Peer Review Process
Authors submitting to Future – Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development (Future-EPSD) are presumed to confirm that their submission is original and that they hold the legal and ethical rights to publish it. All authors are strongly encouraged to review the journal’s Author Representations Policy for further details on submission expectations and responsibilities.
How to Submit
Manuscripts must be submitted electronically via the journal’s submission portal:
Future-EPSD Submission Portal
The corresponding (lead) author is required to:
-
Create an account with full contact information.
-
Confirm that the manuscript has not been previously published or is not under consideration elsewhere.
-
If the manuscript is a significantly extended version of a prior conference or workshop paper, the author must clearly state the original source and outline the major differences in the submitted version.
Future-EPSD supports the use of ORCID. Authors who do not have an ORCID iD will be prompted to create one during submission at https://orcid.org.
Peer Review Process
All manuscripts submitted to Future-EPSD undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure academic quality, integrity, and relevance. The review workflow includes the following steps:
-
Initial Submission: Manuscript is submitted to the Editor-in-Chief (EIC).
-
Assignment to Associate Editor (AE): The EIC assigns the paper to an AE based on topic alignment and absence of conflicts of interest. If the EIC has a conflict, the AE oversees the entire process.
-
Reviewer Selection: The AE recommends 3–4 expert referees. The EIC confirms no conflict of interest and invites referees to participate. Most commit to a 4-week review, with flexibility for 6–10 weeks if needed.
-
Peer Review: Referees and the AE provide evaluations. The EIC monitors review progress and ensures deadlines are met.
-
Editorial Decision: Upon receipt of all reviews, the AE proposes a decision (Accept, Minor Revisions, Major Revisions, or Reject) with justifications based on reviewer feedback.
-
Author Notification: The EIC communicates the decision to the authors, including anonymous reviewer reports. The AE and reviewers also receive copies for record-keeping.
-
Production Process: Accepted manuscripts are forwarded to the Future-EPSD production team for copyediting and publication preparation.
Revision Policy:
-
Minor Revisions are reviewed by the AE for compliance with comments.
-
Major Revisions are typically re-reviewed by the original reviewers.
-
A second round of major revisions leading to rejection is rare but possible.
-
Rejected papers may be resubmitted as new submissions; in some cases, resubmission may be encouraged by the EIC or AE.
Address and Contact Updates
Authors are responsible for updating the EIC about changes to their contact details.
For general editorial correspondence: epsd@fupress.org
For questions regarding accepted articles: epsd@fupress.org
Technical Correspondence
The journal welcomes brief technical notes, letters, and commentaries that provide focused insights into current policy debates, methods, or innovations. These are reviewed with a streamlined process and are typically shorter than full-length research articles.
Author Appeals
If an author is concerned about the editorial handling of their manuscript, they should first contact the Editor-in-Chief. If the matter remains unresolved, an appeal may be submitted to the Chair of the Publications Board, following Future-EPSD’s appeal procedures.
