When we called for research to be published open access, the idea was to make it available more widely, to break down those paywalls that restricted access. Tax payers would fund research and then fund libraries to pay commercial publishers to make that knowledge available. Open access promised more equitable access, allowing researchers in institutions with smaller budgets to access research.
Here's a previous overview of migration journals I put together back in 2019, and we also have the excellent PRIO Guide to Migration Journals.
Especially since several large funders demand open access publishing, commercial publishers have started to react. Journals may become open access, but to cover their costs, they charge article processing chrages (APC). Since funders would pay APC, it's not surprising that these fees were often unreasonably high. Questionable and clearly predatory publishers discovered APC as a means of income, especially for special issues --- to the extent that many funders now refuse to pay APC for special issues. A different approach are contracts between library consortia and publishers, where a given number of articles can be published open access in return to (high) subscriptions. Tax payers still pay for this rent-seeking behaviour.
There are other options, too. One are so-called diamond open access journals. These journals are open access and they come without APC because the costs are covered by universities or academic societies. Let's look at some legitimate options in migration research:
Ager · emerging SCI, SJR=0.266
African Human Mobility Review · SIJ=0.354
Austrian Journal of Political Science · SSCI, SJR=0.102
Central and Eastern European Migration Review · emerging SCI, SJR=0.460
Comparative Population Studies · SSCI, SJR=0.482
Current Issues in Migration Research
Demographic Research · SSCI, SJR=0.934
Demography · SSCI, SJR=1.772
Diasporas · SJR=0.112
espace populations sociétés · SJR=0.114
European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology · SJR=0.466
European Societies · SSCI, SJR=1.071
Forced Migration Review
International Indigenous Policy Journal · emerging SCI, SJR=0.271
Journal of Deradicalization · SJR=0.862
Journal of Experimental Political Science · emerging SCI, SJR=2.016
Journal of Family Research · SSCI, SJR=0.265
Journal of Migration Studies
Journal of Social and Political Psychology · SSCI, SJR=0.740 [submissions paused as of 4 May 2026]
Migraciones · emerging SCI, SJR=0.363
Migraciones Internacionales · SJR=0.340
Migration and Society · SJR=0.419 [S2O]
Migration Politics
Mondes & Migrations
Nordic Journal of Migration Research · SSCI, SJR=0.426
Política y Sociedad · emerging SCI, SJR=0.192
Population · SJR=0.292
Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees · emerging SCI, SJR=0.454
Vienna Yearbook of Population Research · SJR=0.527
This list may not be exhaustive. And then there are also diamond open access journals with broader scope, including Political Science Research and Methods that asks for an APC only if there is institutional funding. You may also want to differentiate between commercial publishers (funding shareholders) and university presses (funding universities).
Quasi obligatory links to Think Check Submit and the Jisc Open Policy Finder for journals, useful especially for those considering open access and so-called green open access through pre-prints.
Published 16 May 2026