Editorial Policies

FOCUS AND SCOPE

The Journal of Sustainable Community Development (JSCD) is dedicated to advancing knowledge and scholarship in the field of sustainable community development. JSCD serves as a platform for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and community leaders to disseminate their work, exchange ideas, and engage in critical discourse related to various aspects of creating and maintaining sustainable communities. The journal encompasses a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:

  1. Community Engagement: Articles that explore methods and practices for engaging communities in the sustainable development process, fostering citizen participation, and building community capacity.
  2. Environmental Sustainability: Research on sustainable environmental management, conservation, and green technologies that promote ecological balance and minimize the environmental footprint of communities.
  3. Social Equity and Inclusion: Studies on social justice, equity, and the inclusion of marginalized groups in community development initiatives, with a focus on addressing disparities and promoting diversity.
  4. Economic Development: Analyses of economic strategies, entrepreneurship, and local economic development initiatives that enhance community prosperity and self-reliance.
  5. Urban and Rural Planning: Research on urban and rural planning practices, land use, transportation, and infrastructure development that contribute to sustainable and resilient communities.
  6. Sustainable Housing and Architecture: Exploration of sustainable building practices, energy-efficient housing, and architectural designs that promote sustainable living.
  7. Community Health and Well-being: Investigations into healthcare access, public health programs, and community wellness initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life for residents.
  8. Education for Sustainability: Articles on sustainability education, curriculum development, and community-based learning that foster a culture of sustainability.
  9. Cultural Preservation: Research on the preservation of cultural heritage, traditions, and indigenous knowledge in sustainable community development.
  10. Policy and Governance: Studies on policies, governance structures, and regulations that support and incentivize sustainable community development efforts.

JSCD encourages the submission of original research papers, case studies, literature reviews, and practical insights that contribute to the advancement of sustainable community development theory and practice. The journal aims to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among stakeholders involved in community development, ultimately contributing to the creation of thriving, resilient, and environmentally conscious communities.

 

SECTION POLICIES

Articles

  • Checked Open Submissions
  • Checked Indexed
  • Checked Peer Reviewed

Editorial

  • Unchecked Open Submissions
  • Unchecked Indexed
  • Unchecked Peer Reviewed

 

PEER REVIEW PROCESS

All submitted manuscripts are subject to a double-blind review process through an online system. 

Peer review procedures

  • The corresponding author submits the manuscript through the JSCD's online system
  • The JSCD Editor Board will identify the quality of manuscript and the possibility of cases of scientific misconduct including authorship, ownership, and plagiarism.
  • The Editor Board notifies the submissions and informs the authors if the papers are suitable for the journals. Therefore, the manuscript will be sent to two reviewers for reviewing process.
  • All of the contributions of the JSCD are subject to a double-blind peer-review, which means that neither the author(s) nor the reviewers know the identity of the other.
  • At least two reviewers review every submitted paper. The review process is an online process and contains clear referees' statements concerning paper's publishing approval or its rejection
  • In case of minor revisions, the article is sent to the author(s) together with a referee's opinions. The authors are asked to respond to the referees' comments and make the appropriate adjustments in the text. Then, the authors send back the corrected version. 
  • The Editorial Board makes the final decision on publication. 

 

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

 

ARCHIVING

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More...

 

RETRACTION

The articles published in JSCD will be considered retracted in the publication if:

1. They have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g. data fabrication) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error)

2. the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper crossreferencing, permission or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication)

3. it constitutes plagiarism

4. it reports unethical research

The mechanism of retraction follows the Retraction Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) which can be accessed at https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction%20guidelines.pdf

 

PLAGIARISM POLICY

JSCD Editorial Board recognizes that plagiarism is not acceptable and therefore establishes the following policy stating specific actions (penalties) upon identification of plagiarism/similarities in articles submitted for publication in JSCD. JSCD will use Turnitin's originality checking software to detect similarities of texts in article manuscripts and the final version of articles ready for publication. A maximum of 30% of similarities is allowed for the submitted papers. Should we find more than 30% of the similarity index, the article will be returned to the author for correction and re-submission.

Definition:

Plagiarism involves the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work."

Policy:

Papers must be original, unpublished, and not pending publication elsewhere. Any material taken verbatim from another source needs to be clearly identified as different from the present original text by (1) indentation, (2) use of quotation marks, and (3) identification of the source.

Any text of an amount exceeding fair use standards (herein defined as more than two or three sentences or the equivalent thereof) or any graphic material reproduced from another source requires permission from the copyright holder and, if feasible, the original author(s) and also requires identification of the source; e.g., previous publication.

When plagiarism is identified, the Editor in Chief is responsible for the review of this paper and will agree on measures according to the extent of plagiarism detected in the paper in agreement with the following guidelines:

Level of Plagiarism

Minor Plagiarism
A small sentence or short paragraph of another manuscript is plagiarized without any significant data or ideas taken from the other papers or publications.
Punishment: A warning is given to the authors and a request to change the manuscript and properly cite the original sources.
 
Intermediate Plagiarism
A significant data, paragraph, or sentence of an article is plagiarized without proper citation to the original source.
Punishment: The submitted article is automatically rejected.
 
Severe Plagiarism
A large portion of an article is plagiarized that involves many aspects such as reproducing original results (data, formulation, equation, law, statement, etc.), ideas, and methods presented in other publications.
Punishment: The paper is automatically rejected and the authors are forbidden to submit further articles to the journal.

 

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). 

 

PUBLICATION FEE

JSCD is an open-access international journal. There is no submission fee for each article submitted to JSCD.