Overview

World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development (WJSTSD) is a unique global forum for academics, practitioners and policymakers from around the world to exchange concepts, research, and best practices about science and technology and to provoke forward thinking on the development of a more coherent approach to solving global problems related to sustainable development (SD).

WJSTSD aims to integrate the study of these disciplines to achieve SD and help to stimulate debate with a view to defining common, effective responses to tomorrow’s challenges.

WJSTSD is published by WASD in the United Kingdom (4 Issues per year) ISSN: 2042-5961 (Print); 2042-597X (Online) in partnership with Emerald Publishing (2012-2021) and Inderscience Publishers (2004-2009).

Location

Queen Mary University of London, The QMB Innovation Centre, 5 Walden St, London, E1 2EF

Country/Regions
Indexing and Ranking

WJSTSD is listed and indexed in various international Indexing, Ranking and Databases platforms.

Editorial Board

All members of our editorial committee are truly international in terms of their interests and range of specialisation. The validated academic background that they bring to bear on the quality of the review as well as their geographic areas of interest foster a uniquely different editorial experience.

WASD is very grateful for all our distinguished Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) and our Expert Reviewers which include distinguished international academic and professional experts in the different subject areas of the different journals. All our EAB members graciously offering their invaluable comments that have enriched the quality of the papers in all our publications and also for making available to us their valuable time and efforts. 

We continuously looking for nominations for distinguished academic and professional colleagues who will be interested to join the EAB to support our journals. Please click here to learn more about the duties as member of the EAB and complete the application form online. Please contact Janet Snow (janet.snow@wasd.org.uk) if you have any question and/or you need any help. 

We would like also to congratulate all our Authors for their extremely valuable contributions and we hope they continue to support the journal and encourage all their colleagues and friends to also consider the journal for their research outcome.

WASD testimonies
Subject Coverage

WASD produces various publications, to spread information all over the world, and to promote its aims and activities through various other partners. WASD publications are developed to provide an overview of Sustainable Development (SD) and why it is important and to provoke forward thinking on the development of a more coherent approach to solving global problems related to sustainability. In doing so, a holistic approach is used to critically examine the inter-relationship between the natural, the governmental, the economic and the social dimensions of our world and how science and technology can contribute to solutions. And although science, technology and SD are the main focus of our publications, there is no limit as to the articles/chapters that will be considered.

WJEMSD publishes:

  • Original and applied research that critically examines the inter-relationship between the natural, the governmental, the economic and the social dimensions of our world and how science and technology can contribute to solutions
  • Fundamental and applied research on all aspects of SD
  • General and technical reviews of topical and/or controversial subjects which inform and stimulate debate
  • Conceptual papers or case studies which highlight the role of STI in achieving SD
  • Literature review or viewpoint on a particular topic or trend
  • WJSTSD encourages Guest Editors to submit proposals for Special Issues addressing particular (specific) issue(s) fitting with the broad theme of the journal or resulting from relevant conferences. Special issues focusing on a particular country or region would also be welcome.
  • Book reviews and/or evaluation of other literature and multimedia information packages.

WJSTSD considers a broad range of topics, and papers can address subjects theoretically or empirically through either a descriptive or critical approach. Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

  • Science, technology and innovation (STI)
  • Role of STI in achieving SD
  • SD policies and strategies and the government involvement in SD practices and regulations
  • Research and development
  • ICTs and SD
  • Education and SD
  • Engineering, industry and sustainable manufacturing systems
  • Food security policies and sustainable food production systems
  • Future trends in STI
  • The impact of travel, transportation and tourism on sustainability
  • UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
  • Water, energy and climate change
  • Impact of innovation and knowledge upon the productivity increase/enhancement
  • Knowledge-based economy and SD
  • The role of the informal sector in sustainable economic growth
  • Impacts and challenges of AIDS, malaria and other chronic problems on SD
Guidelines for authors

Before submitting your paper, please make sure you read and understand the full guidelines for submission below carefully before submitting your paper to ensure successful submission of your paper. This is a checklist to ensure you have followed the guidelines closely. Please note that we will return any papers that do not follow these guidelines for the errors to be corrected before the paper can be considered for suitability for our journals:

  1. Ensure you read and understand the various aspects of our publishing ethics policy and guidelines carefully in terms of authorship, research integrity and follow all aspects of our research conducts particularly the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
  2. Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N. B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).
  3. All papers submitted for publication in WASD journals are refereed through a double blind process.
  4. Please submit your paper in the form of an MS Word (not other format) file online.
  5. You have indicated the type of paper (see below different types of paper).
  6. You have produced a structured abstract (see below).
  7. You have included 6-10 keywords for your paper.
  8. Your paper is 3,000-5,000 words in length (see typescript preparation).
  9. Your paper does not have any author details. Author details should be provided in a separate document, including affiliation and email addresses.
  10. You have provided a short biography of 50-100 words for each author.
  11. You have provided HD photos for all authors.

