Publication Ethics

This page summarises the ethical principles and responsibilities that apply throughout the journal’s submission, peer-review, publication and post-publication processes.

Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – JSDEWES follows the SDEWES Journals Policies, which apply across all SDEWES journals. Journal-specific requirements and practical guidance are provided on this website.

Detailed requirements are provided in Publishing Ethics, the other applicable SDEWES Journals Policies and the relevant journal-level guides.

Commitment and Scope

The journal applies its publication ethics framework to all participants, content types and stages of the publication process. This section defines the journal’s overall commitment, the scope of application and the standards of professional behaviour expected from everyone involved.

Commitment to Publication Ethics

The journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, editorial independence and transparency throughout submission, peer review, publication and post-publication assessment.

Authors, reviewers, editors, Guest Editors, Editorial Board members and SDEWES Centre are expected to follow recognised principles of responsible scholarly publishing, including fairness, confidentiality, transparency, accountability and correction of the scholarly record where necessary.

Scope of Application

These requirements apply to authors, reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Guest Editors, Editorial Board members, SDEWES Centre as publisher and any other person involved in the journal’s editorial or publication processes.

They apply to all submitted, accepted and published content, including Original Research Articles, Review Articles, special issues, article collections, conference-linked submissions and supplementary material.

COPE and SDEWES Journals Policy Framework

The journal’s publication ethics framework is guided by the COPE Core Practices, the COPE Ethics Toolkit, relevant COPE guidelines, flowcharts, position statements and other applicable international standards.

This page provides a journal-level summary of the applicable ethical responsibilities. Detailed requirements are provided in Publishing Ethics, the other applicable SDEWES Journals Policies, Guide for Authors and Guide for Reviewers.

Respectful and Professional Behaviour

All participants in the publication process must act respectfully, professionally and constructively.

Discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, abusive communication, retaliation and other conduct that may undermine trust, fairness or the integrity of the scholarly publishing process are not tolerated.

Concerns about conduct or communication are handled under Publishing Ethics, Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints and, where applicable, Editorial Independence, Peer Review Policy and Privacy.

Responsibilities in the Publication Process

Publication integrity depends on the responsible conduct of everyone involved in preparing, assessing, deciding on and publishing scholarly work. This section summarises the principal responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editorial participants and SDEWES Centre as publisher, with detailed requirements provided through the linked policies and guides.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy and integrity of the work they submit. Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal at the same time and must not have been published previously in the same form, except where preprints, substantially extended conference papers or other prior versions are permitted and properly disclosed.

All listed authors must meet the journal’s authorship criteria, approve the submitted and accepted versions and accept responsibility for their contributions. Authors must appropriately acknowledge the work of others, obtain any required permissions, and provide complete and accurate statements concerning author contributions, funding, competing interests, research ethics, consent, data availability and use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies.

Authors must notify the journal promptly if they identify a material error, inaccurate declaration, unreliable finding or other issue that may require correction of the manuscript or scholarly record.

Authors must respond honestly and promptly to editorial questions and cooperate in the assessment of any concern relating to their submission or published article. Detailed requirements are provided in the Guide for Authors, Authorship and Contributorship, Authorship Changes and Inclusive Name Changes, Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure, Research Ethics, Research Data and Transparency, Generative AI Policy, Copyright & Licensing and Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers support editorial decision-making by providing an independent, objective, constructive, respectful and timely assessment of the manuscript.

Reviewers must treat the manuscript and all related information as confidential. They should decline an invitation where they lack the required expertise or availability or have an actual, potential or perceived competing interest that may affect their independence.

Reviewers must not contact authors directly, delegate the review without permission, use unpublished information for personal advantage or upload confidential peer-review material to public or non-approved generative AI or external tools. Possible ethical or integrity concerns must be reported confidentially to the editor and must not be investigated independently.

Detailed requirements are provided in the Guide for Reviewers, Peer Review Policy, Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure, Generative AI Policy and Privacy.

Responsibilities of Editors, Guest Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors must ensure a fair, objective, confidential and timely editorial process. Decisions must be based on the manuscript’s scientific quality, originality, validity, relevance, clarity, contribution to the field and suitability for the journal, without discrimination or influence from non-scientific considerations.

Editors and other editorial-role holders must protect confidential information and must not use unpublished material for personal, academic, financial or competitive advantage.

Editors, Guest Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose and appropriately manage any actual, potential or perceived competing interest. A person with a relevant competing interest must not participate in the assessment or decision, and the manuscript must be reassigned or handled through an independent process.

