Publication Ethics

International Journal of Critical Sustainability upholds the highest standards of publication ethics and is committed to ensuring integrity in scholarly publishing. The following ethical guidelines apply to all parties involved in the publication process: editors, reviewers, authors, and the publisher.

1. Duties of Editors

• Fair and Unbiased Decisions
  Editors evaluate manuscripts based solely on academic merit, without regard to the authors' race, gender, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, or political beliefs.

• Confidentiality
  Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all manuscripts and correspondence related to the submission, review, and publication process.

• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
  Editors must not use unpublished material for their own research without the author's written consent and must declare any conflicts of interest.

• Peer Review Management
  Editors are responsible for selecting appropriate reviewers and ensuring that the review process is fair, transparent, and timely.

2. Duties of Reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions
  Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts.

• Confidentiality
  Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be shared or used for personal advantage.

• Objectivity and Constructive Feedback
  Reviews should be conducted objectively, with clear and supported arguments, avoiding personal criticism of the authors.

• Acknowledgement of Sources
  Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the authors and alert the editor to any substantial similarity with other works.

• Conflicts of Interest
  Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts where they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions.

3. Duties of Authors

• Reporting Standards
  Authors must present accurate, original, and objective research results. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior.

• Originality and Plagiarism
  The manuscript must be original work, and proper citation must be given when using the work or words of others.

• Multiple or Concurrent Publication
  Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.

• Authorship and Acknowledgment
  Authorship should be limited to those who have made significant contributions to the research. Others who contributed should be acknowledged appropriately.

• Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
  Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence their work.

• Fundamental Errors in Published Work
  If authors discover a significant error in their published work, they must promptly notify the editor and cooperate with the publisher to correct or retract the paper.

• Data Access and Retention
  Authors may be asked to provide raw data for editorial review and should retain such data for a reasonable period after publication.