Submission Preparation Checklist (all items required)

  • The submission has not been previously published in English nor is it before another journal/book for consideration; or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor.
  • The text meets the formatting requirements outlined above.
  • The submission file is in Microsoft Word document file format.
Typescript Preparation
  • All authors must provide the following information: full name; position; department; institution; full postal address including email and approximately 50 words biographical notes per author, maximum 100.
  • Title as short as possible.
    References to successful applications within industry are a must.
  • Papers may be updates of other material previously written but must be original to the author and, once accepted for publication, cannot appear in any other periodical.
  • Papers must be double-spaced and emailed to the journal manager Janet Snow janet.snow@wasd.org.uk. Submitted in A4 size Word format, not PDF format.
  • Papers should be submitted with a word count of 3000-5000 (excluding figures), with double-spaced typing and focus on proven strategies and key management implications.
  • Figures in the final accepted manuscript may be included in the electronic text file and also provided as separate files.
    All papers must be written in UK English. If English is not your first language, please ask an English-speaking colleague to proofread your paper.
Translated Works
  • Difficulties often arise in translating acronyms, so it is best to spell out an acronym in English (for example, IIRP – French personal income tax).
  • Similarly, labels and suffixes need careful attention where the letters refer to words which have been translated.
  • The names of mathematical functions may change in translation – check against an English or American mathematical reference text.
References
  • Use the Harvard (name and date) short reference system for citations in the text with a detailed alphabetical list at the end of the paper. For example ‘Hamel (2000) suggests …’ or ‘Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) found that …’ or ‘A study of economic change (Nelson and Winter, 1982) has shown that …’
  • Footnotes should be avoided, but any short, succinct notes making a specific point, may be placed in number order following the alphabetical list of references.
  • References should be made only to works that are published, accepted for publication (not merely ‘submitted’), or available through libraries or institutions. Any other source should be qualified by a note regarding availability.
  • Full reference should include all authors’ names and initials, date of publication, title of paper, title of publication (italics), volume and issue number (of a journal), publisher and form (books, conference proceedings), page numbers.
Figures
  • All illustrations, whether diagrams or photographs, are referred to as Figures.
  • They should be black and white, not colour, and numbered sequentially.
  • Please place them at the end of the paper, rather than interspersed in text.
  • Originals of line diagrams will be reduced and used directly, so please prepare them to the highest possible standards.
  • Bear in mind that lettering may be reduced in size by a factor of 2 or 3, and that fine lines may disappear. Electronic copies of the figures are also required.
Types of Papers

The following types of papers are sought:

  • Conceptual (laying out the landscape, defining needs, proposing approaches and solutions, etc.). Papers are likely to be discursive and will cover philosophical discussions and comparative studies of others’ work and thinking.
  • Literature Review (papers cite any relevant literature). Main purpose of the paper is to annotate and/or critique the literature in a particular subject area.
  • Review (industries, systems, methodologies, research, national differences, industrial differences, cultural differences, etc.). Papers provide an overview or historical examination of some concept, technique or phenomena. Papers are likely to be more descriptive or instructional (“how to” chapters) than discursive.
  • Case Studies (empirical work, industry cases, test cases, pilot studies, etc.) are particularly welcome. Case studies describe actual interventions or experiences within organizations. They may well be subjective and will not generally report on research. A description of a legal case or a hypothetical case study used as a teaching exercise would also fit into this category.
  • Research (report on any type of research undertaken by the author(s). The research may involve the construction or testing of a model or framework, action research, testing of data, market research or surveys, empirical, scientific or clinical research.
  • Viewpoint (where content is dependent on the author’s opinion and interpretation, also includes journalistic pieces)
  • Technical (describes and evaluates technical products, processes or services)
Abstracts

Abstract approximately 100 words, maximum 150. Write concisely and clearly. The abstract should reflect only what appears in the original paper. To produce a structured abstract, please complete the following fields about the paper using this template. There are four fields which are obligatory (Purpose, Design, Findings and Value); the other two (Research limitations/implications and Practical implications) may be omitted if they are not applicable to your paper.