The Editor-in-Chief retains overall responsibility for the journal’s editorial integrity and final decisions unless editorial authority has been clearly delegated. Associate Editors and Guest Editors act within their assigned responsibilities. Editorial Board members may advise, review or otherwise support the journal, but do not have final decision-making authority unless formally assigned an editorial role.

Editors must take reasonable steps to identify and respond to possible research or publication misconduct and protect the confidentiality and integrity of the editorial process. Detailed requirements are provided in Editorial Independence, Peer Review Policy, Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure, Publishing Ethics and Privacy.

Responsibilities of SDEWES Centre as Publisher

SDEWES CENTRE is responsible for supporting the integrity, independence, transparency and continuity of the publication process. It provides the editorial and publishing infrastructure, maintains the SDEWES Journals Policies, supports the handling of ethical and publishing concerns and maintains arrangements supporting the continuing availability and preservation of the scholarly record.

SDEWES Centre does not direct the scientific or editorial determination of whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, revised or withdrawn, or whether published content requires correction, an expression of concern or retraction. Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the journal’s authorised editors and are independent of the applicable APC category, amount, payer and payment or waiver status, conference participation, institutional relationships, sponsorship, advertising, SDEWES membership or other non-scientific considerations.

SDEWES Centre may support matters involving publication ethics, legal obligations, privacy, copyright and correction of the scholarly record in accordance with Editorial Independence, Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals, Copyright & Licensing and Privacy.

Research Integrity and Publication Misconduct

The journal expects research and publication activities to be conducted honestly, accurately, transparently and responsibly. Potential concerns are assessed fairly and proportionately under Publishing Ethics and the relevant specialised SDEWES Journals Policies.

Research Integrity Expectations

Authors must report their research methods, data, analyses, results and conclusions accurately and must not conceal, misrepresent or selectively omit information that is necessary to evaluate the work.

All required ethical approvals, permissions, consent records, authorship information, competing-interest declarations, funding disclosures, Data Availability Statements and generative AI disclosures must be complete and accurate.

Authors, reviewers and editorial participants must cooperate honestly and promptly with reasonable requests for clarification, source files, original data, code, documentation or other evidence relevant to the integrity of a submission or published article.

Detailed requirements are provided in Research Ethics, Research Data and Transparency and Publishing Ethics.

Forms of Research and Publication Misconduct

Potential research-integrity or publication-ethics concerns may include:

plagiarism or substantial unattributed overlap;
duplicate or redundant publication;
fabrication or falsification of data, results or research records;
inappropriate manipulation or selective omission of data or images;
research conducted without required ethical approval, consent, permission or permits;
misrepresentation of authorship, contributions, competing interests or funding;
citation manipulation;
peer-review or editorial-process manipulation;
misuse or unauthorised disclosure of confidential manuscript or peer-review information; or
misuse of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies.

An error, omission, disagreement or unusual result does not by itself establish misconduct. The journal evaluates the available evidence before determining whether further action is required.

Authorship, Competing Interests and Funding Concerns

Authorship and contribution information must accurately reflect the work performed and the responsibility accepted by each author. Guest, gift, ghost, honorary, coercive, purchased, traded or fabricated authorship is not permitted.

Requests to add, remove or reorder authors after submission must be explained, documented and approved by the journal. Authorship disputes and suspected manipulation are handled under Authorship and Contributorship and Authorship Changes and Inclusive Name Changes.

Authors, reviewers and editorial participants must disclose any actual, potential or perceived competing interest relevant to the submission or editorial process. Funding sources and the role of funders or sponsors must also be reported accurately. Concealment, incomplete disclosure or misrepresentation may be assessed under Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure and Publishing Ethics.

Data, Images, Citations and Generative AI

Research data, code, software, models, images and other supporting materials must not be fabricated, falsified, deceptively altered, selectively omitted or otherwise misrepresented. Data availability and access restrictions must be described accurately and must not be used to conceal integrity concerns or prevent reasonable assessment without a valid reason.

Sources must be cited accurately and fairly. Authors, reviewers and editors must not manipulate citations, require irrelevant references or use citations primarily to increase the metrics of an author, journal or associated person.

Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors. Human authors remain responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity and disclosure of all submitted content. Use of these technologies must comply with Generative AI Policy and must not be used to fabricate, falsify or misrepresent text, data, images, citations or other research content.

