ImpaQ Ecosystem•Clarivate, Scopus & CORE Data
Clarivate WoS 2024 / 2025 Data
IMPAQ
WoS ESCI Q3Scopus Q1SCImago #13,908Hybrid

Pastoral Psychology

Acronym:pasp
•
Identifier (ISSN):0031-2789(Print)/1573-6679(Online)
•
Publisher:Springer Nature
Clarivate JCR Index Advisory: Active (ESCI)
Clarivate IF (2026)
1.2↑ +0.5
Journal Impact Factor
IF Trend↓
WoS Quartile
Q3
WoS ESCIJCR Quartile
Clarivate WoS JCR
WoS Categories↓
JCR Release Date: 2026-06-17

Impact Factor Trend (2023–2026)

Clarivate IF trend for Pastoral Psychology

WoS Q3
01120.820230.820240.720251.22026
Annual Impact Factor Metric
Current (2026):1.2
Scopus SJR & RankScopus Q1
0.411
#13,908

SCImago Journal Rank citation prestige weighting

Scopus Year: 2025
H-Index (2025)
36

36 papers with at least that number of citations each

WoS: ESCIQ3
Self-Citation Rate25%
Safe Level (< 15%)Warning Level (> 20%)
Self-citation below 15% indicates strong scholarly independence.
Volume & Open AccessHybrid
47articles/year
27.07% Gold OA•96.49% Original Research

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.

Topics Covered (Recognized by AI)
Psychology99.6%Sociology98.5%Social psychology98.4%Anthropology96.2%Cross-cultural psychology95.6%Psychoanalysis85.1%Philosophy41%Political science31%Psychotherapist30.5%Law30.1%Theology28.6%Medicine24.4%Epistemology21.9%
Primary Research Areas

WoS Categories & Quartiles

Detailed JCR / JCI category rankings and quartile breakdown from Clarivate

Clarivate JCR & JCI
JCRESCI2026

PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Q3
Rank143/222
IndexESCI
JCRESCI2026

RELIGION

N/A
RankN/A
IndexESCI
JCIESCI2026

PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Q2
Rank61/222
IndexESCI
JCIESCI2026

RELIGION

Q1
Rank79/340
IndexESCI

Annual Historical Statistics & Publications

Track annual publication volume, total citations, and Impact Factor evolution

12 year
2026Latest
IF1.2
Articles / Year86
Total Citations10
2025
IF0.7
Articles / Year127
Total Citations96
2024
IF0.8
Articles / Year73
Total Citations183
2023
IF0.8
Articles / Year70
Total Citations303
2022
IF—
Articles / Year62
Total Citations295

SCImago & Scopus Journal Intelligence

Global SCImago ranking, SJR prestige index, Scopus coverage, and societal policy impact

Rank #13,908Scopus Q1SCImago Profile
Scopus Coverage:1950-1972, 1975-2002, 2005-2026
Scopus Broad Areas:Arts and HumanitiesPsychologySocial Sciences
Scopus Citation Rank (SJR)Q1
0.411

Weighted prestige citation metric per document indexed in the Scopus database.

Quartile: Scopus Q1
Citations / Doc (2 years)
1.40

Average citations received per document published in the 2-year window.

2-Year Citation Window
Estimated Publication Fee (APC)
$2,769 USD

Estimated Article Processing Charge for Open Access publication.

Estimated cost / article

Scopus 3-Year Publication & Citation Window

3-Year Citations262
3-Year Documents188
Citable Documents186

Aggregated from Scopus database across the 3-year SJR evaluation window.

Societal Impact & Inclusivity (SCImago)

Policy Citations (Overton)1

Citations in government and international policy documents

Female Author Rate47.5%

Percentage of female authors published in the journal

Real-world societal policy reach and author gender diversity tracked by SCImago.

Scopus Subject Categories

Religious StudiesQ1
Sociology and Political ScienceQ2
Applied PsychologyQ3
Social PsychologyQ3
Academic Metric Intelligence

Journal Metrics & Citation Visualizations

Total Cites vs Self-Cites

Evaluation of scholarly independence and citation reach

Total citations steady growth
Self-citation: 25%

Citations per Document

Citation metric windows across 2, 3, and 4 years

Cites / Doc (4 years)Cites / Doc (3 years)Cites / Doc (2 years)

Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Classification

Major / minor zone classification and CAS Early Warning List history

Major Category (Broad Field):
3区 (Zone 3)Philosophy
Minor Category (Specific Field):
4区PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY
CAS Early Warning List History:
Updated annually: 2020 – 2024
2020
Not warned
2021
Not warned
2022
Not warned
2023
Not warned
2024
Not warned

Academic Intelligence Overview & Context

ImpaQ Analysis

Pastoral Psychology (acronym: pasp, ISSN: 0031-2789) is a peer-reviewed international scholarly journal in the field of Multiple, published by Springer Nature in United States. The periodical holds a Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of 1.20, ranking in quartile Q3 of Web of Science (ESCI), a Scopus SJR indicator of 0.411 (Q1), an H-index of 36.

The journal enforces rigorous peer evaluation with a publication frequency of 6 issues per year, an annual output of approximately 47 scientific articles. In terms of accessibility and author fees, it operates under the Hybrid model with an estimated APC of $2,769 USD. It serves as a benchmark publication platform for academics, researchers, and doctoral candidates seeking global research visibility.

Publishing & Editorial Information

Detailed publisher, peer-review turnaround, and publication cycle specifications

Open Access Model
Hybrid
Publisher
Springer Nature
Publication Language
English
Frequency
6 issues per year
Indexing & Databases
ESCIScopusPubMed

Similar Journals in Discipline

Journals in the same research field with comparable impact metrics

Record UUID: c9370e6c-f02d-4196-8f6e-e64064a27a6b
Database Updated: 2026-10-01