  • Purpose: What are the reason(s) for writing the paper or the aims of the research?
  • Design/methodology/approach: How are the objectives achieved? Include the main method(s) used for the research. What is the approach to the topic and what is the theoretical or subject scope of the paper?
  • Findings: What was found in the course of the work? This will refer to analysis, discussion, or results.
  • Original/value of the paper: What is new in the paper? State the value of the paper and to whom.
  • Research limitations/implications (if applicable): If research is reported on in the paper this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process. How can the findings of this research be applicable to other country (ies) in the region? What implications for achieving sustainable development in the country and the region as a whole.
  • Practical implications (if applicable): What outcomes and implications for practice, applications and consequences are identified? Not all papers will have practical implications but most will. What changes to practice should be made as a result of this research/paper?
Keywords
  • Supply approximately 6-10 words or phrases which will be used for tagging the paper in the publisher’s database.
    Researchers will be more likely to retrieve the paper when conducting a keyword search of our database if the paper is suitably tagged.
  • Pick keywords that reflect the specificity of the paper. Avoid overarching terms like “Management” unless the paper discusses the topic with such a wide focus. Use the most common term for a concept. Do not make up new terms for an old concept.
  • Try to think broadly: if the paper discusses performance appraisal in an electronics factory it may be worthwhile supplying the industry as a keyword. If an activity/research takes place in a particular country then supply the country’s name as a keyword.
Style
  • Papers must get to the point early and succinctly and not sound like an advertorial for a country or a company.
  • Blatantly promotional material will not be published.
  • Keep paragraphs short and sentences short and uncomplicated.
  • Authors must write in the active voice and, where possible, avoid technical jargon.
  • Acronyms should be translated in full into English. Bear in mind that many of the readers do not have English as their first language.
  • It should not be assumed that the reader is familiar with specific national institutions or corporations.
  • Authors are encouraged to approach their chosen topic with an international perspective.
  • Countries and groupings of countries should be referred to by their full title (for example, ‘China’, ‘Europe’ and ‘America’ are all ambiguous).
  • Special attention should be paid to identifying units of currency by nationality.
Units of Measurements

Please follow the International System for units of measurement in your paper. Imperial units will be converted, except where conversion would affect the meaning of a statement, or imply a greater or lesser degree of accuracy.

Guest Editor Guidelines

WASD encourages Guest Editors to submit proposals for Special Issues addressing particular (specific) issue(s) of the broad theme of any of the journals or focusing on a particular country or a region. The following general guidelines may help you in preparing and editing the special issue and you can also check our current call for papers for special issues. Please send your proposal to the Managing Editor (janet.snow@wasd.org.uk).

General Information

Please send the following details:

  • Name, title, specialisation, short CV, editorial experience, institution, country, full postal address (preferably with tel., fax and email address).
  • You are free to choose the topic of your special issue.
  • You need first to formulate the aims, and objectives as well as focus and subject coverage of the special issue in the form of ‘ call for papers ‘ (to send to invited authors).
  • Identify authors to invite; and appoint a panel of referees to help you in your task.
  • You can invite other Co- Guest Editors to help you in your task, if you may wish to do that.
  • At this stage there are no restrictions on the size and number of high quality papers accepted for publication in the special issue. However, if you would like to publish 12 – 15 papers, for example, you need to invite at least 30 experts to write papers for the special issue.
  • Guide for authors and sample papers as well as information about the refereeing process and information about other relevant journals can be obtained from our editorial office (janet.snow@wasd.org.uk).
Time Table
  • Allow four months for invited authors to submit the first draft of their papers.
  • Two month for the refereeing process and to inform the authors with the outcome of the refereeing process and any changes requested by the referees.
  • Two month for authors to resubmit to you the final manuscript of their papers after incorporating any changes requested by the referees.
  • When you receive the final manuscripts of all referees, corrected by authors and accepted papers, please send them to us to process for publication.
  • The publication process takes up to a period of six month from the date in which we receive all the accepted papers.
  • The corresponding author of each paper will receive, by email, the proofs of his/her paper to check. S/he must return the corrected proofs within fourteen days in order to avoid any delays in publishing the special issue.
  • It is the responsibility of authors to check and correct any errors in their papers before publication.
Paper Submission
  • a contents list of the special issue
  • a title of the special issue
  • a short Editorial to introduce the special issue each
  • complete paper should be supplied in MS Word to the Editor-in-Chief
  • title of paper
  • names of author(s) and complete addresses with email address of each author
  • keywords (up to 10 words)
  • biographical notes of no more than 100 words for each author
  • an abstract of no more than 50 words
  • references (using the Harvard short reference system)
  • each paper must have the Copyright form completed
Call for Papers

