Journal profile · Social Sciences-Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
World Development Sustainability
ISSN 2772-655X · Elsevier · United Kingdom
World Development Sustainability: impact factor 5.1 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,830; review about 352 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); 62 articles in 2025; indexed in Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
World Development Sustainability is published by Elsevier. By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Energy, Environment, Economic Growth, Agricultural Innovations and Practices and Energy and Environment Impacts, together about 25.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are Economics and Econometrics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
World Development Sustainability is a multi-disciplinary, gold open access social sciences journal focusing on sustainable development. It is a companion title to the prestigious World Development, its distinct focus is on publishing novel and cutting-edge research on sustainability, especially economic development, social development, natural resources, and the environment. It covers the theory, practice, policy solutions and the latest research trends on sustainable development. World Development Sustainability encompasses a comprehensive range of research fields and disciplinary perspectives focusing on social sciences and environmental science.World Development Sustainability aims to publish articles that will deepen understanding of mechanisms for ensuring the sustainability of human beings; track and/or measure progress on the achievement of global objectives such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); explore sustainable ways of improving the standards of common living and the welfare effect of common goods; encourage theoretical and empirical research on social and environmental sciences focusing on sustainability; promote scientific governance and impact assessments of global sustainable development by examining problems such as: poverty, failure of environmental public goods, hunger, disease, lack of shelter, environmental degradation, tragedy of the commons, sustainable resources, mediocre scientific and technological resources, gender and ethnic discrimination, and lack of popular participation in economic and green life.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Social Sciences-Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Editor-in-chief Yahua WangPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 9 in mainland China (about 28%); most named Mainland China 9, United States 9, United Kingdom 5, Hong Kong, China 2, Singapore 2 (32 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Energy, Environment, Economic GrowthEconomics, Econometrics and Finance10%
- Agricultural Innovations and PracticesAgricultural and Biological Sciences7.9%
- Energy and Environment ImpactsEnvironmental Science7.7%
- Agricultural risk and resilienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences6.4%
- Energy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesEnergy5.7%
- Environmental Sustainability in BusinessBusiness, Management and Accounting4.5%
- Microfinance and Financial InclusionEconomics, Econometrics and Finance4.5%
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementEnvironmental Science4.3%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Not covered
Not covered by this edition.
Database indexing
ScopusDOAJLetPub
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 (publisher)
- 5.1Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 8.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 8.8Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.93LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.38LetPub ·
- h-index
- 31OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 120OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.68OpenAlex ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 0%LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 361 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 107 | 107 | 82 |
| 2025 | 62 | 62 | 375 |
| 2024 | 78 | 78 | 946 |
| 2023 | 75 | 75 | 1,590 |
| 2022 | 39 | 39 | 1,177 |
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 1 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".
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 21 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 31 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 161 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 352 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 3 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 52 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 1,830 | Yes | CC BY, CC BY-NC, CC BY-NC-ND | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,400 / EUR 1,280 / GBP 1,120 / JPY 165,170 | — | — | |
| LetPub | USD 1,400 | Yes | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 2,290 | — | — |
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 prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- 1–7
- Reference style
- Numbered, in order of citation
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Highlights
- Optional
- Graphical abstract
- Optional
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
This journal follows a double anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication.
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
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- ISSN
- 2772-655X
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about World Development Sustainability
What is the impact factor of World Development Sustainability?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 5.1; this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 8.8, h-index 31.
How long does peer review take at World Development Sustainability?
The publisher reports about 352 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of about 21 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.
What are the manuscript requirements of World Development Sustainability?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: 1–7; Reference style: Numbered, in order of citation; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Highlights: Optional; Graphical abstract: Optional. 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 World Development Sustainability based?
Of the 32 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 9 (about 28%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (9), United States (9) and United Kingdom (5). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index World Development Sustainability?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, World Development Sustainability is indexed in Scopus and DOAJ.
Is World Development Sustainability open access, and what is the APC?
World Development Sustainability is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,830.
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 2026-08-25). Last updated: .