Submissions

Author Guidelines

Sustainability Education Review (SuER) is an international, peer-reviewed, Diamond Open Access journal dedicated to advancing research, theory, policy, and practice at the intersection of education and sustainability.

Authors are strongly encouraged to read the journal's Aims and Scope, Peer Review Process, Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement, and other editorial policies before preparing and submitting a manuscript.

Submission of a manuscript indicates that all authors have read and agreed to comply with the journal's editorial, ethical, and publication policies.

1. Scope and Relevance

Manuscripts submitted to SuER must demonstrate a substantive and explicit relationship between education and sustainability or sustainable development.

Sustainability should be meaningfully integrated into the research problem, theoretical or conceptual framework, research questions, methodology, analysis, findings, or implications.

Manuscripts concerning general education, educational technology, psychology, management, environmental studies, engineering, agriculture, or other fields will only be considered when they contain a clear and substantive educational-sustainability dimension.

Studies conducted in a particular institution, community, region, or country are welcome, but authors should explain how the findings contribute to broader scholarly debates, theories, methods, policies, or practices in sustainability education.

2. Types of Manuscripts

SuER accepts the following major types of scholarly contributions:

Original Research Article
Empirical research using quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, experimental, quasi-experimental, longitudinal, comparative, design-based, participatory, case-study, ethnographic, or other appropriate designs.

Recommended length: 5,000–8,000 words.

Review Article
Systematic reviews, scoping reviews, meta-analyses, integrative reviews, bibliometric reviews, and other rigorous evidence-synthesis studies.

Recommended length: 6,000–10,000 words.

Conceptual or Theoretical Article
Articles that develop, critique, integrate, extend, or reconstruct concepts, theoretical perspectives, or frameworks relevant to sustainability education.

Recommended length: 5,000–9,000 words.

Policy Analysis
Scholarly analyses of educational policy, governance, institutional transformation, or sustainability-related policy implementation.

Recommended length: 4,000–7,000 words.

The word limits are guidance rather than rigid requirements.

3. Language

Manuscripts must be submitted in English.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are written in clear, accurate, and professional academic English.

4. Manuscript File and Format

Manuscripts must be submitted in editable Microsoft Word (.docx) format using the current SuER Manuscript Submission Template.

SuER uses a single-column manuscript format.

Authors should not convert manuscripts into a two-column publication layout.

Final publication formatting will be completed by the journal after acceptance.

5. Double-Anonymous Peer Review

SuER applies double-anonymous peer review.

The manuscript submitted for review must not contain:

• author names;
• institutional affiliations;
• email addresses;
• ORCID identifiers;
• acknowledgements revealing author identity;
• other unnecessary identifying information.

Author information must be entered separately in the OJS submission metadata.

6. Title

The title should be concise, specific, informative, and accurately reflect the content of the article.

Authors are encouraged to keep titles to approximately 20 words or fewer where possible.

Avoid unnecessary abbreviations, acronyms, promotional claims, and generic phrases such as “A Study of...” or “An Analysis of...”.

7. Abstract

Each manuscript must include an abstract of approximately 200–250 words.

For empirical studies, the abstract should normally include:

• research problem or purpose;
• methodological approach;
• participants, data, or research context where relevant;
• principal findings;
• main conclusion;
• contribution to sustainability education.

Citations should not normally appear in the abstract.

8. Keywords

Authors must provide 5–7 keywords.

Keywords should accurately represent the principal concepts, research context, population, sustainability dimension, or methodology of the manuscript.

9. Structure of Original Research Articles

Original research articles will normally use the following structure:

1. Introduction
2. Theoretical or Conceptual Framework — optional
3. Method
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion
7. Declarations
8. References

Authors may adapt this structure when justified by the research design or disciplinary tradition.

10. Introduction

The Introduction should:

• establish the educational and sustainability problem;
• explain its scholarly and societal significance;
• synthesize relevant literature;
• identify what is already known;
• identify a genuine theoretical, empirical, methodological, or policy gap;
• explain why the study is necessary;
• state the research aim, question, hypothesis, or proposition;
• clarify the expected scholarly contribution.

A geographical context alone does not constitute novelty.

