SUSTINERE: Journal of Environment and Sustainability is firmly committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher, share the responsibility to uphold the integrity and credibility of scientific research. The journal follows the ethical guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and adopts best practices established by leading academic publishers to promote transparency, fairness, and accountability in every stage of publication.

 

Duties of the Publisher

The publisher takes its responsibility for overseeing all stages of publishing very seriously. It recognizes its ethical and professional obligations to ensure that advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue does not influence editorial decisions. In cases of proven misconduct such as plagiarism, fraudulent publication, or other ethical violations, the publisher will work closely with the editors to publish corrections, retractions, or other necessary statements.

 

Duties of the Editors

Publication Decisions
Editors are responsible for deciding which manuscripts to publish, guided by the journal’s policies and legal requirements concerning defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

Fair Play
Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their academic merit without regard to authors’ race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality
Editors must not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisers, or publisher as appropriate.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the author’s explicit written consent.

Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations
Editors shall take appropriate action when ethical concerns are raised about a submitted or published paper and will cooperate fully with authors and institutions to resolve such matters.

 

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Reviewers play an essential role in helping editors make fair and informed publication decisions. Their feedback also supports authors in improving the clarity, quality, and scientific value of their work.

Promptness
Reviewers who feel unqualified to evaluate a paper or cannot complete a review within the requested time should notify the editor as soon as possible. This allows the editor to find another qualified reviewer without delay.

Confidentiality
All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential. Reviewers should not share, discuss, or use the information in a manuscript for personal advantage or with anyone outside the review process.

Standard of Objectivity
Reviews must be conducted fairly and objectively. Comments should be clear, constructive, and focused on the content of the paper, not on the authors personally.

Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should point out any relevant work that has not been cited by the authors. They should also inform the editor if they notice substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript and other published works.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Reviewers must not evaluate manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or personal relationships with the authors or institutions involved. If such a situation arises, reviewers should inform the editor and decline the review.

Citations
Reviewers may suggest additional citations only when they are clearly relevant and improve the scientific quality of the paper. Citation requests should never be made to promote the reviewer’s own work or that of their colleagues, as this may create bias or a conflict of interest. Reviewers should provide full reference details and briefly explain why each suggested citation is important. Editors have the right to remove or disregard citation suggestions that are inappropriate or self-serving.

 

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards
Authors should provide an accurate and complete account of their work, including enough detail and references to allow others to replicate or verify the study. Any fraudulent or knowingly misleading statements are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention
Authors should be prepared to provide the raw data, code, or materials underlying their findings if requested and retain them for a reasonable period after publication. Any limitations on data availability must be clearly stated.

Originality and Plagiarism
All submissions must be original. Use of others’ words, data, or ideas must be properly cited. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or duplicate publication is unethical and may result in rejection or retraction.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
Authors should not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously or publish substantially similar work elsewhere without prior disclosure and justification. Any overlapping material must be cited and discussed with the editor.

Acknowledgement of Sources
All sources of information or ideas must be properly credited. Individuals or organizations who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged.

Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All listed authors must take public responsibility for the content of the work. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and consented to its submission. Any form of ghost, guest, or honorary authorship is strictly prohibited, and all contributions must be properly acknowledged to maintain transparency and research integrity.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence their work. Funding sources and the role of funders in the research process must be clearly stated.

Ethical Approval and Use of Humans or Animals
For studies involving human participants, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained and that the research was approved by an appropriate ethics committee. Animal research must comply with institutional and national welfare guidelines.

Image and Figure Integrity
Images and figures must not be manipulated in a way that could mislead readers. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are allowed only if they do not obscure or remove relevant information.

Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools
Authors must disclose any use of AI-assisted tools, such as language models or image generators, in preparing the manuscript and explain their role clearly. AI tools cannot be listed as authors and do not replace author responsibility for accuracy and integrity.

Reporting Sex- and Gender- based Analyses
Where applicable, authors should present results disaggregated by sex and gender and explain how these factors were considered in study design, analysis, and interpretation.

Funding Sources
All sources of financial support must be declared, along with the role of funders in study design, data collection, analysis, or publication decisions.

Declaration of Generative AI Use
Any use of generative AI tools in creating text, images, or data must be disclosed, including the purpose and extent of AI assistance.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works
If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published article, they must promptly notify the editor or publisher and cooperate in correcting or retracting the paper as appropriate.

 

Ethics Oversight and Enforcement

SUSTINERE: Journal of Environment and Sustainability follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling suspected cases of research or publication misconduct. All stakeholders, including authors, reviewers, and editors, are expected to cooperate fully in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. Proven ethical violations may result in the rejection of the manuscript, publication of a correction or retraction, notification to the authors’ institution, or prohibition from future submissions.