Journal of Sustainability

Aims & Scope

The Journal of Sustainability (JoS) is a Scopus–indexed, interdisciplinary journal publishing practically relevant open-access research for businesses, policymakers, and civil society working to accelerate the transition towards sustainability. JoS is an independent journal, published in collaboration with Roskilde University (Denmark), and shaped by a global community of world-leading sustainability scholars and practitioners. We are committed to excellence in sustainability research. At the same time, JoS actively experiments with new ways of doing academic publishing. We emphasise peer review that is constructive and fast, and we are among the first academic journals to financially compensate reviewers. Welcome to our website. We are excited for you to be part of this venture – as a reader, reviewer, or author. If you have any questions about this journal, please reach out to: [email protected] Publish with Us The Journal of Sustainability publishes research which provides practical advice for businesses, policymakers and civil society that helps ensure more sustainable development. Submit an Article View all Articles Latest Publications Articles Research Paper Open access Climate Resilience of Pastoral Livelihoods among Borana Oromo in Southern Ethiopia Boru Daniel, Boku Tache, Abaynhe Amare, Alemayehu Regassa First published: 25 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Artificial Intelligence, ESG and Nation Brand: Pathways to Sustainable Development Geeho Jeon First published: 19 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Governing the Paradox: Regenerative Coordination in Nigeria’s Energy Transition Augustine Okeke First published: 12 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Cross-Dimensional Differences in Sustainability Disclosures: Evidence from Large-Cap NSE-Listed Companies in India Adrija Shandilya, Gour Gopal Banik First published: 22 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Review Open access Communicating Sustainability for Behaviour Change: A Systematic Review of Development Communication Strategies in Environmental and Social Transitions Marianne Agnes Taveros Mendoza First published: 13 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access A Theory-Guided Alignment Analysis of Department of Education Policy Corpus through the Lens of Sustainable Governance Michael Garlan First published: 27 April 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Climate Resilience of Pastoral Livelihoods among Borana Oromo in Southern Ethiopia Boru Daniel, Boku Tache, Abaynhe Amare, Alemayehu Regassa First published: 25 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Cross-Dimensional Differences in Sustainability Disclosures: Evidence from Large-Cap NSE-Listed Companies in India Adrija Shandilya, Gour Gopal Banik First published: 22 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Artificial Intelligence, ESG and Nation Brand: Pathways to Sustainable Development Geeho Jeon First published: 19 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Review Open access Communicating Sustainability for Behaviour Change: A Systematic Review of Development Communication Strategies in Environmental and Social Transitions Marianne Agnes Taveros Mendoza First published: 13 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access Governing the Paradox: Regenerative Coordination in Nigeria’s Energy Transition Augustine Okeke First published: 12 May 2026 Abstract PDF References Research Paper Open access A Theory-Guided Alignment Analysis of Department of Education Policy Corpus through the Lens of Sustainable Governance Michael Garlan First published: 27 April 2026 Abstract PDF References Load More Publish with Us Submit your Article here This journal offers two submission options to accommodate your preferences: Drag-and-Drop Submission: Simply drag and drop your submission as a single file (Acceptable Format: Word, PDF) below. Once submitted, we will create an account and initiate the submission process in our OJS (Open Journal Systems) environment on your behalf. OJS Submission: If you prefer, you can follow the standard submission process by Creating an account in our OJS environment. This will allow you to track the status of your submissions, submit additional articles, and manage ongoing submissions. If you are already registered, simply Log in to access your dashboard and proceed with your submission. We operate under a ‘Your Paper, Your Way’ policy. However, please be advised that the journal’s formatting will be applied upon acceptance. Refer to our Guide for more details on the process. Journal of Sustainability Special Issues Special Issues gather articles on a focused theme, offering a platform for sharing new research. All submissions are curated by Guest Editors and peer-reviewed under the journal’s standard process. Each proposal is approved by the Editorial Board to ensure it aligns with the journal’s scope. Accepted articles are published within the volume of the calendar year in which the Special Issue opens. They are featured on a dedicated Special Issue page, as well as in the “Recent Articles” feed and annual archive For details on how to submit to a Special Issue, as well as our policies and Guest Editor responsibilities, please refer to our Special Issue Guidelines . For any enquiries, contact the Editorial Office at [email protected] . Propose a Special Issue Increase the impact and visibility of your research by guest editing a Special Issue for the Journal of Sustainability . Publishing in a Special Issue offers authors greater discoverability, opportunities to build their research network, and the benefit of a thorough peer-review process. We welcome Special Issue proposals from our readers and contributors on topics within their area of expertise. Propose a Special