Journal profile · Social Sciences-Development
Public Administration and Development
ISSN 0271-2075 · eISSN 1099-162X · Wiley-Blackwell
Public Administration and Development: CAS Zone 3 · Management (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.5; hybrid open access; APC about USD 3,010; median 269 days to acceptance (96 articles, last 24 months); acceptance rate 11% (journal website); 90 articles in 2025; indexed in SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Public Administration and Development is published by Wiley-Blackwell and is in Zone 3 of Management in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Local Government Finance and Decentralization, Public Policy and Administration Research and International Development and Aid, together about 41.9% of its articles. Its main subfields are Sociology and Political Science. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Since its founding in 1949, Public Administration and Development (PAD) has been reviewing and assessing the practice of public administration at the local, regional, national and international levels where it is directed to managing development processes in low- and medium-income countries. We recognise that public administration includes the practice of NGO’s, other third sector organisations, and the private sector in multi-level governance and collaborative systems. We also recognise that development should not be defined solely by GDP growth but should take account of the impact of economies on the sustainability of our planet. As such, we welcome submissions that explore public administration in relation to alternative economic models such as wellbeing governments, degrowth, and regenerative economies. Key themes for scholarly inquiry may include the relationship between public administration, across multiple levels of government, and pressing public problems such as climate change, natural disasters, the energy crisis, access to water, poverty, economic and social inequality, gender inequality, and public health. These challenges also interact with one another, generating increasingly complex demands on governmental capacity, both in the formulation of responses and, above all, in their implementation The consequences of these grand challenges are felt globally, and so the scope of PAD is global, but we will continue to pay particular attention to research that focuses on non-WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) countries.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Development
Editor-in-chief Mariana ChudnovskyPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named Taiwan, China 1, United Kingdom 1, Japan 1, India 1 (4 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Local Government Finance and DecentralizationSocial Sciences23%
- Public Policy and Administration ResearchSocial Sciences11.1%
- International Development and AidSocial Sciences7.8%
- Legal Issues in South AfricaSocial Sciences4.6%
- Public-Private Partnership ProjectsBusiness, Management and Accounting4.5%
- Urban and Rural Development ChallengesSocial Sciences4.1%
- African studies and sociopolitical issuesSocial Sciences3.4%
- Corruption and Economic DevelopmentSocial Sciences3.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Management Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Management | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Development Studies | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Public Administration | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
Web of ScienceCAB AbstractsCurrent ContentsPublisher 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
- Impact factor
- 3.5LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.3Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.6LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- CiteScore (publisher) 2025
- 4.6Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.76LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.44LetPub ·
- h-index
- 83OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 886OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.21OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 30.3%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 49.64%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 73LetPub ·
- Articles per year (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- Articles per year (publisher) 2025
- 80Publisher website ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 147,982Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 4,126 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 77 | 39 | 25 |
| 2025 | 90 | 57 | 295 |
| 2024 | 51 | 31 | 379 |
| 2023 | 40 | 23 | 290 |
| 2022 | 36 | 12 | 279 |
| 2021 | 43 | 13 | 675 |
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
269 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 194 days – 402 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 14 days (96 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 288 days
- Sample
- 96 articles with submission and acceptance dates (168 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
- Acceptance rate (publisher)
- 11%Publisher website ·
- Acceptance rate (publisher) 2025
- 11%Publisher website ·
- Submission to first decision
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to first decision 2025
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance 2025
- 331 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication 2025
- 13 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewPublisher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 3,010 / EUR 2,510 / GBP 1,980 | — | — | |
| 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)
What to prepare3 items from the author guidelines
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Reference style
- APA
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
Article types accepted5, with length limits
- book reviewent topic in the media and practice. v. Book Reviews Word limit: 2,000 words maximum, excluding abstract and references. Description: Bomain text ≤ 2,000 words
- brief reportd gaps or new conceptual analysis. iii. Brief Reports from the Field Word limit: 3,000 words (excluding abstract and references). Abstract: 150 words Remain text ≤ 3,000 words
- commentarytandards of a full empirical study. iv. Commentaries Word limit: 2,000 words maximum, excluding references. Abstract: 150 words maximum;main text ≤ 2,000 words
- research articleNUSCRIPT CATEGORIES AND REQUIREMENTS i. Research Articles Word limit: 7,000 words maximum, excluding abstract and references. Abstract: 150 wmain text ≤ 7,000 words
- review articlet should be approximately 50 words. ii. Review Articles Word limit: 8,000 words maximum, excluding abstract and references. Abstract: 150 wmain text ≤ 8,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Data availability, Publication ethics, Peer review
- Authorship Authorship
Please refer to the journal'™s authorship policy the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on eligibility for author listing.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Conflict of Interest Statement
Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the section '˜Conflict of Interest' in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. Submitting authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Data availability Data Sharing and Data Accessibility
The journal encourages authors to share the data and other artefacts supporting the results in the paper by archiving it in an appropriate public repository. Authors should include a data accessibility statement, including a link to the repository they have used, in order that this statement can be published alongside their paper.All accepted manuscripts may elect to publish a data availability st…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Publication ethics Publication Ethics
This journal follows the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and handles cases of research and publication misconduct accordingly (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices)'
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review 1. SUBMISSION AND PEER REVIEW PROCESS
Authors should kindly note that submission implies that the content has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a scientific meeting or symposium.
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
- Wiley-Blackwell
- ISSN
- 0271-2075
- Electronic ISSN
- 1099-162X
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 46, Issue 3 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Public Administration and Development
What CAS zone is Public Administration and Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Public Administration and Development is in Zone 3 of Management, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Development Studies / Public Administration. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Management. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Public Administration and Development?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.5; CiteScore 4.6, h-index 83.
How long does peer review take at Public Administration and Development?
Based on the dates recorded on 96 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 269 days (interquartile range 194–402 days); the journal's website gives an acceptance rate of 11% (2025). 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 are the manuscript requirements of Public Administration and Development?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Keywords: ≥ 3; Reference style: APA; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Public Administration and Development based?
Of the 4 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Taiwan, China (1), United Kingdom (1) and Japan (1). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Public Administration and Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Public Administration and Development is indexed in SSCI and Scopus. The journal's website also lists Web of Science, CAB Abstracts and Current Contents; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Public Administration and Development open access, and what is the APC?
Public Administration and Development is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 3,010.
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 2026-08-26). Last updated: .