Journal profile · DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Development Policy Review
ISSN 0950-6764 · eISSN 1467-7679 · Wiley-Blackwell
Development Policy Review: CAS Zone 3 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.97; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,470; median 167 days to acceptance (78 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 7% (journal website); 68 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Development Policy Review is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are International Development and Aid, Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare and Microfinance and Financial Inclusion, together about 38.3% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Development Policy Review is a peer-reviewed journal focusing specifically on the links between research and policy in key aspects of international development and across the spectrum of social science disciplines, intellectual persuasions, institutional backgrounds, and geographical regions in low- and middle-income countries. Grounded in rigorous and evidence-based research and analysis, and with clear and targeted policy recommendations, the editors welcome contributions on the following topics and their intersection: 1) shaping the future of global cooperation (aid and development cooperation); 2) tackling the climate, environment and biodiversity crisis; 3) fostering a more equitable and sustainable global economic order (trade and investment); 4) addressing conflict and promoting peace, gender equality and social policy. We welcome interdisciplinary studies among those mentioned above. Development Policy Review does not accept articles that are highly specialized or technical, case studies that do not produce potentially generalizable findings, book reviews, unsolicited literature reviews, or meta-analyses. For cross-country time-series analyses based on secondary data, we encourage submissions only of papers whose findings can inform clear recommendations for policy-makers. Established in 1960, and currently producing six issues a year, Development Policy Review publishes: original empirical research and case studies that address a significant policy-relevant issue solicited contributions to contemporary policy debates guest-edited special issues on current policy-relevant topics. Selected titles include: Foresight and futures thinking for international development co‐operation: Promises and pitfalls – Fraser Reilly-King, Colleen Duggan, Alex Wilner Pacific Perspectives on Aid and Development – Vijay Naidu, Regina Scheyvens, Terence Wood Transforming our world? The 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals at half-time – Niels Keijzer Youth Adolescent Skills Development: Preparing young people for diverse global challenges – Sophia D'Angelo Citizen Action for Accountability in Challenging Contexts – Vijay Naidu, Regina Scheyvens,Terence Wood virtual thematic collections to contribute to a topical debate or international development. Critical perspectives on the future of aid (joint with Disasters) Corruption and Accountability in Development Development Policy Review is published on behalf of ODI Global. The intended readers are academics, r
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- International Development and AidSocial Sciences23.5%
- Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSocial Sciences9.5%
- Microfinance and Financial InclusionEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.4%
- Income, Poverty, and InequalitySocial Sciences4.8%
- Religion, Society, and DevelopmentSocial Sciences4.8%
- Fiscal Policy and Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.6%
- Global trade and economicsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.9%
- Local Government Finance and DecentralizationSocial Sciences3.4%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Economics Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | 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 SciencePubMedCAB AbstractsEconLitCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: EBSCO, ProQuest, RePEc
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
- 1.97LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.5LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.5Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.5Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.65LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.15LetPub ·
- h-index
- 105OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 886OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.76OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 4.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 42.39%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 44LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 57Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 231,132Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,261 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 47 | 24 | 15 |
| 2025 | 68 | 45 | 109 |
| 2024 | 67 | 48 | 196 |
| 2023 | 90 | 61 | 482 |
| 2022 | 74 | 48 | 698 |
| 2021 | 78 | 37 | 964 |
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
167 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 133 days – 245 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 41 days (78 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 212 days
- Sample
- 78 articles with submission and acceptance dates (121 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)
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 7%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 158 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 50 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double-anonymous peer reviewPublisher website · model-extracted
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 3,470 / EUR 2,900 / GBP 2,330 | — | — |
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 prepare10 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 300 words
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Suggested reviewers
- Optional
- Highlights
- Required
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
- Cover letter
- Required
- Not considered
- Highly specialized or technical articles; Case studies that do not produce generalisable findings; Book reviews; Unsolicited literature reviews or meta-analyses
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteConflicts of interest, License & copyright
- Conflicts of interest 5.4 AI disclosure
AI disclosure should be integrated into your manuscript using the same logic you apply to other tools and assistance. For journals published by Wiley, AI disclosure should be placed in the following sections of your manuscript: Acknowledgments: when AI assists with manuscript drafting, editing, translation, or formatting. Methods: when AI is used to assist with your research methodology, data coll…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright 5.2 Permissions and copyright
Submissions are accepted on the understanding that they represent original, unpublished work. Obtain written permission to reproduce copyrighted material if you exceed ‘fair use.’ Failure to do so may breach copyright law or constitute plagiarism. You must declare whether your paper has previously or substantively (10%) been published, for example, as a Working Paper, Discussion Paper or similar a…
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
- 0950-6764
- Electronic ISSN
- 1467-7679
- Society / sponsor
- ODI Global
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 44, Issue 5 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Development Policy Review
What CAS zone is Development Policy Review in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Development Policy Review is in Zone 3 of Economics, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Development Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Development Policy Review?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.97; CiteScore 4.5, h-index 105.
How long does peer review take at Development Policy Review?
Based on the dates recorded on 78 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 167 days (interquartile range 133–245 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 7% (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 Policy Review?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 300 words; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; Templates: LaTeX and Word; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Suggested reviewers: Optional; Highlights: Required; Graphical abstract: Optional; Cover letter: Required. 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.
Which databases index Development Policy Review?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Development Policy Review is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, PubMed, CAB Abstracts, EconLit and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Development Policy Review open access, and what is the APC?
Development Policy Review is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,470.
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: .