Issue All Special Issues Open Special Issues Upcoming Special Issues Closed Special Issues Open Localising the SDGs: The Role of Cities and Regions in Sustainable Development Edited by: Sébastien Bourdain, Bogdan-Constantin Ibanescu Keywords: SDG Localisation • Territorial Governance • Cities and Regions • Multilevel Governance • Spatial Planning • Voluntary Local Reviews • Policy Integration • Institutional Capacity Deadline: 15 Nov 2026 0 Articles Open Sustainable Finance in Practice: Governance, Measurement and Implementation Edited by: Judith Plummer Braeckman Deadline: 14 Dec 2026 0 Articles Open ESG and Sustainability in the Global South: Challenges & Opportunities of an Unfinished Agenda Edited by: Karamo N.M. Sonko Keywords: Global South • ESG • Sustainability • SDGs • Climate • Social • Governance • Developed Countries Deadline: 31 Dec 2026 3 Articles Open Regulating Sustainability – How Law is used in Relation to Sustainability Objectives Edited by: Rhett Martin Keywords: Precautionary Risk Management • Criteria and Indicators of Sustainability • Science and Regulation • Balance as a Regulatory Imperative Deadline: 28 Feb 2027 0 Articles X DSRPT is an education technology start-up in stealth mode. Circular Economy is our first venture. We are on a mission to disrupt higher education. If you wish to learn more about us, drop us a message: [email protected] Journal of Sustainability Journal of Sustainability Editorial Board The Journal of Sustainability is a collective effort by leading sustainability scholars and practitioners worldwide. We are currently recruiting members for our editorial board. If you are passionate about advancing sustainability research, we invite you to join us. Please contact us at [email protected] . Senior Editors Katrina Charles University of Oxford | The School of Geography and the Environment Research Interests/Areas: Water Security, Drinking Water Quality, Climate Impacts on Water Systems, and Policy-driven Climate Resilience in Africa and South-Asia Ibrahim Dincer Ontario Tech University, Canada | Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Research Interests/Areas: Energy Conversion, Thermodynamics, Renewable Energies, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells, Thermal Energy Storage, and Refrigeration Micheal Hall Massey University | School of Management and Marketing Research Interests/Areas: Tourism, Regional Development, Global Environmental change, Food, Servicescapes, Environmental History, Sustainability, and World Heritage Arnulf Jäger-Waldau European Commission’s Joint Research Centre | IPCC Author Research Interests/Areas: Renewable Energy Technologies, Energy Economics, Climate Change Mitigation, Photovoltaics, and Energy Infrastructure Integration. Seeram Ramakrishna Tsinghua University | Department of Mechanical Engineering Research Interests/Areas: Materials Sustainability, Engineering Materials in Medicine, Circular Economy, and Nanotechnology, with a Cross-disciplinary approach Joseph Sarkis WPI | Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Business School Research Interests/Areas: Sustainable Supply Chain and Operations Management, Circular Economy, Corporate Environmental Management, Blockchain Technology, and Technology-driven Engineering Management David Stern Crawford School of Economics and Government at ANU (Australian National University) | IPCC Author Research Interests/Areas: Energy and Economic Growth, Economic Development and Pollution Emissions, Climate Change, Applied Time Series Econometrics, and Meta-analysis Editors Sébastien Bourdin IESEG School of Management | Chairholder of the European Chair of Excellence on Circular Economy and Territories Research Interests/Areas: Territorial Development, Public Policies, European Union, and Energy Transition, Environmental Issues Kris Hartley Arizona State University | School of Sustainability Research Interests/Areas: Global-to-local Policy Transfer for SDGs, Innovation policy for Sustainability, and Project Management for Sustainability Mitchell P. Jones Universität Wien | University of Vienna Research Interests/Areas: Biotechnology, Composites, Polymeric Materials, and Recycling Julian Kirchherr (Editor-in-Chief) Roskilde University | Copernicus Insitute of Sustainable Development Research Interests/Areas: Innovation Policy for Sustainability, Conceptualising Sustainability, and Sustainable Development Rasmus Lema UNU-MERIT | Maastricht University Research Interests/Areas: Sustainability, Innovation, and Global South Julian Müller FAU | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Research Interests/Areas: Industry 4.0, Digital Transformation, Operations and Supply Chain Management, Sustainability, Sustainable Industrial Value Creation Judith Plummer-Braeckman University of Cambridge | Institute for Sustainability Leadership Research Interests/Areas: Climate Impact on Business Investment, TCFD implementation, Sustainable Farming, Afforestation, and Renewable Energy Tomás Ramos NOVA University Lisbon | Senior Researcher at CENSE Research Interests/Areas: Sustainability Assessment and Management, Impact Evaluation, Circular Economy, Public Sector, and Stakeholder Engagement Syed Abdul Rehman Khan XUT | Xuzhou University of Technology Research Interests/Areas: Circular economy, Sustainable Supply Chain, Green Practices, Waste Management Felix Carl Schultz Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg | Institute for Technologies and Economics of Lithium Research Interests/Areas: Sustainability-Oriented Governance and Innovation, Green Growth, and Stakeholder Management André Torre University Paris-Saclay | Distinguished Professor of Economics Research Interests/Areas: Spatial Coordination, Proximity Relations, Territorial Development, Innovative Networks, and Land Use Conflicts Ali Vahidi TU Delft | Delft University of Technology