Detailed requirements are provided in Research Data and Transparency, Generative AI Policy, Copyright & Licensing and Publishing Ethics.

Peer-Review and Editorial-Process Manipulation

The journal does not permit attempts to manipulate reviewer selection, reviewer identities, review reports, editorial assignments or editorial decisions.

Prohibited practices may include:

providing false reviewer names, identities or contact details;
impersonating another person or submitting a review on another person’s behalf;
unauthorised access to, disclosure or use of confidential peer-review information;
undisclosed delegation, collusion, coercion or interference with reviewers or editors;
using fabricated or coordinated reviews to influence an editorial decision;
concealing a relevant competing interest;
bypassing or weakening the journal’s required peer-review process; or
coordinated manipulation of submissions, authorship, citations or editorial handling.

Guest Editors may perform only the editorial functions assigned to them by the journal and must comply with the same independence, confidentiality and competing-interest requirements as other editors. Conference organisers, sponsors, partners and other interested parties must not select reviewers, direct editorial recommendations or determine the outcome of individual manuscripts.

Final responsibility for acceptance or rejection remains with the Editor-in-Chief or another editor authorised by the journal. Concerns are handled under Peer Review Policy, Editorial Independence, Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure and Publishing Ethics.

Raising and Handling Ethical Concerns

Authors, reviewers, editors, readers and other parties may raise concerns about a submission, published article or the conduct of the editorial and publication process. Concerns are assessed confidentially, fairly, proportionately and in accordance with Publishing Ethics and the relevant specialised SDEWES Journals Policies.

Reporting a Concern

Questions or procedural concerns relating to an active submission should normally be reported to the responsible editor through the COMET submission system.

Publication ethics or research integrity concerns relating to a submission, published article, peer-review process, editorial conduct or the handling of a previous concern should be submitted to ethics@sdewes.org.

The report should identify the journal and the relevant manuscript or article and provide a clear description of the concern and supporting information where available.

Where the concern involves the responsible editor, the Editor-in-Chief or the journal’s ordinary editorial contact, it should be submitted directly to ethics@sdewes.org.

Concerns should be raised in good faith and must not include knowingly false, misleading, abusive or defamatory allegations. Anonymous concerns may be considered where sufficient information and supporting evidence are provided.

Individuals who raise concerns in good faith must not be disadvantaged merely because they reported a concern.

Initial Assessment

The journal will first assess whether the concern falls within its responsibility and whether sufficient information is available for further consideration.

The initial assessment may include:

reviewing the submission, published article and editorial records;
comparing relevant text, data, images or references;
checking declarations, approvals, permissions or supporting documentation;
requesting clarification or additional information; and
determining which SDEWES Journals Policies and procedures apply.

An initial concern, inconsistency or allegation does not by itself establish misconduct. The journal may close a matter where it is unsupported, outside its responsibility or does not require editorial action.

Confidentiality, Fairness and Opportunity to Respond

Concerns will be handled as confidentially as reasonably possible. Information may be shared where necessary with relevant editors, SDEWES Centre, authors, reviewers, institutions, funders, publishers or other competent bodies.

Individuals whose conduct or work is questioned will normally be informed of the relevant concern and given a reasonable opportunity to respond and provide supporting information.

The journal will distinguish between concerns about the reliability or integrity of the scholarly record and formal findings of misconduct. It will not attribute misconduct publicly without sufficient evidence, which may include an authorised institutional or other formal finding.

Detailed requirements concerning confidential and personal information are provided in Privacy.

Independent Handling of Competing Interests

A person who has an actual, potential or perceived competing interest in a concern must not control its assessment or outcome.

Where the concern involves an editor, Guest Editor, Editorial Board member, reviewer or another person involved in the original handling of the manuscript, responsibility will be reassigned to an appropriately independent editor or process.

Concerns involving the Editor-in-Chief or SDEWES Centre will be handled through an independent route appropriate to the nature of the matter, in accordance with Editorial Independence, Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure and Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints.

Where a concern involves the responsible editor or the Editor-in-Chief, it may be submitted directly to SDEWES Centre at ethics@sdewes.org. Where a concern involves SDEWES Centre, an appropriately independent handler will be designated.

Cooperation with Institutions and Other Bodies

The journal assesses matters relevant to submission, peer review, publication and the integrity of the scholarly record. It does not replace formal investigations that fall within the responsibility of an institution, employer, research-integrity office, ethics committee, funder, regulator or other competent body.

