Journal profile · DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
European Journal of Development Research
ISSN 0957-8811 · eISSN 1743-9728 · Springer Nature · 6 issues per year
European Journal of Development Research: CAS Zone 3 · Sociology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.78; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,390; median 276 days to acceptance (50 articles, last 24 months); 52 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
European Journal of Development Research is published by Springer Nature and is in Zone 3 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, Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare and Income, Poverty, and Inequality, together about 31.9% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) redefines and modernises what global development is, recognising the many schools of thought on what development constitutes, encouraging debate between competing approaches. The journal is multidisciplinary and welcomes papers that are rooted in any fields including (but not limited to): anthropology, climate, development studies, economics, education, geography, international studies, management, politics, social policy, sociology, sustainability, and the environment. EJDR is the official journal of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). The European Journal of Development Research embraces a critical use of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. We also welcome perspectives articles, systematic reviews and meta-analysis articles. The research methods used in the journal’s articles make explicit the importance of empirical data and the critical interpretation of findings. Authors can use a combination of theory and data analysis to expand the possibilities for global development. Data use in the journal ranges broadly from narratives and transcripts, through ethnographic and mixed data, to quantitative and survey data. Submissions must be well-grounded in theory and must also indicate how their findings are relevant to development practitioners in the field and/or policy makers. The journal encourages papers which embody the highest quality standards, and which use an innovative approach. We urge authors who contemplate submitting their work to the EJDR to respond to and reference directly research published previously in this journal, as well as complementary journals and books. We take special efforts to include global voices, and notably voices from the global South. Queries about potential submissions to EJDR can be directed to the editors. EJDR understands development to be an ongoing process that affects all communities, societies, states and regions: We therefore do not have a geographical bias, but wherever possible prospective authors should seek to highlight how their study has relevance to researchers and practitioners studying development in different contexts. Although many of the papers we publish examine the challenges for developing countries, we recognize that there are important lessons to be derived from the experiences of regions in the developed world. The EJDR is print-published 6 times a year, in a mix of regular and special theme is
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Editor-in-chief Spencer HensonPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United Kingdom 12, Netherlands 4, South Africa 4, Australia 3, United States 2 (38 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- International Development and AidSocial Sciences13.9%
- Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSocial Sciences11.1%
- Income, Poverty, and InequalitySocial Sciences7%
- Microfinance and Financial InclusionEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.7%
- Innovation and Socioeconomic DevelopmentBusiness, Management and Accounting5.3%
- Global trade and economicsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance5.3%
- Agricultural Innovations and PracticesAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.1%
- Agricultural risk and resilienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Sociology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Sociology | 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
SCIECAB AbstractsEconLitCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS, 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
- 1.78LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 1.9Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.66LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.13LetPub ·
- h-index
- 92OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 909OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.6OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 10.5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 51.41%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 48LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 411,900Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 1,796 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 43 | 23 | 17 |
| 2025 | 52 | 34 | 111 |
| 2024 | 65 | 37 | 288 |
| 2023 | 36 | 27 | 243 |
| 2022 | 80 | 66 | 1,155 |
| 2021 | 151 | 102 | 2,488 |
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
276 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 174 days – 348 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 46 days (86 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 323 days
- Sample
- 50 articles with submission and acceptance dates (109 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
- Submission to first decision
- 8 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 3,390 / EUR 2,690 / GBP 2,390 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteArticle types accepted4, with length limits
- perspectivend/or publications. Submissions for the Perspectives section are a maximum of 4,000 words. They must meet the standard formatting requirements of themain text ≤ 4,000 words
- perspectives papersThe European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) invites submissions for its new Perspectives Papers section. The aim of this section is to provide a forum f…Length not stated
- systematic reviewEJDR Systematic Review and Meta Analysis papersThe European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) invites authors to submit papers that present systematic revi…Length not stated
- systematic review and meta analysis papersThe European Journal of Development Research (EJDR) invites authors to submit papers that present systematic reviews and/or meta-analysis of prior research broa…Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Publication ethics, License & copyright, Open access, Plagiarism, Self-archiving
- AI use Use of Generative AIs such as Large Language Models (LLMs)
AI use disclosure required Model summary
The European Journal of Development Research (EJDR): a note on papers submitted to the journal, and the use of generative AIs such as Large Language Models (LLMs) The researcher and academic community is increasingly vigilant about the growing use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and Large Language Models (LLMs; such as ChatGPT) in academic knowledge production. In parallel, there …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics
Member of COPE Model summary
This journal, via its publisher Palgrave Macmillan, is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright and Permissions
Using third-party material in your articleAuthors are responsible for ensuring that any third-party material (e.g. figures, tables, photos, illustrations, trade literature, or data) is not used without permission. If such material is copyrighted, permission must be obtained and submitted with the final manuscript. The Editor and Publisher must be informed of any restricted-use content at submissio…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism
iThenticate plagiarism checks Model summary
Manuscripts submitted to the journal are subject to checks using iThenticate to detect instances of overlapping and similar text.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Self-archiving Open Access & Self Archiving
Self-archiving (green open access)Where articles are published via the subscription route, authors are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (the version post-peer review, but prior to copy-editing and typesetting) on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period of 12 months after first publication.Learn mor…
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
- Springer Nature
- Frequency
- 6 issues per year
- ISSN
- 0957-8811
- Electronic ISSN
- 1743-9728
- Society / sponsor
- European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 38, Issue 4 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about European Journal of Development Research
What CAS zone is European Journal of Development Research in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, European Journal of Development Research is in Zone 3 of Sociology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Development Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Sociology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of European Journal of Development Research?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.78; CiteScore 6.1, h-index 92.
How long does peer review take at European Journal of Development Research?
Based on the dates recorded on 50 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 276 days (interquartile range 174–348 days). 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.
Where are the editorial board members of European Journal of Development Research based?
Of the 38 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United Kingdom (12), Netherlands (4) and South Africa (4). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index European Journal of Development Research?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, European Journal of Development Research is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists SCIE, CAB Abstracts, EconLit and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is European Journal of Development Research open access, and what is the APC?
European Journal of Development Research is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,390.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; 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: .