Journal profile · ECONOMICS
Journal of Development Economics
ISSN 0304-3878 · eISSN 1872-6089 · Elsevier
Journal of Development Economics: CAS Zone 1 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 4.92; hybrid open access; APC about USD 4,590; 230 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Development Economics is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 1 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth, Global trade and economics and Economic Growth and Productivity, together about 26.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Economics and Econometrics and General Economics, Econometrics and Finance. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Browse through a wide range of high-quality academic journals offered by Elsevier, including open access options, to enrich your research journey.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ECONOMICS
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Fiscal Policy and Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance10.9%
- Global trade and economicsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.1%
- Economic Growth and ProductivityEconomics, Econometrics and Finance7.3%
- Poverty, Education, and Child WelfareSocial Sciences7%
- Economic Theory and PolicyEconomics, Econometrics and Finance6.2%
- Monetary Policy and Economic ImpactEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.7%
- Income, Poverty, and InequalitySocial Sciences4.7%
- Economic theories and modelsEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.6%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Economics Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Economics | Zone 2 |
Top journal: yesReview 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
- 4.92LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.38LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.47LetPub ·
- h-index
- 304OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 3,139OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.12OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 38.91%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 215LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,840 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 186 | 94 | 91 |
| 2025 | 230 | 110 | 832 |
| 2024 | 151 | 81 | 1,413 |
| 2023 | 171 | 90 | 3,611 |
| 2022 | 148 | 72 | 4,469 |
| 2021 | 136 | 67 | 6,078 |
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 2 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".
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 4,590 / EUR 4,290 / GBP 3,670 / JPY 569,300 | — | — |
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.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- ISSN
- 0304-3878
- Electronic ISSN
- 1872-6089
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Development Economics
What CAS zone is Journal of Development Economics in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Development Economics is in Zone 1 of Economics, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Economics; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Journal of Development Economics?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 4.92; CiteScore 8.2, h-index 304.
Which databases index Journal of Development Economics?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Development Economics is indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Is Journal of Development Economics open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Development Economics is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 4,590.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .