Journal of Tree Sciences

Aims and Scope

Journal of Tree Science is an international scientific journal that publishes results of novel, high impact original research, critical reviews and short communications on any aspect of forestry/agroforestry, environment, climate and related aspects. The journal particularly encourages contributions that demonstrate the role of forestry in providing commodity as well non-commodity benefits such as ecosystem services, livelihood security, environmental amelioration etc. Papers dealing with both biophysical and socioeconomic aspects are welcome. These include results of investigations of a fundamental or applied nature dealing with integrated systems involving trees and crops and/or livestock. Manuscripts that are purely descriptive in nature or confirmatory in nature of well-established findings, and with limited international scope are discouraged. To be acceptable for publication, the information presented must be relevant to a context wider than the specific location where the study was undertaken, and provide new insight or make a significant contribution to the agroforestry knowledge base.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Journal of Journal of Tree Science endevours to follow following Ethics while publishing the papers in the journal

I. DUTIES OF EDITORS

Editorial Independence

Articles submitted to the journals will be evaluated based on its qualifying factors of originality of the word, validity, applications, etc. and it should come under the purview of the scope of the journal. No gender, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, political ideology, affiliation, etc. would be considering factors for selection. Editor-in-chief is with full freedom over the content of the journal he/she is free to decide when to publish.

Confidentiality

Editor-in-chief or the members of editorial board of the journal will be bound to respect the Confidentiality of the content submitted. No details of article will be shared anyone except for reviewing and publishing purpose.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Editor-in-chief, members of editorial board and reviewers will not use the content submitted to the journal for publication for his/her academic or research benefit unless written consent is received from the concerned author(s). Journal editors will take help of the other reviewers or outside editorial services if the content of the article conflicts with their idealism.

Decision to publish

Every article submitted in the journal will undergo blind peer review process and the review comments intended for authors will be shared accordingly. The editor-in-chief has full authority to decide the content for publication and he will exercise his power looking at the validity and relevancy of the study for wider societal application.

Handling of ethical issues

Editor-in-chief and members of editorial board will provide full cooperation in all cases related to ethics in publishing. Any sort of unethical publishing will be rigidly monitored. If any case is reported even long after the publication of the content and the unethical thread is established, the editor will publish a note of correction, retraction, expression of concern, etc. in the journal.

B. DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

Editorial decision making factor

Peer reviewers assist editors to select and finalize the articles for publication. In a way they are helping the decision making process of editorial board of journals. Peer reviewers are expected to act as a decision making drivers while they review the articles.

Honest and swiftness

Reviewers who feel that they won't be able to review the should intimate to the editor immediately.

Similarity and source knowledge

It is the duty of the reviewer to inform the editor about the known source from where the manuscript has extracted some portions. Reviewers are expected to check the source rigorously and suggest to include any relevant study in the article.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

The reviewer will not use the content of the article submitted for peer review for his own academic or any other benefit. Ideas got from the reviewed article will not be shared or used for personal benefit until the article is published. If the content of the article is conflicting with the idealism of the reviewer he/she should report to the editor for change of reviewer.

C. DUTIES OF AUTHORS

Standard of writing

Authors should present the research or work in such a way so as to understood by the audience very easily. The article should contain adequate references with proper citation as per the journal recommended referencing style.

Originality and plagiarism

Author should make sure that the content submitted for publication is the original work without extracting from any other published works. If any work is referred then the proper citation should be given to that work. Plagiarism in any manner is unacceptable.

Concurrent submission/publication

Author should not submit same article to different journals at the same time. The content which was already published in one journal should not be send for publication to the journal.

Authorship

It is the duty of the corresponding author to ensure all coauthors are correct and no inappropriate coauthors are listed in the author section of the article before final publication.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Author must disclose information about grant or financial aid received from any funding agencies or any other source and any conflict of interest.

Peer review process

Authors are expected to cooperate with the peer review process and modify the article according to the suggestions made by the reviewer (s). Author will have full rights to refute any suggestion made by the reviewer and counter with proper evidence.

D DUTIES OF PUBLISHER

Dealing with unethical publishing

In case of any unethical publishing happened, publisher will take necessary measure to rectify after appraising the situation with the help of editors or any other external agencies. The publisher will publish erratum portion, clarification, retraction, etc. appropriately in the journal.

Peer review policy statement

All manuscripts will be peer?reviewed by at least two competent reviewers (members of the Editorial Board or outside experts), and the reviewers' comments will be forwarded to the authors. The reviewers will remain anonymous to the authors. While submitting the revised manuscript, the authors should explain point wise reply to the reviewers' comments. If the authors disagree with the reviewers' comments, the reason(s) should be explained.