Where appropriate, the journal may:

request information from an institution or another body;
refer a matter for formal investigation;
cooperate with another journal or publisher;
share relevant evidence where legally and ethically permitted; and
consider the findings of an authorised investigation when deciding editorial action.

Such cooperation will be conducted in accordance with Publishing Ethics, Privacy and any applicable legal or confidentiality requirements.

Possible Editorial Actions

Depending on the nature, seriousness and stage of the concern, the journal may:

request clarification, documentation, original data or corrected files;
pause peer review, editorial assessment, acceptance or publication;
assign a different editor or invite additional independent review;
require correction of declarations, authorship, data, figures or other content;
reject a manuscript, record an author-requested withdrawal or withdraw public pre-Version-of-Record content where justified;
issue a correction, editorial note, expression of concern, retraction, withdrawal notice or other appropriate editorial notice;
restrict or end participation in the journal’s editorial or peer-review processes;
notify an institution, funder, publisher or other competent body; or
take another proportionate action necessary to protect the publication process or scholarly record.

Actions affecting published content are taken under Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals. Appeals and complaints concerning the handling or outcome of a matter are considered under Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints.

Scholarly Record, Appeals and Complaints

The journal is committed to maintaining an accurate and reliable scholarly record and to providing fair procedures for post-publication concerns, editorial decision appeals and complaints. Detailed requirements are provided in Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals and Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints.

Corrections and post-publication notices are mechanisms for protecting the scholarly record and are not intended as punitive measures.

Corrections and Post-Publication Notices

Errors or omissions identified after publication will be assessed to determine whether they affect the interpretation, reliability or integrity of the article.

Where the main findings remain reliable, the journal may publish a correction or another appropriate notice. Post-publication notices will normally:

identify the affected article;
describe the matter being corrected;
state the changes made and their effect on the article;
remain permanent, freely accessible, indexable and linked to the Version of Record; and
preserve the publication history transparently.

Substantive changes must not be made silently.

Minor typographical, formatting or production errors may be corrected without a formal notice only where they do not affect meaning, interpretation, metadata, indexing, attribution or discoverability.

Expressions of Concern, Retractions, Withdrawals, Removal and Replacement

An expression of concern may be issued where there are serious unresolved questions about a published article, an investigation is incomplete or delayed, or the available evidence does not yet support a final editorial action.

Retraction may be appropriate where findings are unreliable, the article involves serious research or publication misconduct, required ethical standards were not met, or publication otherwise seriously compromises the scholarly record.

A manuscript may be withdrawn before publication of the Version of Record in accordance with Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals. Where a pre-Version-of-Record version is already publicly available, a withdrawal notice will normally remain available and be linked to the withdrawn content or its metadata record.

Removal or replacement of published content is exceptional and may be considered only where legal, privacy, safety, security or ethical risks cannot be addressed adequately through correction, expression of concern or retraction.

Notices will explain the reason and basis for the action as clearly as legally and ethically possible. Retracted content will normally remain identifiable and accessible as part of the scholarly record unless exceptional removal is required.

Post-Publication Discussion and Scholarly Critique

Readers, authors and other interested parties may submit evidence-based comments, scholarly critiques or alternative interpretations relating to published work through the journal’s editorial contact identified on the Contact page.

Possible publication ethics or research integrity concerns relating to a published article should be submitted to ethics@sdewes.org.

A submission should identify the relevant article, explain the matter clearly and provide supporting evidence or references where available.

Where appropriate, the journal may invite an author response and make the discussion available through a suitable moderated format, subject to editorial assessment and the applicable SDEWES Journals Policies.

Scholarly disagreement, an alternative interpretation or failure to reproduce a result does not by itself establish error or misconduct. The journal will determine whether the matter requires:

an author response;
additional editorial or expert assessment;
a correction or other post-publication notice;
assessment under Publishing Ethics; or
no further editorial action.

Discussion must remain respectful, evidence-based and relevant to the published work.

Editorial Decision Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision where they believe that a significant factual or technical error, clear misunderstanding of the manuscript, relevant evidence being overlooked, material procedural failure, competing interest, bias, inappropriate conduct or significant error in policy interpretation or application materially affected the outcome.

An appeal must:

identify the manuscript and decision concerned;
explain the alleged error clearly;
respond to the principal editorial or reviewer reasons; and
provide relevant evidence or supporting information.

Disagreement with the decision or reviewer comments, without evidence of a significant error, is not sufficient grounds for an appeal.