11. Literature and Theoretical Engagement

Authors should engage critically with relevant international and context-specific scholarship.

SuER does not require a fixed percentage of recent references or a predetermined minimum number of references.

References should be selected based on relevance, scholarly quality, authority, currency, and contribution to the research problem.

12. Method

The Method section should provide sufficient information for readers to understand and evaluate the research process.

Where applicable, authors should describe:

• research design;
• research context;
• participants or data sources;
• sampling procedures;
• inclusion or exclusion criteria;
• research instruments or measures;
• validity and reliability;
• data collection;
• intervention procedures;
• analytical procedures;
• software and version where relevant;
• ethical approval;
• informed consent.

Methodological choices should be justified rather than merely listed.

13. Quantitative Research

Quantitative studies should report appropriate statistical information, including where relevant:

• sample characteristics;
• measurement properties;
• treatment of missing data;
• assumption testing;
• effect sizes;
• confidence intervals;
• model-fit statistics;
• relevant analytical diagnostics.

Statistical significance should not be interpreted without substantive consideration.

14. Qualitative Research

Qualitative studies should explain:

• methodological approach;
• participant recruitment;
• sampling rationale;
• data generation;
• coding and analysis;
• reflexivity where relevant;
• credibility or trustworthiness procedures.

Interpretations should be supported by appropriate qualitative evidence.

15. Mixed-Methods Research

Mixed-methods studies should explain why quantitative and qualitative evidence are both required.

The manuscript should identify the mixed-methods design and demonstrate meaningful integration of the two components.

16. Review Articles

Systematic reviews, scoping reviews, meta-analyses, bibliometric studies, integrative reviews, and related studies must report transparent and reproducible methods.

Authors should report, where applicable:

• review question;
• databases or information sources;
• search strategy;
• search dates;
• eligibility criteria;
• screening and selection;
• data extraction;
• quality or risk-of-bias assessment;
• synthesis method;
• protocol registration;
• study limitations.

Recognized reporting guidance such as PRISMA should be followed where appropriate.

Review articles must provide more than a descriptive summary of previous studies.

17. Bibliometric Studies

Bibliometric articles must move beyond publication counts, citation rankings, network maps, word clouds, or software-generated visualizations.

Authors should provide substantive interpretation and demonstrate a theoretical, conceptual, methodological, or policy contribution.

18. Conceptual or Theoretical Articles

Conceptual and theoretical manuscripts are not required to follow the conventional IMRaD structure. However, they must present a clearly defined conceptual or theoretical problem and develop a coherent scholarly argument that makes an identifiable contribution to sustainability education.

A conceptual or theoretical article will normally include:

1. Introduction – establishes the conceptual problem, scholarly significance, literature gap, purpose, and intended contribution.
2. Conceptual or Theoretical Background – critically positions the manuscript within relevant theories, concepts, and scholarly debates.
3. Analytical Approach – explains how concepts, theories, or bodies of literature are selected, compared, integrated, reconstructed, or extended.
4. Conceptual Analysis or Theoretical Development – develops the main analytical argument and identifies relationships, tensions, limitations, or new conceptual insights.
5. Proposed Framework, Model, Taxonomy, or Propositions – where applicable, presents the principal conceptual contribution of the manuscript.
6. Discussion – explains how the proposed contribution extends, refines, integrates, or challenges existing knowledge.
7. Implications for Sustainability Education – discusses relevant theoretical, research, educational, policy, or practical implications.
8. Limitations and Future Research – identifies the boundaries of the conceptual contribution and opportunities for empirical or theoretical development.
9. Conclusion – synthesizes the central conceptual contribution and its significance for sustainability education

19. Results

Results should be presented clearly, accurately, and logically.

Tables and figures should be used only when they improve understanding.

Information should not be unnecessarily duplicated between text, tables, and figures.

20. Discussion

The Discussion should:

• interpret the findings;
• relate findings to previous research and relevant theory;
• identify agreements, contradictions, extensions, or refinements;
• consider alternative explanations where appropriate;
• explain the contribution to sustainability education;
• discuss justified implications;
• acknowledge limitations.

21. Conclusion

The Conclusion should synthesize the principal contribution of the study.

It should explain why the findings matter for sustainability education and should not merely repeat the abstract or results.

