Publication Ethics

PLANDEV-S: Planning and Development for Sustainability is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against any publication malpractice. This statement is based on the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Responsibilities of Editors

  • Ensure fair, unbiased, and timely peer review and editorial decision-making.

  • Maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.

  • Avoid conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where such conflicts exist.

  • Act on ethical complaints or concerns related to submissions or published papers.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Provide objective, constructive, and timely feedback on the content of the manuscripts.

  • Maintain the confidentiality of manuscript content.

  • Declare any conflicts of interest and decline to review if necessary.

  • Avoid using any content from the manuscript for personal advantage.

Responsibilities of Authors

  • Submit original work that has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by other journals.

  • Properly cite sources and give appropriate credit to the work of others.

  • Avoid plagiarism in all forms, including self-plagiarism.

  • Disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.

  • Report research findings accurately and honestly.

  • Ensure that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission.

Plagiarism and Misconduct

PLANDEV-S uses plagiarism detection software to screen all submissions. Any manuscript found to contain plagiarized content, data falsification, duplicate publication, or other forms of misconduct will be rejected or retracted, and the authors may be banned from future submissions.

Retraction Policy

Retractions will be considered if:

  • There is clear evidence of unreliable findings due to misconduct or honest error.

  • The work has been published elsewhere without proper attribution (i.e., redundant publication).

  • There is evidence of plagiarism or unethical research.