International Journal of Regional Development

ISSN 2373-9851 · Open access · Double-anonymous peer review · Annual volume, closed each December

International Journal of Regional Development (IJRD) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal published by Macrothink Institute as one annual volume that is closed in December. Articles are added to that volume online as they are accepted. The journal publishes research on how regions grow, why their trajectories diverge, and how policy and planning reshape territorial outcomes. Its unit of analysis is the region: sub-national territories, cross-border and supranational spaces, and the places that connect them through migration, trade, investment and infrastructure. Contributions are expected to use space to explain, not merely to locate, the phenomena they study.

The journal is organised around five themes:

• Regional economic development and structural change
• Spatial inequality and territorial cohesion
• Urban and regional systems, planning and land use
• Land, resources and environment in regional development
• Regional policy, governance and institutions

Original research articles, review articles and policy analyses are published. Work without an explicit territorial dimension is outside the journal's scope; the full scope and article types are set out under Editorial Policies.

Key Facts

• Peer review: double-anonymous, with at least two independent external reviewers for each research article.
• First decision: four to ten weeks from submission.
• Article processing charge: USD 100, payable only after acceptance. No submission fee.
• Frequency: annual; one volume per year, closed in December, with a cumulative Table of Contents.
• Published since: 2014; the first volume appeared as a single December issue.
• Access: open access, with no subscription or paywall.

Indexing: IJRD is indexed and listed in the databases set out under Indexing & Abstracting.

DOI: articles carry a DOI of the form 10.5296/ijrd.vXXiY.ZZZZZ, for example 10.5296/ijrd.v12i1.22609.

Issues

• In progress: Vol. 13, No. 1 (December 2026).
• Latest published issue: Vol. 12, No. 1 (December 2025)
• All issues: 2014–2025

Google-Based Citations

View the journal's citations in Google Scholar

Paper Selection and Publication Process

1. On receipt of a submission, the Editor sends an e-mail of confirmation to the corresponding author within one to two working days. If you do not receive this confirmation, your submission may not have reached us; please contact the Editor.
2. Peer review. The journal uses a double-anonymous model: reviewers and authors remain anonymous to each other throughout the process. Each research article is assessed by at least two independent external reviewers with subject expertise, and a member of the editorial board also reads the submission and may provide an additional report. The review process normally takes four to ten weeks.
3. Notification of the outcome of review is sent by e-mail.
4. If revision is required, the authors revise the paper. The Article Processing Charge (formatting and hosting) of USD 100 is payable only after acceptance.
5. Published articles are available as PDF on the journal's website and may be downloaded free of charge.

Note on plagiarism

The publisher and the journal apply a policy of zero tolerance towards plagiarism. All submissions are screened with iThenticate before being sent to reviewers.

Announcements

International Journal of Regional Development  ISSN 2373-9851 Email: ijrd@macrothink.org

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