Policies
Editorial, ethical, access, review, and transparency policies for Journal On Tourism & Sustainability.
Open access
JOTS provides immediate access to published articles without subscription, registration, paywall, or embargo barriers. Published articles may be deposited in repositories with appropriate citation and licence information.
Copyright and licensing
Authors retain copyright while granting the journal the rights needed to publish, preserve, and identify the version of record. Published articles use the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence.
Fees and business model
The journal does not charge submission, author, article processing, page, colour, or publication fees. Editorial decisions are separated from financial or platform considerations.
Peer review
Research submissions are assessed through double-anonymous peer review. Independent reviewers are normally used, confidentiality is expected, and appeals are handled through editorial review rather than author preference.
Publication ethics and malpractice
Editors, authors, reviewers, and publisher representatives are expected to follow clear responsibilities around originality, accuracy, confidentiality, conflicts, corrections, and misconduct handling.
Plagiarism and redundant publication
The journal treats duplicate publication, inappropriate text recycling, citation manipulation, and unattributed reuse as research-integrity issues. Similarity reports are interpreted editorially rather than by a fixed percentage alone.
Artificial intelligence
AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain responsible for submitted work and should disclose material AI assistance where relevant, without exposing confidential review or participant information.
Data and research records
Where appropriate, submissions should include data availability information. Sensitive, personal, community, or restricted data must be handled with consent, privacy, and ethical constraints in mind.
Preservation and repository use
The journal maintains public records through its canonical website and uses backups, exports, repository deposit, and DOI-linked records to support preservation and discoverability.
Complaints and appeals
Complaints and appeals should be evidence based. The journal aims to use independent review where practical, keep records confidential, and apply corrections where a decision or published record needs amendment.
Policy Questions
Short answers for authors and readers using the JOTS policy set.
Can authors archive the published article?
Yes. Authors may deposit the version of record without an embargo when citation and licence details are retained.
Does JOTS charge article processing charges?
No. The journal states that it does not charge APCs, submission charges, author fees, page fees, colour fees, or publication fees.
How are editor submissions handled?
Submissions from editors, board members, guest editors, or closely connected authors should be handled by an independent editor with no relevant conflict.