Developing Climate Resilience: Using Innovation, Science, and Technology for Sustainable Development
Guest Editors:
Dr Muhammad Shabbir, York St John University, UK
Dr Arshad Mahmood, European Sustainable Research Outreach, Germany
Submission Deadline: 30 November 2024

Refereeing Process
  • Each paper is to be refereed by two referees, initially.
  • If one referee accepted the paper and one rejected it, the paper should be send to a third referee and his/her decision is final.
  • You can choose your referees to help you, as you may wish, from experts in the subject of the special issue.
  • Since the refereeing process is a blind one, you can also use some of the authors as referees if you have problems in appointing enough referees.
  • Refereeing forms of the journals are available upon request which can be adapted for the special issue.
Ethics

Publishing Ethics - Key Guidelines and Procedures

WASD undertakes all its publishing activities very seriously adhering to the top quality standards, procedures and ethics. WASD always with integrity, honesty and transparency with all our stakeholders including our authors. WASD is fully committed to all the research and publishing guidelines and flowcharts included in the CODE OF CONDUCT AND BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR JOURNAL EDITORS of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and our Founding Editor-in-Chief (Prof. Allam Ahmed) is a member of COPE. All submission should follow our Publishing Ethics Policy before submitting any manuscripts to our Journals/Books.

All our publications are either published in-house or in partnerships with international publishers and therefore, WASD is also fulling committed to various publishing ethics procedures and guidelines set-up by all our publishing partners: Emerald Publishing Research and Publishing Ethics; Palgrave Macmillan Ethics Policy; Routledge Taylor and Francis (including Greenleaf Publishing) Editorial Policies; Inderscience Publishers Ethical Guidelines for Authors; and Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) of the United Nations System Standards and Procedures.

