of 100 to 150 words	Peer-reviewed
Essay	3,000 to 4,500 words	Peer-reviewed; send a pitch to the deputy editor first
Research review	Up to 9,000 words	Commissioned from a proposal; peer-reviewed
Letter, book review, conference review	Up to 1,000 words, abstract of 50 to 100 words	Reviewed by the Editorial Board

Other policies that affect authors: the main language is British English with SI units, but submissions in other languages are accepted, and JCOM arranges an English translation after acceptance and publishes both versions. Generative AI use must be disclosed in the Acknowledgments (or Methods if part of the research design), AI cannot be listed as an author, and basic grammar or reference tools need not be reported. Authors keep copyright, may deposit the version of record in a repository one week after publication, and are asked to deposit data and code in FAIR-compliant repositories where possible. Rejected authors may appeal if the appeal is scientifically justified.

Open access, cost and peer review by journal

The data table below compares the four venues on the attributes that registries state. “Not listed” means the title returned no DOAJ record on the read date; it is not a statement about the journal’s quality or practices. JCOM states that it follows a diamond open access model, meaning there is no fee for authors or readers (see diamond open access). Since January 2026 JCOM articles carry CC BY 4.0; earlier articles were published under CC BY-NC-ND. Readers reusing older JCOM material should check the licence shown on the individual article.

Strengths and limits of this starting set

The strengths are traceable identifiers and clear policy statements: JCOM publishes author guidelines, peer-review model and licence in one place, which makes it simple to evaluate against a funder’s open access rule. The limits matter just as much. Four titles are not the field: related work also appears in general communication, media studies, education and discipline-specific journals. Impact metrics are deliberately not reproduced here. JCOM’s own pages display Impact Factor and CiteScore figures that change each year, and figures for the SAGE titles differ between third-party sites. For a current number, read the journal impact factor from Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports or CiteScore from Scopus directly, and note the year.

How to find more science communication journals

1. Open the subject-category or journal-list tool in the index your institution subscribes to. The Web of Science route is described in our Master Journal List guide.
2. Filter by a communication category and sort by the metric your evaluator uses, noting the year and the database.
3. Search DOAJ for the topic words (science communication, public engagement) to see open access titles with their APC and peer-review fields.
4. Confirm each shortlisted title by ISSN and publisher, then read its own author guidelines.

The same approach works in other fields; a sibling example is our guide to neuropsychology journals.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Journal of Science Communication?

It is JCOM, a peer-reviewed diamond open access journal published by SISSA Medialab since 2002 (ISSN 1824-2049), covering science communication across disciplines.

Is Journal of Science Communication open access, and does it charge fees?

Yes. JCOM states it is diamond open access, with no fees for authors or readers, and DOAJ records no article processing charge. Articles are under CC BY 4.0 from January 2026.

What is the difference between JCOM and Science Communication?

They are separate journals. JCOM (1824-2049) is published by SISSA Medialab; Science Communication (1075-5470) is published by SAGE Publications. Only JCOM and its Latin American companion are listed in DOAJ.

How do I find the best science communication journal for a paper?

Start from your funder’s or institution’s required index, filter a communication category, then compare scope and author guidelines for each candidate, confirming identity by ISSN.

Sources

• JCOM, home page, jcom.sissa.it, read 14 November 2026.
• JCOM, About JCOM, jcom.sissa.it/site/about-jcom, read 14 November 2026.
• JCOM, Author guidelines, jcom.sissa.it/site/authors, read 14 November 2026.
• DOAJ search API, ISSN 1824-2049 and 2611-9986, doaj.org, read 14 November 2026.
• Crossref REST API journal records, api.crossref.org, read 14 November 2026.
• OpenAlex sources API, api.openalex.org, read 14 November 2026.