The Journal of Environmental Sciences and Sustainability (JESS) expects its editors to uphold the highest standards of integrity, fairness, and transparency throughout the publication process. Editors bear the primary responsibility for maintaining the academic quality and ethical credibility of the journal from manuscript submission to publication.
Editors are responsible for:
Maintaining and improving the quality and academic integrity of the journal by publishing high-quality research.
Upholding freedom of expression within cultural, constitutional, and legal frameworks.
Ensuring the credibility and authenticity of published content.
Meeting the needs of both authors and readers.
Upholding ethical standards and ensuring transparency in all publication decisions.
Issuing corrections, clarifications, and retractions whenever necessary.
Good editorial practices include:
Encouraging new ideas and suggestions from authors, reviewers, and readers to enhance journal quality.
Applying the blind peer-review process objectively and fairly.
Promoting innovative and original findings.
Enforcing anti-plagiarism policies rigorously.
Educating authors and reviewers about research ethics.
Implementing and periodically updating the journal’s editorial policies independently of institutional or external pressure.
Editors must:
Ensure that the Editorial Board comprises qualified and diverse scholars in the relevant field.
Maintain two main committees:
a. Editorial Committee – responsible for logistics and management.
b. Advisory Committee – responsible for manuscript review, with at least 50% international representation.
Appoint members for a fixed term and revise the composition when needed.
Communicate clearly with board members regarding their ethical responsibilities and journal policies.
Conduct Editorial Board meetings regularly (at least twice a year).
Uphold the journal’s assigned category by ensuring consistent publication quality.
Editors must:
Select papers based solely on academic merit and relevance to the journal’s scope.
Respond promptly to author inquiries and assign tracking numbers for transparency.
Evaluate manuscripts without discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, religion, institutional affiliation, or political beliefs.
Ensure reviewers disclose any conflicts of interest prior to evaluation.
Editors must:
Maintain confidentiality of author(s) and reviewer(s) identities during the double-blind review process.
Not disclose information regarding manuscripts to anyone other than relevant parties (authors, reviewers, or editorial board).
Protect participant confidentiality and require authors to do the same.
Keep all submitted manuscripts confidential prior to publication, and ensure reviewers do not use or share unpublished content.
Editors must:
Provide and publish clear, detailed formatting and submission guidelines in every issue.
Define preferred referencing styles (e.g., APA, Chicago, or MLA).
Ensure consistency in style, structure, and presentation across published papers.
Editors are responsible for:
Ensuring that every manuscript undergoes a double-blind peer review, with at least one international reviewer.
Guaranteeing anonymity in both directions (author and reviewer).
Providing reviewers with written guidelines and structured review forms.
Ensuring the review process is professional, timely, and unbiased.
Maintaining a database of competent and diverse reviewers.
Referring conflicting review cases (e.g., one acceptance and one rejection) to the Advisory Committee for resolution.
Regularly evaluating and improving peer-review practices.
Editors must:
Encourage reviewers to report potential ethical violations, such as plagiarism, fabrication, or data manipulation.
Verify plagiarism through reliable software (e.g., Turnitin).
Investigate suspected misconduct objectively.
Issue retractions or corrections for confirmed cases of plagiarism or unethical behavior.
Editors must:
Ensure that one author does not publish multiple papers as the principal investigator in the same issue.
Limit authorship for Editorial Board members (including the Editor) to one paper per issue, either as a main author or co-author.
Promote transparent authorship practices and discourage honorary or coercive authorship.
Recognize only those individuals who made a substantial contribution as authors.
Editors must:
Recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist (e.g., personal, professional, or institutional ties).
Apply the same rule to reviewers and Editorial Board members.
Establish a clear policy for handling submissions by Editors or Board members.
Publish a list of declared conflicts of interest for all editorial members.
Delegate responsibility for handling the Editor’s own submission to an Associate Editor to ensure transparency and impartiality.
Editors must:
Not use or share unpublished material from submitted manuscripts without the author’s consent.
Keep all information obtained during peer review confidential and refrain from using it for personal or professional advantage.
Editors should:
Accept or reject manuscripts based solely on merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope.
Provide clear and specific reasons for rejection, which may include:
a. Misalignment with journal scope
b. Insufficient depth or quality
c. Major methodological or analytical flaws
d. Plagiarism or ethical violations
Communicate decisions promptly and transparently.
Avoid reversing decisions arbitrarily or under external influence.
Editors must establish a formal appeals process for:
a. Authors disputing rejection decisions.
b. Complaints regarding potential harm caused by a publication.
c. Alleged breaches of ethical or professional boundaries.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND SUSTAINABILITY
Frequency: Quarterly
Language: English
ISSN (Electronic): XXX-X
ISSN (Print): XXX-X
Publisher:
International Institute of Modern Research (SMC-Private) Limited
Address: First Floor, Madina Center, Near Kabotar Square, Ring Road, Peshawar City, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