Research Interests/Areas: Construction, Wastes, Cements, Recycling, Demolition, Recycled Concrete, Recycled Aggregate, and Sustainable Development Editorial Office Caspar van Bentum General Administrative Manager Contact: [email protected] X DSRPT is an education technology start-up in stealth mode. Circular Economy is our first venture. We are on a mission to disrupt higher education. If you wish to learn more about us, drop us a message: [email protected] Journal of Sustainability Journal of Sustainability About The Journal The Journal of Sustainability publishes research that provides practical insights for businesses, policymakers, and civil society to accelerate the transition toward a more sustainable world. Aligned with the Brundtland Commission’s definition, we focus on development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Reflecting the full breadth of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we welcome research across all dimensions of sustainability — from climate and biodiversity to health, education, inequality, and governance. Specific subject areas include, but are not limited to: Sustainable business models, sustainable start-ups, sustainable business model experimentation Dynamic capabilities for sustainability transitions Sustainable supply chains, reverse logistics Sustainability policies and governance Barriers and enablers to sustainability Sustainability transition theory and sustainable development Social, environmental, and economic impacts of sustainability Sustainable rebound effects Sustainable degrowth Sustainability terminology and definitions And more… All disciplinary and methodological approaches are welcome. The journal publishes two formal issues per year along with special issues coordinated by guest editors. Accepted articles are published continuously online on a rolling basis to ensure timely dissemination. Publication Formats and Content Articles published in the Journal of Sustainability aim to be particularly succinct to reach both academic and practical audiences. Accordingly, articles published in this journal can only exceed 6,000 words when this is necessary for the quality of the manuscript, and every article in the Journal of Sustainability must include practical implications. The following types of articles are published in the journal: Research article: Standard empirical or theoretical research papers, typically between 3,500 and 6,000 words in length. This word count excludes tables, illustrations, and references. Review: Narrative reviews, meta-analyses, or meta-syntheses that summarise the current state of research within a specific area of sustainability. These are generally between 4,500 and 6,000 words, excluding tables, illustrations, and references. Perspective: Concise opinion/commentary pieces that present a particular viewpoint on a sustainability-related issue in an op-ed style. These articles are usually between 800 and 1,000 words, excluding tables, illustrations, and references. An article published in the Journal of Sustainability must be accompanied by an abstract that is approximately 150 words. Suggested structure of Research articles and Reviews includes: introduction, theoretical framing, methods, results, discussion, and recommendations. There is no suggested structure for Perspectives. We encourage you to publish any original data that your article is based on alongside your article. All articles will be published using British English spelling Formatting Information for Authors Publication Fees The Journal of Sustainability aims to be a low-cost publisher. Concretely, we aim to undercut the Article Processing Charges (APC) of comparable sustainability-related academic journals (such as MDPI’s Sustainability ) by 80%. This article processing charge is to cover the costs of peer review, copy-editing, typesetting, long-term archiving, and journal management. Our current publication charges for authors (applicable only upon acceptance of their article after peer review): – Research article: 580 EUR – Review article: 580 EUR – Perspective: 480 EUR VAT note: All fees are stated net. 19% VAT applies to payments made by individuals. For institutional payments, VAT is charged where legally required. EU institutions with a valid VAT ID are invoiced under the reverse-charge mechanism. Discounts are possible for students publishing their research with us, for independent scholars and/or authors from the Global South, as well as any other authors from groups that are typically marginalised in the academy. Discounts are currently provided on a case-by-case basis, and requests must be submitted before or at the time of submission. All articles are published as open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . We kindly ask you to reach out to our editorial team to discuss further details: [email protected] Peer-Review The Journal of Sustainability employs a double-blind peer-review process, ensuring that both authors and reviewers remain anonymous throughout the evaluation. An editor will initially assess all contributions for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. They will provide a review following our Review Template . Reviewers are encouraged to submit their review within fourteen days upon receipt of the paper. We are the very first academic journal, as far as we are aware, that pays an honorarium to its reviewers. Honoraria are paid out in sync with the journal’s issue releases—approximately every six months—and include all reviews completed during that period, regardless of whether the reviewed paper is ultimately published. Authors are asked to revise their paper, if possible, within fourteen days. The Journal of Sustainability considers iteration as central to hone the quality of academic work. Multiple rounds of review are thus possible and, in our view, also desirable. We encourage