Journal profile · DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Journal of Rural and Community Development
ISSN 1712-8277 · Rural Development Institute, Brandon University · Canada
Journal of Rural and Community Development: CAS Zone 4 · Economics (2025 upgraded edition); diamond open access (no APC); no APC; review about 12 weeks (community reports); 20 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Journal of Rural and Community Development is published by Rural Development Institute, Brandon University and is in Zone 4 of Economics in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Rural development and sustainability, Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research and Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development, together about 35.1% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The JRCD is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that publishes development research on and in rural and small town areas around the world. We do not charge authors for publication in the JRCD. The original rationale for the publication of the JRCD continues to be adhered to which is to provide a venue for academics to publish findings in development studies that fall within rural and/or community contexts. Beyond the demographic trends toward urban living, there are issues of remoteness, regional differences, resource dependency and restructuring, environmental degradation, unemployment and depopulation, urban influence/dominance, etc. that need to be addressed. Connections can be made to a variety of traditional (e.g., Geography, Sociology, Political Science, Economics) and non-traditional (e.g., Rural Development, Health Studies, Environmental Studies) academic disciplines, as well as research areas and perspectives (e.g., resource analysis, political economy, community action theory, community development). The current subject areas of interest to the JRCD include: economic restructuring and diversification; social capital, capacity and cohesion; community, economic and regional development; social problems and community development; experiences with development activities; program and policy evaluation; tourism; rural condition; gender issues in development; land-use, environmental and community planning; and, rural governance and service provision. The JRCD is published by the Rural Development Institute (RDI) at Brandon University. RDI was established in 1989 as an academic research centre and a leading source of information on issues affecting rural communities in western Canada and elsewhere. For more information, please visit: https://www.brandonu.ca/rdi. The JRCD is abstracted and indexed by the following databases: CABI, Clarivate Analytics (including Web of Science), De Gruyter Saur, EBSCOhost, ProQuest and DOAJ. Articles are archived on dedicated Brandon University servers. ISSN: 1712-8277. ___________________________________________________ Le journal JRCD est un journal en libre accès, revu par des comités de lecture et qui publie la recherche de développement sur et des zones rurales ainsi que des petites villes partout dans le monde. Pour plus d'informations, voir ce document promotionnel. Le JRCD tient à remercier le Conseil de Recherches en Sciences Humaines (CRSH) du Canada grâce à leur programme d''Aide aux Revues Savantes'. Nous avo
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rural development and sustainabilityAgricultural and Biological Sciences21.1%
- Diverse Aspects of Tourism ResearchSocial Sciences7.6%
- Tourism, Volunteerism, and DevelopmentSocial Sciences6.5%
- Mining and Resource ManagementEngineering4.8%
- Indigenous Studies and EcologyHealth Professions4.5%
- Migration, Aging, and Tourism StudiesSocial Sciences3.9%
- Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation StudiesSocial Sciences3.7%
- Education Systems and PolicySocial Sciences3.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Economics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Economics Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Economics | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ESCIDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of SciencePublisher website
Other: ProQuest
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
- h-index
- 21OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 82OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.45OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 0%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 10.53%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 42LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 637Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher)
- 2,554,562Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 326 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 | 20 | 9 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2021 | 22 | 22 | 39 |
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
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 12 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
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
Diamond open access (no APC)DOAJ
Every article is open access and authors pay no article processing charge.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | No APC | No | Publisher's own license | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
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 accepted2, with length limits
- case studyween 5,000 and 8,000 words * Length for case studies and policy evaluations is to be between 3,000 and 5,000 words The JRCD reserves the right to conduct plagia…main text ≤ 5,000 words
- regular articleriate graphic presentation * Length for regular articles is to be between 5,000 and 8,000 words * Length for case studies and policy evaluations is to be bmain text ≤ 8,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright
- License & copyright Copyright Notice
Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
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
- Rural Development Institute, Brandon University
- Country or region
- Canada
- Language
- English, French
- ISSN
- 1712-8277
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 21, Issue 3 (2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Journal of Rural and Community Development
What CAS zone is Journal of Rural and Community Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Journal of Rural and Community Development is in Zone 4 of Economics, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Development Studies. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Economics. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
How long does peer review take at Journal of Rural and Community Development?
Authors report an average review time of about 12 weeks. 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 Journal of Rural and Community Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Journal of Rural and Community Development is indexed in ESCI and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists Web of Science; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Journal of Rural and Community Development open access, and what is the APC?
Journal of Rural and Community Development is a diamond open-access journal (no APC). It charges no article processing charge.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; 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: .