Journal profile · Environmental Sciences
Mountain Research and Development
ISSN 0276-4741 · eISSN 1994-7151 · International Mountain Society · UNITED STATES · Quarterly · Founded 1981
Mountain Research and Development: CAS Zone 4 · Environmental Science & Ecology (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 1.88; fully open access; APC about USD 850; review about 6 months (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 29 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Mountain Research and Development is published by International Mountain Society 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 Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology, Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management and Cryospheric studies and observations, together about 33.8% of its articles. Its main subfields are Global and Planetary Change. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Knowledge base: Promote new and deepen current knowledge on systems, transformation pathways, and visions relevant to mountain societies and environments. Stimulate research production, and promote innovative thinking and quality writing through rigorous editorial processes. Hold and provide knowledge through open access. Communication and dialogue: Provide sound evidence and insights, and facilitate dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to inform innovative and effective practice and policies. Strengthen the global sustainable mountain development community by fostering community of thoughts among authors, reviewers, and members of the editorial board. Capacity development: Strengthen capacities for bringing research outputs and insights from practice to publication, and develop skills for science communication related to sustainable mountain development. Support researchers and practitioners in bringing issues of sustainable mountain development to the center of academic and policy discourses.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Environmental Sciences
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named Switzerland 17, United States 7, Italy 7, Austria 5, United Kingdom 4 (60 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Rangeland Management and Livestock EcologyEnvironmental Science15.8%
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science9.3%
- Cryospheric studies and observationsEarth and Planetary Sciences8.6%
- Environmental and Cultural Studies in Latin America and BeyondEnvironmental Science6.2%
- Landslides and related hazardsEnvironmental Science4.8%
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesEnvironmental Science4.4%
- South Asian Studies and ConflictsSocial Sciences3.7%
- Land Use and Ecosystem ServicesEnvironmental Science3.2%
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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | 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 | Environmental Sciences | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Environmental Science & Ecology Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Environmental Science & Ecology | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Environmental Sciences | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Geography, Physical | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
CAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, AGRICOLA, AGRICOLA (USDA), BIOSIS Previews (Clarivate Analytics), CABDirect (CABI), Current Awareness in Biological Sciences (Elsevier), Environment Complete (EBSCO), Environment Index (EBSCO), GEOBASE (Elsevier), Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts (MGA), Various collections of ProQuest, Various products of Gale/Cengage Learning
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
- 1.88LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher)
- 2.7Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 3.9LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.55LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.85LetPub ·
- h-index
- 50LetPub ·
- h-index
- 107OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,279OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 1.35OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 95.65%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 14LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,719 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 24 | 24 | 4 |
| 2025 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| 2024 | 24 | 24 | 71 |
| 2023 | 25 | 25 | 111 |
| 2022 | 44 | 44 | 350 |
| 2021 | 49 | 49 | 482 |
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 6 monthsLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 30 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
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 850 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 850 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 850 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | Yes, amount not published | — | — |
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 accepted5
- mountainagendaand MountainAgenda, which contains “Target Knowledge.”Length not stated
- mountaindevelopmentMRD features three peer-reviewed sections: MountainDevelopment, which contains “Transformation Knowledge,”Length not stated
- mountainmediathe MountainMedia section presents reviews of recent publications on mountains and mountain developmentLength not stated
- mountainplatformthe MountainPlatform section offers International Mountain Society members an opportunity to convey information about their mountain initiatives and prioritiesLength not stated
- mountainresearchMountainResearch, which contains “Systems Knowledge,”Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, License & copyright
- Authorship
Dual publication not allowed; thesis excerpts eligible if not previously published in a book or journal and not under consideration elsewhere. Model summary
Papers submitted to MRD must not have been published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright Copyright
Creative Commons Attribution License; copyright retained by authors. Model summary
Authors agree that their work will be published in MRD subject to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. Copyright in articles is retained by the authors. Once an article is accepted for publication, the corresponding author will be asked by email to confirm all authors’ consent to these terms (so-called “author release agreement”). If your paper includes any previously published m…
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
- International Mountain Society
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1981
- ISSN
- 0276-4741
- Electronic ISSN
- 1994-7151
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Mountain Research and Development
What CAS zone is Mountain Research and Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Mountain Research and Development is in Zone 4 of Environmental Science & Ecology, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Environmental Sciences / Geography, Physical. 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 Mountain Research and Development?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 1.88; CiteScore 3.9, h-index 107.
How long does peer review take at Mountain Research and Development?
Authors report an average review time of about 6 months; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. 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 Mountain Research and Development based?
Of the 60 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Switzerland (17), United States (7) and Italy (7). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Mountain Research and Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Mountain Research and Development is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Mountain Research and Development open access, and what is the APC?
Mountain Research and Development is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 850.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, 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: .