Appeals will be handled by the Editor-in-Chief or another authorised person who has no relevant competing interest and, where independent handling is required, did not participate in the contested decision. Only one appeal will normally be considered for each manuscript decision.

An appeal does not guarantee additional peer review or a change in the decision. Detailed procedures are provided in Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints.

Complaints about Editorial or Publishing Processes

Complaints may concern editorial conduct, peer-review handling, confidentiality, unreasonable delay, professional behaviour, policy application or another aspect of the journal’s editorial or publishing processes.

A complaint should describe the matter clearly, identify the relevant manuscript, article or communication and provide supporting information where available.

Complaints will be handled fairly, confidentially and proportionately. Where the complaint concerns a person involved in the original matter, it will be assigned to an appropriately independent person or process.

A complaint is distinct from an editorial decision appeal and should not be used solely to obtain reconsideration of a scientific decision. Detailed procedures and available review routes are provided in Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints.

Revenue Sources, Advertising and Direct Marketing

Revenue Sources

Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – JSDEWES is owned and published by the International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES (SDEWES Centre), Ivana Lučića 5, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Information about SDEWES Centre is available athttps://www.sdewes.org/.

The journal’s publication activities are supported by Article Processing Charges and organisational resources provided by SDEWES Centre.

Any additional institutional, grant, project, conference, sponsorship or other external financial or organisational support is disclosed where applicable. The journal does not receive subscription income or paid commercial advertising revenue.

Revenue sources, financial support, the applicable APC category, amount, payer and payment or waiver status do not influence editorial assessment, peer review or editorial decision-making, in accordance with Editorial Independence.

Advertising and Sponsorship

Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – JSDEWES does not accept paid third-party commercial advertising on the journal website or alongside or within published articles.

Journal announcements, calls for papers and information about SDEWES conferences or SDEWES Centre activities may be displayed where relevant. Such information is clearly identifiable and kept separate from peer-reviewed journal content.

Payment of an Article Processing Charge by an author, institution, funder, project or other authorised payer is not advertising or sponsorship. APC payment does not purchase peer review, acceptance or any particular editorial outcome and does not influence editorial assessment or decision-making.

Where a journal activity, special collection or event receives external financial or organisational support, that support is transparently disclosed on the relevant journal page, collection page or published content, as appropriate. Sponsors and supporting organisations have no role in the assessment, peer review or editorial decision concerning any individual manuscript and do not determine the content or conclusions of published articles.

Editorial decisions are independent of advertising, sponsorship, APC payments, conference participation, institutional relationships and other commercial considerations in accordance with Editorial Independence.

Direct Marketing

The journal may communicate calls for papers, special issues, conference-linked publication opportunities and other relevant journal information to researchers whose work is related to the journal’s Aims and Scope.

Such communications must be accurate, appropriately targeted, proportionate and unobtrusive. They must clearly identify the journal and SDEWES Centre and must not contain misleading statements, guarantee manuscript acceptance or promise an editorial outcome.

Recipients may request not to receive further non-essential journal communications. Personal data used for journal communications are handled in accordance with Privacy.

Direct marketing and manuscript invitations do not influence peer review or editorial decision-making.

Related Policies, Guidance and Contact

The journal-level requirements summarised on this page are supported by the central SDEWES Journals Policies and the journal’s practical guidance. Questions and concerns should be submitted through the route appropriate to the stage and nature of the matter.

SDEWES Journals Policies

The following policies apply across the SDEWES journals:

These policies provide the detailed requirements and procedures that support the principles summarised on this Publication Ethics page.

Journal-Level Guides

Practical requirements for preparing, submitting, reviewing and revising manuscripts are provided in:

Guide for Authors; and
Guide for Reviewers.

The journal’s Aims and Scope, Manuscript Template and other relevant journal-level pages and resources should also be consulted where applicable.

Reporting and Contact Routes

Questions concerning an active submission should normally be communicated to the responsible editor through COMET.

General editorial and manuscript enquiries, editorial decision appeals, correction requests and evidence-based scholarly comments should be submitted through the journal’s editorial contact identified on the Contact page.

Publication ethics and research integrity concerns, complaints concerning editorial conduct and matters involving the Editor-in-Chief or the journal’s ordinary contact should be submitted to ethics@sdewes.org.

Privacy, personal data and data protection enquiries should be submitted to privacy@sdewes.org.

APC, invoice, VAT, payment and refund enquiries should be submitted to payment@sdewes.org.

The applicable procedures are provided in Publishing Ethics, Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints, Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals and Privacy.