Peer Review Process

  • Ethical, timely, effective peer review is fundamental to all our publications our international editorial team is fully responsible for managing and assuring the integrity of the peer review process.
  • WASD always ensures all publications are processed through a minimum of double-blind peer review process (sometimes we use up to five blind reviewers).
  • All Authors should consider the following notes very carefully before making their submission:
  • All Editors and Reviewers must follow all WASD Ethical Guidelines for Journals peer review process and to make every reasonable effort to adhere to WASD editorial ethical guidelines.
Authors
  1. Ensure you read and understand the various aspects of our publishing ethics policy and guidelines carefully in terms of authorship, research integrity and follow all aspects of our research conducts.
  2. Ensure you follow the highest standards of research rigour and integrity.
  3. Make sure your read and understand the above various research and publishing ethics polices and guidelines provided by our various publishing partners particularly the CODE OF CONDUCT AND BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
  4. Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N. B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper was not originally copyrighted and if it has been completely re-written).
  5. All papers submitted for publication in the journal are refereed through a double blind process.
  6. All submitted articles should not include libellous, defamatory or unlawful statements.
  7. Obtain all necessary approval/permission for any third-party material included in your submission.
  8. Proof of consent has been obtained for any named individuals or organisations.
  9. All submissions must be original, fully referenced and that all authors are represented accurately. Ensure authorship has been agreed prior to submission and no one has been ‘gifted’ authorship or denied credit as an author (ghost authorship).
Editors
  1. Uphold the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research and ensure and protect the reputation of the journal by only publishing high quality content.
  2. Read fully, understand and follow COPE core practices and guidelines during all editorial processes. In doing so, the journal editors will carry out thorough, objective and confidential peer review for original contents submitted after the initial desk quality and editorial check. Also, they have to clearly justify with details any content which will not be peer reviewed such as editorials, opinion viewpoints, etc.
  3. Ensure that intellectual property is respected, research integrity maintained and where required use Crossref Similarity Check to check for potential misconduct and/or plagiarism by any author, following COPE guidelines, when dealing with papers where any significant levels of similarity to other works are detected.
  4. Avoid any bias in editorial decision-making and provide a transparent review and publication process as far as is possible and they should judge each article on its merits, without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the author(s).
  5. Full respect and care paid to the author(s) and not to use any data or analysis presented in a submitted manuscript in the editor’s own research without the consent of the author and allow authors the right to appeal any editorial decision. Editors must also be familiar with WASD editorial appeals process for appeals against editorial decisions.
  6. Keep their peer-review process confidential and must not share information about a manuscript with anyone outside of the peer-review process.
  7. Ensure, as far as possible, that papers meet ethical standards on authorship; originality and all issues relating to misconduct and/or plagiarism.
  8. Delegate the peer review of any original article to a member of the editorial or advisory board as appropriate.
Reviewers
  1. Similar to the editors, all the journal reviewers must uphold the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research and ensure and protect the reputation of the journal by only publishing high quality content.
  2. Read fully, understand and follow COPE core practices and guidelines during all editorial processes. In doing so, WASD reviewers will carry out thorough, objective and confidential peer review for original contents submitted after the initial desk quality and editorial check.
  3. Only accept invitations to review work that is relevant to their own expertise and speciality and seek advice from the editor if anything is unclear at the time of invitation.
  4. Declare any conflict of interest before agreeing to review a manuscript. This includes any relationship with the author that may bias their review.
  5. Avoid any bias in reviewing decision-making and provide a transparent review and publication process as far as is possible and they should judge each article on its merits, without regard to race, religion, nationality, sex, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the author(s).
  6. Review submitted work in a responsible, impartial and timely manner.
  7. Report any suspected ethical misconduct as part of a thorough and honest review of the work.
  8. Remain in good communication with both the publisher and the editor.
Misconduct and Plagiarism Check
  1. WASD is fully committed to our core publishing values of honesty, rigour, respect, and accountability.
  2. The journal is expected to adhere fully to COPE guidelines and WASD has a legal and ethical responsibility for all submitted works and will work closely with the editor to ensure that papers are dealt with fairly whenever there is any case of misconduct and/or plagiarism.
  3. Authors are expected to ensure that the content they submit to the journal is fully based on their own research and expressed in their own words.
  4. We strongly recommend that authors visit the flowcharts available at COPE’s website, that detail the various decision processes that can follow any suspicion that a work is not original or ethical.
  5. WASD is fully committed to using transparent, timely, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct when they arise. If any of the journal editors receive any case of misconduct and/or plagiarism by any author, reviewer, or journal editor, WASD has the duty to investigate the matter according to our guidelines. In doing so, WASD uses various applications and software for Crossref Similarity Check to detect any case of misconduct and/or plagiarism following clearly COPE guidelines and comparing submissions of 49 million works from 800 scholarly publishers. Also, our international editors and reviewers are subject matter experts and very knowledgeable in their fields which means it’s high unlikely to fail detecting any plagiarised submitted to the journal.
  6. Consequences for misconduct are as varied as the misconduct itself and are determined on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, the author will be given the opportunity to provide an explanation for the misconduct.
  7. An editorial decision will only be made once the investigation is completed. If ethical misconduct is discovered in content that has already been published, we may publish a statement of concern whilst the work is investigated. If we deem it necessary, the paper may be retracted with a statement of explanation. Other consequences may include a submission ban for any or all authors and contacting the relevant institution(s).
  8. In most cases, WASD reserves the right to request any and all information from the author concerning the creation of the work, to verify its originality. If no such evidence is provided or no satisfactory explanation given, then we may ban the author(s) from resubmitting to any of our books and journals for a determined period. In extreme cases, we may take the matter to the author’s institution for their attention.
Author Fees
  1. WASD and all its associated platforms are not-for-profit international associations.
  2. WASD publishing platforms aim to provide scholars and researchers the opportunity FREE of Charge to share their knowledge and experiences from all over the world on major global issues; the emphasis is on the importance of evidence-based planning to overcome the challenges facing various countries’ efforts to achieve a sustainable future.