Journal profile · DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Development and Change
ISSN 0012-155X · eISSN 1467-7660 · Wiley-Blackwell
Development and Change: CAS Zone 2 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.25; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,870; review about 175 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); acceptance rate 8% (journal website); 69 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Development and Change is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 2 of Sociology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are International Development and Aid, Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development and Income, Poverty, and Inequality, together about 23.7% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Now in its sixth decade of publication, Development and Change appears six times a year with a mix of regular and special themed issues, as well as an innovative annual Forum Issue. The Forum issue features a scholarly debate curated by one or several of the editors on current and contested issues in development studies, as well as reflections and legacies from influential senior scholars in the field, and assessments of current major international agency reports. Essential reading: Development and Change provides an academic platform for knowledge sharing for both well-established and early career scholars. The journal particularly encourages submissions from Global South scholars. All submissions undergo double-blind peer review after careful initial screening by the editorial board. The journal is essential reading for anyone interested in development studies and in transformative social and economic change.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 4, Netherlands 2, Australia 1 (7 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- International Development and AidSocial Sciences11.4%
- Agriculture, Land Use, Rural DevelopmentAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.3%
- Income, Poverty, and InequalitySocial Sciences4.9%
- Land Rights and ReformsAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.9%
- Microfinance and Financial InclusionEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.7%
- Economic Theory and PolicyEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.7%
- Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSocial Sciences4.6%
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
AHCIPubMedCAB AbstractsEconLitCurrent ContentsPublisher 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
- 3.25LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.21LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.82LetPub ·
- h-index
- 151OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,518OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.66OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 69.13%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 50LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 55Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 389,758Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,137 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 44 | 24 | 17 |
| 2025 | 69 | 48 | 113 |
| 2024 | 61 | 47 | 332 |
| 2023 | 69 | 52 | 863 |
| 2022 | 54 | 36 | 718 |
| 2021 | 82 | 48 | 1,842 |
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
Not usableThis publisher's "received" date is mostly when the revised manuscript arrived (33% of articles were "accepted" within 3 days), so it cannot measure review time
Figures by source
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 8%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 8%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 17 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 17 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 175 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 56 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 3,870 / EUR 3,230 / GBP 2,540 | — | — |
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 prepare4 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- 100–200 words
- Keywords
- 2–8
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 10,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
Article types accepted2, with length limits
- articlesArticles for submission should be within the range of 8,000 to 10,000 words (including text, abstract, notes, and references): only in exceptional circumstances…main text ≤ 8,000 words
- commentsComments on articles which have been published in earlier issues of Development and Change are expected to be shorter than this, usually in the range of 3,000–6…main text ≤ 3,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websitePublication ethics, Peer review
- Publication ethics
Originality: submissions must be original and not published or under consideration elsewhere. Model summary
All submissions must be original pieces and should not have been published or be under consideration elsewhere.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review
Peer review: submissions reviewed by editorial board and discussed at monthly meetings; decisions made collectively. Model summary
Submissions to Development and Change are reviewed by the editorial board and discussed at monthly editorial board meetings. All decisions are made collectively, a practice designed by the journal to guarantee both fairness and high quality.
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
- 0012-155X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1467-7660
- Society / sponsor
- International Institute of Social Studies
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 57, Issue 4 (July 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Development and Change
What CAS zone is Development and Change in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Development and Change is in Zone 2 of Sociology, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Development Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Development and Change?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.25; CiteScore 6, h-index 151.
How long does peer review take at Development and Change?
The publisher reports about 175 days (submission to acceptance); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 8% (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 Development and Change?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: 100–200 words; Keywords: 2–8; Manuscript length: ≤ 10,000 words; Reference style: Harvard. 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 Development and Change based?
Of the 7 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (4), Netherlands (2) and Australia (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Development and Change?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Development and Change is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists AHCI, PubMed, CAB Abstracts, EconLit and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Development and Change open access, and what is the APC?
Development and Change is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,870.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .