Author Guidelines 

1. Journal Information
2. Checklist for Manuscript Submission
3. Preparing the Submission
4. Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations
5. Submission Process

1. Journal information

Journal of Sustainable Environment (JSE) is a multidisciplinary journal, which serves as a platform to create a link between local & global researchers. It also aims at building linkages to form communities of learning practices. The journal focuses on the sustainable use of environmental resources. As people are now keenly aware of the critical issues from how humans use their environment, this journal provides a forum for the discussion of environmental issues  around the world and its remediation. In addition to the significant environmental issues including waste management, pollution control, biodiversity and ecosystem, anthropogenic impacts on the environment, energy and climate, coastal management and remediation of hazards. Original research articles, critical reviews, highlights, and perspectives of high quality are published both in print and online. The journal is published twice a year. 

Open Access Statement

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Publication Fee

The journal does not charge authors any kind of fee. The publication in JSE is totally free of cost. There is no hidden fee at all.

Repository Policy

All the published work is deposited in the repository of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan by default. The access to anti-plagiarism tool Turnitin.com is provided to all Universities and Degree Awarding Institutions of Pakistan by the HEC. 

License Type

• CC BY-SA: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.

CC BY-SA includes the following elements:
BY  – Credit must be given to the creator
SA  – Adaptations must be shared under the same terms

Preparation of Manuscripts

Authors are strongly encouraged to submit their original manuscripts as per APA style. Manuscripts should be typewritten or prepared on a word processor, with all material double-spaced, on one side of letter-sized paper, with suitably wide margins. All pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with page 1, the title page. Tables and figures should be numbered serially, and legends to illustrations should be prepared on separate sheets. Tables and figures will be placed near their first mention in the text; all tables and figures must be referred to in the manuscript.

Title Page: The following elements must be included: 

• Title of the article;
• Name(s) and initial(s) of the author(s), preferably with first names spelled out;
• Affiliation(s) of author(s); email IDs and Cell Numbers
• Footnotes to the contribution title;
• Name, address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

Abstract: Each article is to be preceded by a brief abstract, of up to 250 words, that highlights the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions of the paper. 

Key Words: To identify the subjects under which the article may be indexed, 6-10 keywords should be provided. 

References: As per APA Style should be adopted for the manuscript.    

2. Checklist for Manuscript Submission

• All the authors have seen the copy of the research paper and they have approved its submission.
• A cover letter that contains information regarding who the lead author and co-authors are; conformation that a written statement of consent has been obtained by the corresponding author from all contributors (authors) of the paper; and acknowledgment. 

3. Preparing the Submission

Parts of the manuscript

The manuscript should be submitted in three separate and titled word (.txt) files: (1) Title page (2) Main text, (3) Tables, Figures, Appendices

Title Page

The title page should contain:

1. A short informative title that contains the major keywords. The title should not contain abbreviations
2. A short running title of fewer than 16 words.
3. The full names of the authors;
4. The author's institutional affiliations at which the work was carried out;

Authorship

Please refer to the journal’s Authorship policy in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section for details on eligibility for author listing.

Copyrights

Submission of a paper is meant for the work designated has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract/ a part of public lecture/thesis). The paper must not be under consideration elsewhere and its final publication process has been approved by the co-authors. In case the manuscript is accepted, all authors need to agree on the automatic transfer of the copyright to the publisher. 

Conflict of Interest Statement

Authors will be asked to provide a conflict of interest statement during the submission process. For details on what to include in this section, see the Conflict of Interest section in the Editorial Policies and Ethical Considerations section below. Authors should ensure they liaise with all co-authors to confirm agreement with the final statement.

Main Text File

As papers are double-blind peer-reviewed, the main text file should not include any information that might identify the authors.

The main text file should be presented in the following order:

1. Title, abstract and key words;
2. Main text;
3. References;
4. Tables (each table complete with title and footnotes);
5. Figure legends;
6. Appendices (if relevant).

Figures and supporting information should be supplied as separate files.

