Journal of Sustainable Marketing

The Journal of Sustainable Marketing (JSM) is an international, double-blind, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing and diffusing cutting-edge research and conceptual thinking in the field of sustainable marketing. The journal publishes three issues annually. Please see the "Aims and Scope" section on this website for more information regarding JSM’s mission and areas of interest. 

1. General information

Authors are requested to electronically submit their papers using the journal's online manuscript processing platform – Manuscript Manager. All submitted files must use MS Word or Rich Text Format (RTF). PDF files cannot be accepted. All correspondence will occur through email.

The Journal of Sustainable Marketing accepts the following types of articles

• Original Articles
• Review Articles
• Commentaries
• Case Studies
• Managerial Insights

1.1. Submission Declaration

Manuscript submission implies that the material contained therein has not been previously published, is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and is approved for JSM’s review by all authors. In addition, if the manuscript is accepted and published, the author(s) understands that it may not be re-published elsewhere including electronically in equivalent form, in English or any other language, without the written consent of the copyright owner.

1.2. Publication Ethics

The Journal of Sustainable Marketing is committed to upholding the highest standards of publishing ethics. All authors must declare that the submission is original and has not been wholly or partially copied or plagiarized. The authors must acknowledge that there are no actual or potential conflicts of interest associated with their work. Likewise, the journal is committed to conducting double-blind, peer reviews to prevent potential conflicts of interest between author(s) and reviewer(s).

1.3. Plagiarism Policies

JSM utilizes iThenticate to identify possible instances of similar text in submitted manuscripts. You may rest assured that JSM is committed to combating plagiarism and publishing original research. Authors are expected to adhere to the JSM Code of Ethics outlined in this section.

1.4. Quality of Manuscript Writing

Manuscripts published in the Journal of Sustainable Marketing are expected to use standard American English writing that is free from spelling and grammatical errors. Many authors, regardless of their first language, find that copyediting services are helpful. The JSM editors recommend that author(s) seek such assistance prior to submitting a manuscript. However, given the cost of professional copyediting services, the editors understand that this may not be feasible in all cases. In such cases, the editors recommend that the author(s) ask colleagues to look over drafts prior to submission as simple spelling and grammatical errors are more likely to be noted by readers who are not familiar with a given manuscript. 

2. Submission checklist

The following checklist is provided to assist author(s) as they prepare their manuscript for submission. To submit your manuscript, please create two files:

2.1. File 1: Title Page

The complete manuscript title (not to exceed 12 words) and the name of the author(s) and professional/academic affiliation/s should be placed only on the title page. In addition, the author(s) should include their address, telephone number, email address, author(s) note (if any), and financial disclosure (if any). Furthermore, the corresponding author should be identified on the title page. In addition, subsequent pages should not have authors' names but may contain an abbreviated “running header” at the top.

 2.2. File 2: The Main Document (Unidentified Title, Abstract, and Manuscript)

Page 1 should feature the title (with no author identifying information), the Abstract (12 point font, Times New Roman, single space format, no longer than 250 words), and Keywords (up to 8). The Abstract should summarize: 1) the purpose of the research; 2) if applicable, the research design and method/s; 3) the main results, and 4) the major theoretical and managerial implications.

The Abstract is frequently featured separately from the main manuscript in search engine results and/or databases. Thus, the Abstract must communicate central information in a clear and concise manner. Please do not use abbreviations or acronyms in the Abstract, unless this is unavoidable. In such cases, be sure to provide full descriptions prior to use.

The formal manuscript should begin on page 2. The manuscript (12 point font, Times New Roman, double space with standard margins, maximum 10,000 words including main manuscript, references, tables, and figures but not appendix items, if any) should be divided into multiple sections. First level headers should be centered and the first letter of each word capitalized in bold. Second level headers should be flushed left, with each letter of the first word capitalized, and all words in bold italics. Third level headers should be indented one space and should capitalize only the first word. Place a period at the end of third level headers, skip a space and begin the section thereafter on the same line.

The first section should focus on the contribution that the author(s) expect to make to the field of sustainable marketing. Writing should be clear and easy to understand without excessive jargon or abbreviations. Copyediting prior to submission is encouraged but not required.

The second section should review key research and/or conceptual papers on which the current manuscript is based. The literature review should be sufficiently detailed to provide a solid basis for the author(s) hypotheses/research questions in the case of empirical manuscripts or conceptual framework in the case of theoretical, non-empirical manuscripts.

