Ethical Oversight

The Journal of Environment and Sustainability Education is committed to ensuring that all published research is conducted and reported with the highest ethical standards, in accordance with the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Ethical oversight is a shared responsibility involving authors, their institutions, funding bodies, peer reviewers, and the journal. Authors must comply with relevant ethical guidelines and legal regulations, respect the rights, dignity, and welfare of research participants and communities, minimize harm to the environment, and uphold research integrity by avoiding fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other forms of misconduct.

Research involving human participants, including students, teachers, community members, and other stakeholders taking part in surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, classroom interventions, or field-based educational and environmental studies, must obtain freely given informed consent from each participant or their legally authorized representative. Such research should generally receive approval or an exemption from an appropriate independent ethics committee or Institutional Review Board before it commences. Authors must report the committee’s name and approval identifier, where available, or provide a clear justification if approval is not required under applicable regulations or institutional policies. Participant confidentiality and anonymity must be protected, and studies involving vulnerable populations, such as children, indigenous peoples, or communities affected by environmental hazards, must justify their inclusion and describe additional safeguards against risks, coercion, and privacy violations. Research that engages local or indigenous communities should respect their customs and obtain appropriate community-level permission, particularly when documenting traditional ecological knowledge. Where applicable, research involving animals must comply with relevant welfare guidelines and receive appropriate ethical approval.

Fieldwork conducted in protected areas, conservation zones, private land, or other regulated sites must obtain the necessary research, access, and sampling permits from the relevant authorities or landowners. Collection of biological, soil, water, or other environmental samples should comply with applicable national and international regulations and be carried out in a manner that minimizes disturbance to ecosystems and local communities. Authors must ensure that personal, sensitive, and proprietary data are collected, stored, and reported in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection requirements. Anonymization or de-identification should be used wherever appropriate, and sensitive environmental information, such as precise locations of endangered species or sites affected by illegal activities, should be reported with care to avoid causing harm. Separate, explicit consent for publication is required when manuscripts contain identifiable information, including images, detailed case descriptions, or quotations that may reveal a participant’s identity. Research conducted within schools, universities, companies, government agencies, or other organizations must obtain the necessary permissions to conduct the study, use organizational data, and publish the findings, while respecting confidentiality agreements.

All submitted manuscripts must include a dedicated “Ethical Considerations” or “Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate” section addressing applicable approvals, research and fieldwork permits, consent procedures, privacy measures, publication permissions, and safeguards for vulnerable participants. The Journal of Environment and Sustainability Education reserves the right to request supporting documentation and, where necessary, verify approval with the relevant ethics committee or permitting authority. Editors and peer reviewers are expected to identify and report potential ethical concerns, and manuscripts that fail to meet the journal’s ethical standards will not be accepted. Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit, relevance to the journal’s scope, and compliance with ethical standards.

Ethical concerns identified before or after publication will be investigated in accordance with relevant COPE guidelines and the journal’s procedures for addressing suspected misconduct. Depending on the nature and severity of the breach, actions may include requesting clarification or corrections, contacting authors’ institutions, issuing an expression of concern, or retracting an article. Authors are encouraged to consult relevant institutional, national, international, and funder requirements before commencing their research and to consider ethical responsibilities throughout the research and publication process.