22. Tables and Figures

Tables and figures must be numbered consecutively and cited in the text.

Tables should be submitted as editable tables, not screenshots.

Figures should be clear and legible.

Authors are responsible for obtaining copyright permission where necessary.

23. References and Citation Style

SuER uses APA 7th edition.

Authors are strongly encouraged to use reference-management software such as Mendeley, Zotero, or EndNote.

References must be relevant, accurate, and verifiable.

Authors must check:

• author names;
• publication year;
• title;
• journal or publisher;
• volume and issue;
• pages or article number;
• DOI.

Fabricated or unverifiable references are unacceptable.

24. APA 7 Citation Examples

One author

(Snyder, 2019)

Snyder (2019)

Two authors

(Braun & Clarke, 2006)

Braun and Clarke (2006)

Three or more authors

(Tranfield et al., 2003)

Tranfield et al. (2003)

Multiple references

(Braun & Clarke, 2006; Snyder, 2019; Tranfield et al., 2003)

25. APA 7 Reference Examples

Journal article

Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.039

Two-author journal article

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Book

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE.

26. DOI

Authors should provide DOI information whenever available.

Use the standard format:

https://doi.org/xxxxx

27. Research Ethics and Informed Consent

Research involving human participants, students, children, teachers, communities, or sensitive information must comply with SuER's Research Ethics and Informed Consent Policy.

Where applicable, manuscripts must report:

• ethics committee or institutional review body;
• approval number;
• informed consent;
• safeguards for vulnerable participants.

28. Data Availability Statement

Empirical manuscripts should include a Data Availability Statement.

Example:

The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Research data should be made as open as possible and as restricted as necessary.

29. Author Contributions

Manuscripts with two or more authors must include an Author Contributions Statement.

SuER recommends the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy.

30. Funding Statement

Authors must disclose relevant funding.

Example:

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

31. Competing Interests

Authors must provide a competing interests declaration.

Example:

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

32. Artificial Intelligence Use

Artificial intelligence systems cannot be listed as authors.

Any reportable AI use must comply with SuER's Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Human authors remain fully responsible for the submitted content.

33. Preprints and Prior Dissemination

SuER permits legitimate preprints.

Authors must disclose relevant preprints, conference papers, reports, theses, dissertations, or closely related publications when applicable.

34. Originality and Simultaneous Submission

A manuscript must not be under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Substantially related manuscripts or publications must be disclosed.

35. Similarity Screening

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using similarity-detection software.

SuER does not use a single numerical similarity percentage as an automatic acceptance or rejection criterion.

Editors assess the nature and context of textual overlap.

36. Open Access and Fees

SuER is a Diamond Open Access journal.

There are:

• no submission fees;
• no Article Processing Charges (APCs);
• no publication fees;
• no mandatory page charges;
• no mandatory color charges.

37. Copyright and License

Authors retain copyright.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) unless otherwise stated.

38. Editorial Screening and Peer Review

Submission does not automatically guarantee external peer review.

Manuscripts first undergo editorial screening.

Manuscripts that pass screening are normally reviewed by at least two independent reviewers using double-anonymous peer review.

39. Revision

When revision is requested, authors must submit:

• revised manuscript;
• detailed point-by-point response to reviewers;
• explanation for comments that were not followed.

An invitation to revise does not guarantee acceptance.

40. Final Submission Checklist

Before submitting, authors should confirm that:

• the manuscript fits the Aims and Scope;
• education and sustainability are substantively connected;
• the manuscript is in English;
• the current SuER .docx template is used;
• the manuscript is anonymized;
• abstract is 200–250 words;
• 5–7 keywords are included;
• methods are transparent;
• ethics information is included where required;
• results are supported by evidence;
• APA 7 is used;
• DOI information is included where available;
• Data Availability Statement is included where applicable;
• Author Contributions are provided;
• Funding Statement is provided;
• Competing Interests are declared;
• AI use is disclosed where required;
• prior dissemination is disclosed;
• all authors approve the submission.

Important: Compliance with formatting requirements does not guarantee publication. SuER prioritizes manuscripts demonstrating scholarly significance, methodological rigor, transparent reporting, international relevance, and a meaningful contribution to sustainability education.