authors to publish their work in preprint servers such as SocArXiv while it is under review with the Journal of Sustainability. We evaluate submitted manuscripts based on their methodological rigour and high ethical standards, regardless of perceived novelty. Accordingly, we publish works that are replication studies as well as studies that report negative and null results. Overall, the aim of the Journal of Sustainability is to help authors improve their manuscripts so that they become publishable in a respected academic outlet. Accordingly, the Journal of Sustainability is not a gatekeeper to publishing sustainability research, but an ally to those dedicated to sustainability scholarship and practice. Articles are published once accepted. This also includes articles that are part of a special issue. For questions about the editorial process, please contact: [email protected] Indexing The Journal of Sustainability has been accepted for Scopus as of 8 February 2026. Google Scholar typically indexes articles within a week of publication. The journal is also indexed and validated in OpenAIRE and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Inclusion in Web of Science (WoS) is currently under evaluation. Publishing Schedule The Journal of Sustainability publishes accepted manuscripts on a rolling basis and assigns them to either a regular issue or a designated special issue. Regular issues are finalised twice per year on June 30 and December 31. Special issues follow flexible timelines and display an expected closure date; they may be finalised after a subsequent regular issue. There is no fixed limit on the number of articles included in either regular or special issues. Formatting The Journal of Sustainability follows a “Your Paper, Your Way” policy: no specific formatting is required at submission. If your manuscript is accepted, we’ll typeset it according to the journal’s style. For further formatting information, see our Formatting Information for Authors. Ethics Statement & Guidance Key links to our policies and role-specific guidance are below. Full Ethics & Editorial Policy Open Access (CC BY 4.0) Guidance by Role Guide for Editors Guide for Reviewers Guide for Authors Responsible Research Assessment JoS endorses the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and evaluates research on its own merits rather than journal-based metrics. Read our statement: DORA endorsement at JoS . X DSRPT is an education technology start-up in stealth mode. Circular Economy is our first venture. We are on a mission to disrupt higher education. If you wish to learn more about us, drop us a message: [email protected] Contact | Journal of Sustainability Contact Principal Contact Editorial Office [email protected] Support Contact Caspar van Bentum [email protected] Make a Submission Most Read This Month Reframing Clean Beauty: Governance, Transparency, and Biodiversity-Related Practices in the Global Cosmetics Sector with Implications for Japan 193 Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of a Pre-Commercial Chemical Recycling Process for Post-Industrial Plastic Waste 181 A Theory-Guided Alignment Analysis of Department of Education Policy Corpus through the Lens of Sustainable Governance 174 Decoupling Resource Consumption from Economic Growth: A Comparative Study of China, Europe, and the United States 149 Reimagining Rural and Small-Town Water Supply in Ghana through Inclusive Governance and Sustainable Models 123 Journal of Sustainability An applied scholarly journal on sustainability aimed at businesses, policymakers and civil society. Site Content Current Issues About the Journal Publish With Us Editors Contact [email protected] Copyright © 2025 / ISSN 3052-3761 / DSRPT UG / Roskilde University / Imprint Journal of Sustainability Open Access The  Journal of Sustainability  applies the  Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0)  license to all published works. Under this license, authors retain copyright and grant anyone the right to use, share, adapt, distribute, and reproduce the work in any medium or format, for any purpose — including commercial use — provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and the source, a link to the license is provided, and any changes made are indicated. All published content is freely and immediately accessible online without embargo, and no user registration is required to access full-text articles. This ensures that anyone, anywhere can read, download, copy, distribute, and make use of our content without restriction, in alignment with the open access definition established by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). To view a copy of this license, visit:  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ X DSRPT is an education technology start-up in stealth mode. Circular Economy is our first venture. We are on a mission to disrupt higher education. If you wish to learn more about us, drop us a message: [email protected] Journal of Sustainability Journal of Sustainability Special Issue Guidelines A Special Issue is a focused collection of peer-reviewed articles centered on a specific topic within the field of sustainability. Each Special Issue is treated as a distinct issue within the volume of the calendar year in which it opens for submissions. Accepted articles are showcased on the Special Issue’s dedicated webpage and simultaneously listed in the “Recent Articles” feed and in the annual archive, alongside all other papers. Each Special Issue is coordinated by one or more Guest Editors who are recognised experts in the topic. They are responsible for defining the theme, encouraging submissions, and providing academic guidance throughout the review process. The Jour

Based on the Think.Check.Submit framework by DOAJ, COPE & OASPA. All data from verified open sources.

Subject Classification