Submissions

Login or Register to make a submission.

Author Guidelines

Before Submission

Authors should submit manuscripts that fit the journal scope and are not under consideration by another journal. The title page should include all author names and affiliations, corresponding author contact details, funding information, competing interests, data availability, ethics approval details where relevant, and author contributions.

Article Types and Length

Environmental Sustainability and Development may consider field studies, modelling papers, policy analyses, geospatial studies, intervention evaluations, and reviews. The journal does not set a rigid launch-stage word limit, but authors should match article length to evidence. Short reports must still contain enough method detail for evaluation; reviews must state their search or selection logic.

Manuscript Structure

Research articles should normally include:

  • title, abstract, keywords, and a concise statement of the research gap
  • methods or study design with enough detail for assessment
  • results presented without selective reporting
  • discussion that separates evidence from interpretation
  • limitations, data availability, author contributions, competing interests, funding, and references

For this journal, authors should additionally address site description, data provenance, and environmental measurement. Manuscripts that use specialised reporting standards should include the relevant checklist as supplementary material.

Required Statements

Each submission should include:

  • field permissions
  • data availability
  • ethics where communities are involved
  • funding
  • competing interests

Data, Code, Materials, and Supplementary Files

Environmental datasets, GIS layers, model code, field protocols, and policy coding files should be shared or described with access restrictions. Suitable supplementary material may include GIS files, field forms, model code, sensor metadata, and policy coding sheets. Files should be named clearly, cited from the manuscript, and versioned where possible.

Formatting and References

The launch office may accept Word, LaTeX, or OJS-compatible source files. Author-date references are preferred; datasets, maps, and policy documents should be cited as sources. Figures should be readable at single-column width, tables should be editable where possible, and abbreviations should be defined at first use.

Research Integrity and AI Use

Authors must identify prior dissemination, preprints, related submissions, reused figures, and any third-party material. Use of generative AI tools must be disclosed when they materially assisted drafting, coding, image generation, translation, data extraction, or analysis. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

Editorial Screening

Submissions may be returned before review if they are outside scope, lack required statements, contain excessive overlap, use unverifiable data, or do not meet minimal scholarly standards for environmental sustainability and development. In particular, submissions may be returned if field permissions are unclear, GIS data are undocumented, or policy recommendations exceed the evidence.

Submission Preparation Checklist

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • This submission meets the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • This submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
  • All references have been checked for accuracy and completeness.
  • All tables and figures have been numbered and labeled.
  • Permission has been obtained to publish all photos, datasets and other material provided with this submission.

Articles

Section default policy

Copyright Notice

Copyright

Authors retain copyright in their articles unless a different arrangement is agreed in writing. By submitting to the journal, authors grant the publisher the right to publish, distribute, preserve, and identify the article as the version of record.

Default Licence

CC BY 4.0 for articles; sensitive ecological or community data may use restricted-access terms. The exact licence must be displayed on every article landing page and PDF. Licence text should not be hidden in a general policy page only.

Third-Party Material

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for figures, tables, images, survey instruments, maps, screenshots, standards excerpts, media, or substantial text reused from third-party sources when the intended licence does not cover that reuse. Captions should identify any material that is not under the article's default licence.

Data, Code, and Artifact Licences

Supporting materials may need licences different from the article licence. Authors should state the licence or access condition for GIS files, field forms, model code, sensor metadata, and policy coding sheets. Restricted access should be justified by privacy, safety, contractual, cultural, legal, or commercial reasons.

Metadata

Article metadata may be distributed to discovery services, DOI registration agencies, libraries, preservation services, and indexing databases when applicable. Metadata distribution does not imply database indexing unless indexing has been confirmed by the database.

Permissions Questions

Permissions questions should be directed to the editorial office before publication where possible. After publication, requests should identify the article title, DOI or URL if available, material requested, intended reuse, and format.

Privacy Statement

Data Collected Through OJS

The journal may collect names, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID iDs, manuscript files, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, decision letters, metadata, and files required to manage peer review and publication.

Field-Specific Data

For environmental sustainability and development, editorial files may include community data, field-site locations, environmental sensor records, traditional knowledge, and reviewer reports. Authors should not upload identifiable, confidential, or controlled data unless the journal has explicitly requested it and the upload is lawful.

Use of Information

Personal data will be used for editorial workflow, peer review, publication, indexing preparation, preservation, audit trails, ethics investigations, and communication related to manuscripts or journal operations. Data should not be sold or used for unrelated marketing.

Reviewer and Author Confidentiality

Reviewer identities and reports should be handled according to the journal's peer-review model. Confidential review material must not be shared outside the editorial process unless required by an investigation, law, or explicit consent.

Retention

Editorial records should be retained long enough to support publication ethics investigations, corrections, appeals, audit needs, and legal obligations. The final retention period should be confirmed by the publisher before launch.

Security and Access

Access to OJS administrative accounts should be limited to authorised staff and editors. Passwords, reviewer files, unpublished manuscripts, and correspondence should not be shared through uncontrolled channels.

Contact

Privacy questions may be sent to [info@esdjournal.net](mailto:info@esdjournal.net). The final public website should also name the legal privacy contact once publisher registration details are confirmed.