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The contemporary conditions of academic capitalism exert pressures on researchers to avoid ‘peripheral’ journals and ‘unfashionable’ topics. This paper sheds a light onto the structure of one such ‘offbeat’ field, namely ‘border region studies’, by discussing its geographical distribution, key themes, significance and impact. The review suggests that border region studies can be considered a significant and important ‘branch’ of regional studies, which accounts for a small but increasing proportion of regional studies research, particularly in Europe and North America. Four main distinct, but interconnected, research themes are discussed: cooperation, development, governance and mobility. Based on the review, potential directions for further research are proposed and the implications of valuing research based almost solely on journal rankings is scrutinized.