Journal profile · PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL
British Journal of Developmental Psychology
ISSN 0261-510X · eISSN 2044-835X · Wiley-Blackwell
British Journal of Developmental Psychology: CAS Zone 3 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.82; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,400; median 183 days to acceptance (94 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 20% (journal website); 69 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
British Journal of Developmental Psychology is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Child and Animal Learning Development, Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development and Early Childhood Education and Development, together about 39.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Developmental and Educational Psychology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The British Journal of Developmental Psychology publishes full-length, empirical, conceptual, review and discussion papers, as well as brief reports and Registered Reports, in all of the following areas: motor, perceptual, cognitive, language, neural, clinical, personality, social and emotional development across the lifespan from infancy to adulthood; atypical development, including developmental disorders, learning difficulties/disabilities, and sensory impairments; the impact of genetic, biological, familial, interpersonal, educational, societal, and cultural factors upon human psychological development; theoretical approaches to development; and, especially, research and theories involving underrepresented populations. The following paper types are invited: papers reporting original empirical investigations; theoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, established theories in developmental psychology, or presentations of theoretical innovations, extensions or integrations; review papers, which should aim to provide systematic overviews, analyses, evaluations or interpretations of research in a given field of developmental psychology, and identify issues requiring further research; methodological papers dealing with any methodological issues of particular relevance to developmental psychologists. Only papers which report methodologically sound and rigorous research or which make a substantive contribution to the discipline are accepted for publication in the journal. For specific submission requirements, please view the Author Guidelines.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL
Editorial board by country: 1 in mainland China (about 20%); most named United Kingdom 3, Mainland China 1, South Africa 1 (5 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentPsychology22.2%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology9.1%
- Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentSocial Sciences7.7%
- Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skillsMathematics5.5%
- Reading and Literacy DevelopmentPsychology4.8%
- Spatial Cognition and NavigationEngineering4.1%
- Child Development and Digital TechnologySocial Sciences3.9%
- Language Development and DisordersPsychology3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceMEDLINEPubMedPsycINFOPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 1.82LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 3.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.99LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.22LetPub ·
- h-index
- 143OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,264OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.15OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 16.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 54.73%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 55LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 58Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 259,128Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,054 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 41 | 29 | 5 |
| 2025 | 69 | 46 | 99 |
| 2024 | 75 | 53 | 294 |
| 2023 | 36 | 25 | 218 |
| 2022 | 43 | 20 | 486 |
| 2021 | 41 | 19 | 785 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
183 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 141 days – 231 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (95 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 198 days
- Sample
- 94 articles with submission and acceptance dates (123 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 20%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 20%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 188 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 14 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,400 / EUR 2,850 / GBP 2,270 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare5 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 100–150 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Author–date
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Article types accepted10, with length limits
- brief reportThe following types of paper are invited: papers reporting original empirical investigations; theoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, e…main text ≤ 2,500 words
- brief reportsBrief reports are limited to a maximum 2500 words (excluding the abstract, reference list, tables and figures) and have no more than 15 references.main text ≤ 2,500 words
- commentaryThe following types of paper are invited: papers reporting original empirical investigations; theoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, e…Length not stated
- methodological papersmethodological papers dealing with any methodological issues of particular relevance to developmental psychologistsLength not stated
- original articlepapers reporting original empirical investigationsLength not stated
- registered reportThe following types of paper are invited: papers reporting original empirical investigations; theoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, e…Length not stated
- reviewThe following types of paper are invited: papers reporting original empirical investigations; theoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, e…main text ≤ 8,000 words
- review papersreview papers, which should aim to provide systematic overviews, analyses, evaluations or interpretations of research in a given field of developmental psycholo…Length not stated
- systematic reviewThe following types of paper are invited: papers reporting original empirical investigations; theoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, e…Length not stated
- theoretical paperstheoretical papers which may be analyses of, or commentaries on, established theories in developmental psychology, or presentations of theoretical innovations, …Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Open access, Peer review, Preprints, Trial registration / reporting guidelines
- Authorship Author Contributions
For all articles, the journal mandates the CRediT (Contribution Roles Taxonomy)—more information is available on our Author Services site.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest
The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potent…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Accessibility Policy
The British Journal of Developmental Psychology recognizes the many benefits of archiving data for scientific progress. Archived data provides an indispensable resource for the scientific community, making possible future replications and secondary analyses, in addition to the importance of verifying the dependability of published research findings. The journal expects that where possible all data…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics 5. EDITORIAL POLICIES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Peer Review and Acceptance Except where otherwise stated, the journal operates a policy of anonymous (double-anonymous) peer review. Please ensure that any information which may reveal author identity is anonymized in your submission, such as institutional affiliations, geographical location or references to unpublished research. We also operate a triage process in which submissions that are out o…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access WALS + standard CTA/ELA and/or Open Access for hybrid titles
You may choose to publish under the terms of the journal’s standard copyright agreement, or Open Access under the terms of a Creative Commons License. Standard re-use and licensing rights vary by journal. Note that certain funders mandate a particular type of CC license be used. This journal uses the CC-BY/CC-BY-NC/CC-BY-NC-ND Creative Commons License.Self-Archiving Definitions and Policies: Note …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review and Acceptance
Double-anonymous peer review Model summary
Except where otherwise stated, the journal operates a policy of anonymous (double-anonymous) peer review. Please ensure that any information which may reveal author identity is anonymized in your submission, such as institutional affiliations, geographical location or references to unpublished research. We also operate a triage process in which submissions that are out of scope or otherwise inappr…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint policy:
Preprint policy Model summary
This journal will consider for review articles previously available as preprints. Authors may also post the submitted version of a manuscript to a preprint server at any time. Authors are requested to update any pre-publication versions with a link to the final published article.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Trial registration / reporting guidelines
Triage process for out-of-scope submissions Model summary
We also operate a triage process in which submissions that are out of scope or otherwise inappropriate will be rejected by the editors without external peer review.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0261-510X
- Electronic ISSN
- 2044-835X
- Society / sponsor
- British Psychological Society
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 44, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about British Journal of Developmental Psychology
What CAS zone is British Journal of Developmental Psychology in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, British Journal of Developmental Psychology is in Zone 3 of Psychology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Psychology, Developmental. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of British Journal of Developmental Psychology?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.82; CiteScore 3.8, h-index 143.
How long does peer review take at British Journal of Developmental Psychology?
Based on the dates recorded on 94 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 183 days (interquartile range 141–231 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 20% (2025). Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of British Journal of Developmental Psychology?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 100–150 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Author–date; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Graphical abstract: Optional. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of British Journal of Developmental Psychology based?
Of the 5 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 1 (about 20%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (3), Mainland China (1) and South Africa (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index British Journal of Developmental Psychology?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, British Journal of Developmental Psychology is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, MEDLINE, PubMed and PsycINFO; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is British Journal of Developmental Psychology open access, and what is the APC?
British Journal of Developmental Psychology is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,400.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .