JRST’s Impact Factor increased dramatically in 2019, from 3.135 in 2018 to 3.870. The Journal is now ranked among the top 10 out of 263 educational research journals indexed under Education & Educational Research in the Web of Science® and continues as the top-ranked venue for publication of science education research.

Impact factor (IF), or Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" published in a given scholarly journal has been cited in a particular year or period and is often used to measure or describe the importance and impact of a particular journal to its field. The higher the JIF, the better the journal’s rank.

JRST is now more than 60 years old. Between 2005 and 2019, the Journal has been managed by three successive editorial teams.  JRST Impact factor has risen steadily across this period, from 1.022 in 2006 to 3.870 in 2019.

Online submission and review through the JRST ScholarOne Manuscript system, instituted in 2005, greatly expanded global author submission and participation in the late 2000s. More recently, Wiley’s strategy to increase online access to JRST publications, and expand global readership and access, have also helped to boost the steady rise of IF during the 15 years intervening. The quality of author submissions, the thoughtful contributions of the JRST editorial board, and the diligence of the JRST editorial teams, have had paramount impact on the quality and reach of the rigorous, cutting-edge work published in JRST by science education researchers from across the world.

While, like all metrics, JRST IF has varied slightly from year to year, JRST IF has never dipped by more than 0.1 point in any individual year, resulting in the steady longitudinal climb from 2006 to present.

We know  that publication of the JRST special issue, “A Critical Examination of the Next Generation Science Standards” in September 2018 brought additional attention to the Journal, evidenced by both reader comments received and increased traffic of related manuscript submissions received since the special issue appeared.

Our second special issue, the final one for this editorship, “Science teaching, learning, and assessment with 21st century, cutting edge digital technologies” is set to appear in Fall 2020.