Publication Frequency and Open Access Policy

The Journal of Sustainable Development and Policy (JSDP) is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to publishing timely, policy-relevant, and interdisciplinary research that advances global conversations on sustainability, equity, and institutional transformation. As part of our core values, we uphold the principles of openness, accessibility, and knowledge democratization to ensure that research published through our platform reaches the widest possible audience—academics, policymakers, practitioners, and communities alike.

This section outlines our publication schedule, open access policy, article licensing model, author rights, and archiving standards.

 

1. Publication Frequency

JSDP publishes four issues per year on a quarterly basis, with planned release dates as follows:

  • March – Issue 1
  • June – Issue 2
  • September – Issue 3
  • December – Issue 4

Each issue contains a curated selection of original research articles, policy analyses, review papers, field reports, and invited commentaries. While the journal adheres to this structured release cycle, accepted articles are made available online as "Online First" publications shortly after final acceptance and formatting, thereby facilitating early citation and academic engagement.

The journal also accommodates special thematic issues or supplementary editions, typically guest-edited by field experts, in response to emerging global developments or collaborative research initiatives.

 

2.  Open Access Policy

JSDP is a fully open-access journal, meaning that:

  • All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, without registration or subscription fees
  • Readers worldwide can access, download, share, and cite content without restriction
  • No embargo periods are applied to any version of the article
  • Authors retain the right to distribute, archive, and promote their work under liberal reuse terms

This publishing model ensures that vital research on sustainable development and policy is accessible to the widest possible community—including institutions in the Global South, civil society organizations, policymakers, and independent researchers.

JSDP does not charge readers for access. Costs of editorial management, peer review, typesetting, digital archiving, and promotion are covered through the Article Processing Fee (APF), which is only charged upon acceptance and supports ethical and sustainable publishing operations.

 

3. Copyright and Author Rights

Authors who publish in JSDP retain full copyright over their work. Upon acceptance, authors are required to sign a publishing agreement that grants the journal a non-exclusive license to publish, archive, and distribute the article.

Authors are free to:

  • Post preprints and accepted versions on personal websites, institutional repositories, and academic platforms
  • Present their findings at conferences, seminars, and workshops
  • Translate or adapt their work for future non-commercial publications, with appropriate citation of the original source

The journal encourages authors to deposit their articles in repositories such as SSRN, Zenodo, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and their university’s digital archive. We also support self-archiving on funder-mandated platforms and national knowledge banks.

 

4. Licensing Model – Creative Commons (CC BY 4.0)

All articles published in JSDP are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0 International). This license permits:

  • Use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction of the work in any medium or format
  • For both commercial and non-commercial purposes
  • Provided that the original author and source are properly credited

This model empowers researchers, educators, institutions, and practitioners to incorporate published content into training modules, policy briefs, datasets, or multimedia formats while acknowledging the original source.

The CC BY license is recommended by the majority of research funding bodies—including the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health (NIH), European Commission (Horizon Europe), and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—and meets the criteria of Plan S for compliant open-access publishing.

 

5. Repository and Long-Term Archiving

To preserve the scholarly record and ensure long-term access to published content, JSDP participates in the following archiving and repository initiatives:

  • LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe)
  • CLOCKSS (Controlled LOCKSS)
  • Internet Archive
  • Institutional repositories via OAI-PMH protocol
  • Zenodo, OpenAIRE, and ScienceOpen

All content is permanently archived with assigned Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) registered through CrossRef, enabling persistent citation and reference linking.

 

6. Compliance with Open Science Mandates

JSDP’s open-access framework is compliant with international mandates for open scholarship, such as:

  • UNESCO Open Science Recommendation
  • Plan S (cOAlition S)
  • Horizon Europe Open Access Requirements
  • NIH Public Access Policy
  • Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) mandates
  • African Open Science Platform (AOSP) initiatives

Authors are encouraged to consult their institutional or funder guidelines regarding open access, as JSDP fulfills criteria for transparency, reuse, and author rights.

 

7. Benefits of Open Access with JSDP

Publishing with JSDP as an open-access journal offers the following advantages:

  • Wider visibility and higher citation potential due to unrestricted global access
  • Increased policy relevance by making research accessible to non-academic stakeholders
  • Enhanced community impact through reusability in teaching, advocacy, and practice
  • Support for knowledge equity, especially for scholars and practitioners in low- and middle-income countries
  • Speed of dissemination, as accepted articles are published online immediately after production
  • Compliance with funder mandates, ensuring eligibility for future research grants

 

8. Institutional and Library Partnerships

JSDP is open to forming open-access publishing partnerships with academic institutions, development agencies, and library consortia. These partnerships may involve:

  • Hosting institutional repositories
  • Offering APC waivers or publishing support
  • Collaborative special issue planning
  • Promoting multilingual research dissemination

Organizations interested in partnership may contact:
editorial@jsdp-journal.org