Abstract

The abstract must not exceed 150 words. It should contain an informative summary of the main points, including, where relevant, the purpose, methodology (including specific names of scales/tests and types of a questionnaire), type of data, special characteristics of subjects used, and conclusions.

Keywords

Please provide five keywords.

Main Text

• As papers are double-blind peer-reviewed, the main text file should not include any information that might identify the authors.
• Use a clear system of headings (without numbers), preferably with not more than three levels of heading.
• The journal uses British/American English spelling; however, authors may submit using either option, as the spelling of accepted papers is converted during the production process.
• Footnotes to the text are not allowed and any such material should be incorporated into the text as parenthetical matter.
• Word Limit / Page Limit: Articles should be between 4,000 to a maximum of 8,000 words (including the abstracts, footnotes, references, tables, figures, appendices, and all other matters).

References

References should be prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). This means in-text citations should follow the author-date method whereby the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998). The complete reference list should appear alphabetically by name at the end of the paper.

Journal Article

Ahsan, H.R., Karim, A., & Farhan, M. (2002). Effects of English language medium of instruction on the learning of students. The Pakistan Journal of Education, 159, 483–486. DOI: 10.1076/appi.ajp.149.3.493

Book

Bradley-Johnson, S. (1994). An assessment of students who are visually impaired or blind: Infancy through high school (2nd ed.). Austin, TX: Pro-ed.

Internet Document

Norton, R. (2006, November 4). How to train a cat to operate a light switch [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vja83KLQXZs

Tables

Tables should be self-contained and complement, not duplicate, the information contained in the text. They should be supplied as editable files, not pasted as images. Legends should be concise but comprehensive – the table, legend, and footnotes must be understandable without reference to the text. All abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Footnote symbols: †, ‡, §, ¶, should be used (in that order) and *, **, *** should be reserved for P-values. Statistical measures such as SD or SEM should be identified in the headings.

 Figures

Although authors are encouraged to send the highest-quality figures possible, for peer-review purposes, a wide variety of formats, sizes, and resolutions are accepted.

Appendices

Appendices will be published after the references. For submission, they should be supplied as separate files but referred to in the text.

4. Editorial Policies & Ethical Considerations

Editorial Review and Acceptance

All submissions will be refereed by at least two appropriate members of the Science and technology. The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to our readership. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are double-blind peer-reviewed. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor-in-Chief determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements.

Data storage and Documentation

JSE encourages data sharing wherever possible unless this is prevented by ethical, privacy, or confidentiality matters. Authors publishing in the journal are therefore encouraged to make their data, scripts and other artifacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper available via a publicly available data repository, however, this is not mandatory. If the study includes original data, at least one author must confirm that he or she had full access to all the data in the study, and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Conflict of Interest

The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript. Potential sources of conflict of interest include but are not limited to: patent or stock ownership, membership of a company board of directors, membership of an advisory board or committee for a company, and consultancy for or receipt of speaker's fees from a company. The existence of a conflict of interest does not preclude publication. If the authors have no conflict of interest to declare, they must also state this at submission. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to review this policy with all authors and collectively to disclose with the submission ALL pertinent commercial and other relationships.

Authorship

The list of authors should accurately illustrate who contributed to the work and how. All those listed as authors should qualify for authorship according to the following criteria:

1. Have made substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;
2. Been involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Given final approval of the version to be published. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and
4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Archiving Policy

To guarantee that all papers published in the journal are maintained and permanently accessible, a complete archival copy of each article is stored and available on the web page of the journal.

5. Submission Process

1. Check that your topic fits the scope of the journal
2. Check that your manuscript has all the required elements from “Checklist for manuscript submission
3. Check that your article is formatted and styled according to guidelines provided in the “Submission” section.
4. Check that your article fits the Editorial Policies and Editorial Considerations of the journal.
5. Please submit your article to jse.smiu.edu.pk/jse
6. The editorial office will forward your manuscript for double-blind peer-review. This may take a few months.
7. You will be informed by e-mail if your manuscript has been accepted or rejected or if it requires further attention.