The third section should present hypotheses (typically, quantitative analyses) or research questions (typically, qualitative investigations) and the conceptual model/s in the case of theoretical, non-empirical manuscripts. Hypotheses, research questions, and/or conceptual models presented in this section should draw on key information presented in the literature review, but should not excessively repeat material in the previous section. For empirical manuscripts, the fourth and fifth sections should present Methods and Results, respectively. If equations are included, please be sure to type them in MS Word and place them in the center of the page.

For conceptual manuscripts, the fourth section should provide a detailed discussion of the implications of the proposed framework presented in section three. An important aspect of this discussion involves outlining specific hypotheses/research questions that follow from the proposed conceptual framework. Such hypotheses/research questions should provide a roadmap for future empirical tests of the proposed model. A brief conclusion highlighting key points from the conceptual manuscript can also be included in the last section using a second-level header.

For empirical manuscripts, the sixth section should provide a detailed discussion of the findings that highlight both theoretical and applied implications. Included in this section using second-level headers should be a section that describes research limitations and future directions. A brief conclusion highlighting key findings and implications can also be included in this section using a second-level header. 

References should follow the main text beginning on a new page that is labeled, References. All references included in the manuscript must be formatted using APA style (Sixth edition). 

Please do not use Footnotes. Tables and figures should be included within the main document (after the References list). The maximum number of tables and figures in a given manuscript is eight in total, e.g., 6 tables and 2 figures. 

Tables and figures should be numbered separately, e.g., Table 1, etc. and Figure 1, etc. Please indicate table and figure location within the text by stating, “Insert Table 1 about here” or for figures, “Insert Figure 1 about here.” Be sure to order tables and figures in the same order as they appear in the manuscript. Tables provide easy-to-understand summaries information such as relevant past literature, hypotheses, methods, and/or results. Figures are used to present different types of information such as line drawings or graphs, photos, maps, charts, etc.

Formulae and equations must be given unique alphanumeric identification such as A1, A2, etc. Appendix items should use alphabetical headers such as Appendix A, etc. If only one appendix is provided, then it should be listed simply as Appendix.

Information in the text, citations, references, or footnotes that facilitate identification of the author(s) should not appear in the manuscript file. The author(s) may include such information following manuscript acceptance.

 3. Additional information

3.1. If Invited to Revise

Authors of manuscripts that receive “revise and resubmit” invitations should pay close attention to the reviewers’ and editors’ recommendations for strengthening the submission’s contribution to the field of sustainable marketing. In this regard, authors are asked to provide a detailed set of notes to reviewers and editor/s that number each recommendation that has been copied/pasted from the original notes to author(s). Please also upload a clean version of the revised manuscript as well as a version that included “tracked changes.” Also, please be sure to avoid inclusion of any self-identifying information in the notes to reviewers/editor/s. Notes to reviewers/editor/s should be written in 12-point, Times Roman font using single space formatting with standard 1” margins and double spaces between major points. 

Reviewers are asked to provide helpful comments/suggestions. While author(s) may not always agree with this advice, the editors hope that author(s) will give reviewers’ thoughts very careful consideration and carefully explain changes made in response or reasons for not making changes. In all exchanges, collegial expression is an important guideline to keep in mind. 

 3.2. If the manuscript is accepted for publication in the Journal of Sustainable Marketing:

If JSM accepts the manuscript for publication, the corresponding author will receive a set of page proofs (as PDF files) or a link that will enable direct downloading of the file. Author(s) are asked to list corrections (including replies to the Query Form) and return the proof file. The proof should be used only for checking typesetting correctness of the text, tables and figures. Significant changes are not possible at this stage without initiating additional anonymous reviews. JSM will make every effort possible to publish accepted articles in a timely manner. Proofreading is the author(s)’ responsibility and the Publisher may proceed with the publication of your article even if no response to proof queries is received.

 4. Publishing in the Journal of Sustainable Marketing is free of charge

The Journal of Sustainable Marketing does not charge submission and acceptance fees for the publication. Also, there are no hidden costs for article processing. JSM is an open-access journal that does not charge fees for downloading articles, nor is there any financial contributions from the author (s). All manuscripts are processed free of charge, and the author (s) does not bear any hidden costs or costs for publication. JSM believes that removing obstacles to scientific publishing and providing access to scientific articles serves global scientific progress. There is also no subscription fee to access content or conduct an advanced search within the journal. Luminous Insights and JSM’s sponsor, the Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai‘i covers the costs incurred by open access publishing, processing, fees for downloading articles, securing full texts in several permanent archives and cross-references, and enabling electronic citation in other journals that are electronically available.

 5. Offprints

The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. For an extra charge, paper offprints can be ordered via the offprint order form, sent if the manuscript is accepted for publication in JSM