Journal profile · PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL
Human Development
ISSN 0018-716X · eISSN 1423-0054 · Karger
Human Development: CAS Zone 1 · Psychology (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 3.78; hybrid open access; review about 70 days (submission to final decision, publisher); 22 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Human Development is published by Karger and is in Zone 1 of Psychology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Early Childhood Education and Development, Child and Animal Learning Development and Diverse Scientific and Economic Studies, together about 30% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Distinguished by its international recognition since 1958, Human Development publishes theoretical and metatheoretical contributions to the study of psychological development, including conceptually, historically, and methodologically oriented integrative reviews of lines of developmental research. Contributions serve to raise theoretical issues, flesh out interesting and potentially powerful ideas, and conceptually differentiate key constructs within developmental science. Contributions come primarily from developmental psychology but are welcome from other relevant disciplines. Descriptions of empirical evidence to support theoretical arguments or help integrate issues of theory, methods, and evidence (especially across disciplines) are also welcome but only insofar as they are employed for strictly illustrative purposes in the service of a conceptual contribution to the field.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL
Editor-in-chief David C. WitheringtonPublisher website
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentSocial Sciences11.9%
- Child and Animal Learning DevelopmentPsychology9.6%
- Diverse Scientific and Economic StudiesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.5%
- Human auditory perception and evaluationEngineering7.5%
- Educational and Psychological AssessmentsPsychology5.5%
- Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentPsychology4.9%
- Cultural Differences and ValuesPsychology4.6%
- Cognitive Abilities and TestingPsychology4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Psychology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Psychology Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Psychology Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Psychology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Psychology, Developmental | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
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
- 3.78LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 10.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 10.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.47LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.87LetPub ·
- h-index
- 129OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,034OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.09OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 3.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 16.67%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 14LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,628 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 15 | 4 | 5 |
| 2025 | 22 | 8 | 51 |
| 2024 | 30 | 12 | 84 |
| 2023 | 38 | 13 | 286 |
| 2022 | 41 | 23 | 1,318 |
| 2021 | 46 | 21 | 715 |
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 PubMed · to
Too few articlesOnly 1 articles from the last 24 months carry both submission and acceptance dates, too few for a median
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".
Figures by source
- Submission to final decision
- 70 daysPublisher 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.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
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)
Article types accepted1
- editorialEditorialLength not stated
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
- Karger
- ISSN
- 0018-716X
- Electronic ISSN
- 1423-0054
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 70, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Human Development
What CAS zone is Human Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Human Development is in Zone 1 of Psychology, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Psychology, Developmental; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Psychology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Human Development?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.78; CiteScore 10.8, h-index 129.
How long does peer review take at Human Development?
The publisher reports about 70 days (submission to final decision). 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.
Which databases index Human Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Human Development is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Human Development open access, and what is the APC?
Human Development is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
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: .