Open Access Policy

EJED provides immediate open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This permits anyone to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, provided the original work is properly cited.

Aims and Scope

Sustainable development is now of primary importance as the key to future use and management of finite world resources. It recognizes the need for development opportunities while maintaining a balance between these and the environment. The Ethiopian Journal of Environment and Development (EJED) is hosted by Dilla University and has proved to be an exciting forum for understanding and advancing our knowledge and implementation of environmentally resilient sustainable development.

EJED is a multidisciplinary journal covering all aspects of the complex interactions which occur between development and environment, and its purpose is to seek ways and means for achieving sustainability in all human activities and the environment aimed at such development. The Journal also seeks to further research and debate on the nexus of environment and development issues at the local, national, regional (particularly in the Horn and Sub-Saharan Africa), and international levels.

Peer Review Process

All submissions to EJED undergo a rigorous double-anonymous peer review process (also known as double-blind review), where the identities of both authors and reviewers remain concealed from each other.

• Initial Screening: The editorial team checks submissions for compliance with journal guidelines, scope, and similarity index.
• External Review: Manuscripts passing initial screening are sent to at least two independent external reviewers who are experts in the relevant field.
• Decision: Final decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief based on reviewer recommendations. The average time from submission to publication is 12 weeks.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication. Articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Authors are free to deposit versions of their work in an institutional or subject repository of their choice.

Archiving and Preservation Policy

EJED is committed to the long-term digital preservation of its content. The journal is currently archived in the following services:

• LOCKSS: The LOCKSS system has permission to collect, preserve, and serve this Archival Unit. The LOCKSS manifest is available at: https://journal.du.edu.et/index.php/ejed/gateway/lockss
• PKP Preservation Network (PN): The journal is registered with the PKP PN for distributed archiving.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

EJED follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The editorial board is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics. Research involving human subjects or animals must have appropriate ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the article.

Plagiarism Policy

EJED has a Zero Tolerance policy on plagiarism. All submissions are screened using Turnitin plagiarism detection software before being sent for peer review. The similarity score thresholds are:

• Acceptable: Less than 20% similarity (with proper citations).
• Borderline: 20–25% similarity — subject to editorial review.
• Unacceptable: Greater than 25% similarity — likely rejection.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

EJED does not charge any fees to authors. There are no submission fees, processing fees, or publication fees. All published content is free to read and free to publish.

Article Types

EJED accepts the following types of articles:

• Research Papers — Full-length articles containing new and significant findings.
• Short Research Papers — New findings of exceptional interest and novelty.
• Short Communications — Significant new information in a short but complete form.
• Research Letters — Contributions of new information or theoretical material.
• Forum Papers — Succinct, innovative viewpoints on topics within the journal's scope.
• Reviews — Published only after an invitation from the Editors.
• Book Reviews — Relevant books less than three years old.

Subject Matter

The subject matter of the journal includes, but is not limited to:

• Mutual interactions among society, development, and environment
• Technical, economic, ethical, and philosophical aspects of sustainable development
• Local and regional sustainability initiatives
• Development and application of sustainability indicators
• Sustainable use of land, water, energy, and biological resources
• Impacts of agriculture and forestry on soil, aquatic ecosystems, and biodiversity
• Energy use, global climate change, and sustainability
• Population growth and food security
• Role of national and international agencies in sustainable development
• Social and cultural contexts of sustainable development
• Ecosystem services and human wellbeing

Authorship

Authorship is limited to those who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. Principal authorship and authorship order should be based on relative scientific contributions. The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal during submission, review, and publication, and for gathering conflict of interest forms and approvals from all co-authors.

Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship (e.g., technical support, financial support, institutions) may be acknowledged in a separate section of the manuscript.

Third-Party Submissions

If a manuscript is submitted on behalf of the author(s) by a third party, the submission must disclose the type of editorial assistance, identify any entities that paid for the assistance, and confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission.

Confidentiality

EJED treats submitted manuscripts and all communications with referees and corresponding authors as strictly confidential. Editors do not release reviewers' identities to authors or other reviewers, and reviewers agree to maintain confidentiality of manuscripts and supplementary data.

Data Access and Retention

EJED is dedicated to openness, transparency, and reproducibility of research. Authors are encouraged to share their research data and include a data accessibility statement in their manuscript. Authors may be asked to provide raw data for editorial review.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must include a declaration of any conflicting interests at the time of submission. The declaration should include all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.

Funding

EJED requires all authors to acknowledge their funding consistently under a separate heading. Funding agencies should be written out in full, followed by the grant number in square brackets. Where no specific funding has been provided, authors should state: "The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article."

Use of AI Tools

AI tools may be used responsibly for grammar checks, language polishing, or technical support. Authors must disclose the use of AI tools in their manuscript. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully accountable for accuracy and originality.

Retraction and Corrections

Retractions may occur in cases of plagiarism, data fabrication, undisclosed AI misuse, or ethical breaches. Authors should notify the journal promptly if errors are discovered post-publication. Retraction notices remain permanently linked to the original article for transparency.

Dissemination Policy

EJED disseminates published manuscripts in electronic form. The journal provides open access to all of its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Printed copies may be available upon request solely to cover the physical cost of printing and postage.

Embargo Policy

Material submitted to EJED will not be discussed with the media except in the case of accepted contributions, which can be discussed no more than one week before the publication date under embargo conditions. The contents of press releases and papers will be embargoed until the time and date clearly stated on the press release.

Standard of Writing

EJED accepts the American Psychological Association (APA) publication manual and styles for writing research papers. All manuscripts should follow the style guidelines set forth in the latest version of the APA manual.

Language

English is the main language of publication for EJED. Authors are advised to refer to the APA recommendations for eliminating bias in language in relation to gender, age, racial and ethnic background, sexual orientation, disability status, and socioeconomic status.

Responsibility for Opinions/Views

Any statements in an article accepted for publication remain the sole responsibility of the author and should in no way be considered as reflecting the opinions of the editorial board or the publisher of EJED.

Post-Publication Responsibilities

Authors should cooperate with editorial inquiries after publication. Corrections, clarifications, or retractions will be issued as needed to protect the scholarly record.