Journal profile · Water Resources
International Journal of Water Resources Development
ISSN 0790-0627 · eISSN 1360-0648 · Routledge · ENGLAND · Quarterly · Founded 1983
International Journal of Water Resources Development: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 2.62; JCR Q2 (journal website); hybrid open access; APC charged, amount not published; median 239 days to acceptance (87 articles, last 24 months); community-reported acceptance: easy; 41 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
International Journal of Water Resources Development is published by Routledge and is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Water resources management and optimization, Transboundary Water Resource Management and Water Governance and Infrastructure, together about 48.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The mission of the International Journal of Water Resources Development is to advance understanding of the dynamic and evolving relationships between human and water, and to contribute to improved water governance worldwide. While water challenges have often been treated as technical issues to be solved by expert knowledge, engineering solutions, or rational optimization, the growing complexities of human–water interdependencies show that fundamental water issues are deeply entangled with power structures, institutional arrangements, social inequalities, and competing visions of development. By using water as a critical lens to examine politics, economy, society, culture, and history, the journal provides an interdisciplinary forum for research that interrogates these complexities. It encourages contributions that not only address practical policy and governance challenges but also advance theoretical perspectives, question taken-for-granted assumptions, and develop in-depth, empirically grounded analyses of water’s role in shaping and reflecting human societies, past, present and future. The International Journal of Water Resources Development values diversity and innovation in theory, method, and approach. It welcomes work that highlights the processes and dynamics of water resources development and governance, and that critically engages with mainstream paradigms as well as emerging alternatives. Authors are encouraged to submit papers that explore: Social, economic, political, cultural, legal, institutional, and technical aspects of water; Interdependencies and interlinkages between water and other sectors such as agriculture, energy, industry, health, and the environment; Water governance and policy processes across multiple scales; Historical and cultural perspectives that trace the shifting human-water relations and their implications for livelihoods, environment, and everyday practices; Reflections on water’s role in development paradigms such as globalisation, urbanisation, industrialisation, neoliberalisation, modernisation, etc.; Empirically rich case studies from diverse contexts in the Global North and South, illustrating how water governance and policy is embedded within broader processes of socio-political change, economic restructuring, and environmental transformation. The journal serves an international readership of scholars, practitioners, policy-makers, civil society actors, and students who value rigorous, high-quality research that b
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Water Resources
Editor-in-chief Raymond Yu WangPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 67%); most named Mainland China 2, United Kingdom 1 (3 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Water resources management and optimizationEngineering28.5%
- Transboundary Water Resource ManagementSocial Sciences10.8%
- Water Governance and InfrastructureSocial Sciences9%
- Water-Energy-Food Nexus StudiesEnvironmental Science8.9%
- Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental ImpactSocial Sciences6.2%
- Hydrology and Watershed Management StudiesEnvironmental Science4.9%
- Child Nutrition and Water AccessNursing4%
- Flood Risk Assessment and ManagementEnvironmental Science3.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Water Resources | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
JCR / CiteScore quartiles on the journal's website
- JCR Q2 · best quartile · 2025
- CiteScore Q1 · 2025
Publisher-reported: JCR figures are Clarivate's and CiteScore figures Scopus's to confirm; both are a different system from the CAS zones.Publisher website
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Science Citation Rankings, Aqualine Abstracts, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Environment Abstracts, GeoArchive, GEO Abstracts, Hydrotitles, IBZ/IBR, International Civil Engineering Abstracts (ICEA)
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
- 2.62LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.8Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.1LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 6.1Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.64LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher) 2025
- 0.64Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.04LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher) 2025
- 1.04Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 46LetPub ·
- h-index
- 90OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,052OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 2.81OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 14.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 29.46%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 35LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 237,000Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,109 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 41 | 22 | 23 |
| 2025 | 41 | 20 | 116 |
| 2024 | 49 | 24 | 229 |
| 2023 | 38 | 24 | 380 |
| 2022 | 28 | 11 | 212 |
| 2021 | 85 | 34 | 1,033 |
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
239 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 157 days – 309 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 33 days (87 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 274 days
- Sample
- 87 articles with submission and acceptance dates (101 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
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 36 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 8%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 4 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 116 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 36 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.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteOpen access
- Open access Open access
Hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Model summary
International Journal of Water Resources Development is a hybrid open access journal that is part of the Taylor & Francis Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research. Why choose open access? Inc…
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
- Routledge
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1983
- ISSN
- 0790-0627
- Electronic ISSN
- 1360-0648
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 42, Issue 4 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about International Journal of Water Resources Development
What CAS zone is International Journal of Water Resources Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, International Journal of Water Resources Development is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Water Resources. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Environmental Science & Ecology. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of International Journal of Water Resources Development?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 2.62; CiteScore 6.1, h-index 90.
How long does peer review take at International Journal of Water Resources Development?
Based on the dates recorded on 87 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 239 days (interquartile range 157–309 days); authors report an average review time of over 36 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”; the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 8%. 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 JCR quartile is International Journal of Water Resources Development in?
The journal's website gives JCR Q2 (best quartile). JCR quartiles are Clarivate's to confirm and a different system from the CAS zones; in the CAS ranking the journal is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology.
Where are the editorial board members of International Journal of Water Resources Development based?
Of the 3 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 67%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (2) and United Kingdom (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index International Journal of Water Resources Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, International Journal of Water Resources Development is indexed in SCIE and Scopus. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is International Journal of Water Resources Development open access, and what is the APC?
International Journal of Water Resources Development is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC charged, amount not published.
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: .