Editorial Policies
Governance, transparency, and operational principles of JERA
The following policies govern all aspects of JERA's editorial and publishing operations. These policies are informed by international best practices as defined by COPE, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), ICMJE, and Crossref, and are reviewed annually.
Open Access Policy
JERA is a fully open access journal. All published articles are immediately and permanently free to read, download, copy, redistribute, transmit, adapt, and build upon by any reader, anywhere in the world, at no cost. JERA does not operate any embargo period, tiered access model, or subscription-based reading restriction. Open access publication is funded by Article Processing Charges (APC); during the 2025–2026 inaugural period, all APCs are fully waived.
Copyright Policy
Authors retain full copyright of their published articles. JERA does not require transfer of copyright as a condition of publication. By submitting to JERA, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide licence to publish, reproduce, distribute, transmit, and communicate the work in all existing and future formats (digital, print, multimedia), subject to proper attribution to the original publication in JERA.
Creative Commons Licensing — CC BY 4.0
All articles published in JERA are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Under this licence, readers are free to Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and Adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially), provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and JERA, a link to the licence is provided, and any changes made are clearly indicated. Full licence terms: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Preprint Policy
JERA welcomes submissions of manuscripts that have been previously posted as preprints on recognised preprint servers including SSRN, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, arXiv, bioRxiv, EarthArXiv, engrXiv, or institutional repositories. Posting a preprint does not constitute prior publication and will not affect the editorial assessment. Authors must disclose the existence of any preprint version during submission, providing the preprint DOI or URL. Upon publication in JERA, authors are encouraged to update their preprint record with a link to the final published version.
Self-Archiving & Green Open Access
JERA supports self-archiving (Green Open Access). Authors may deposit the final published PDF (Version of Record) in any open access repository — including institutional repositories, subject repositories (e.g., ZENODO, RCAAP, IndianScholar), government portals, or personal academic websites — immediately upon publication, with full attribution to the original JERA publication. There is no embargo period. Authors should always cite the JERA DOI and journal reference when self-archiving.
Digital Preservation & Archiving
JERA is committed to the long-term digital preservation of all published content. Published articles are archived in compliance with established preservation protocols (CLOCKSS and LOCKSS). All DOIs are registered with Crossref, ensuring permanent URL resolution regardless of any future changes to the JERA website infrastructure. Authors may also deposit their work in ZENODO and similar repositories as a personal archiving measure.
Peer Review Policy
JERA's peer review follows the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Every submission is initially screened for scope and quality before being sent for peer review. Reviewers are sought from the editorial board, in-house expertise, author recommendations, and bibliographic databases, and are assigned based on subject-matter competence. Peer review typically takes 4–5 weeks; because reviewers volunteer their time, it may occasionally take longer. After revision, the final accept/reject decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief and the Managing Editors.
Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern
JERA maintains a transparent and robust system for post-publication corrections. Errata and corrigenda are published when significant factual, methodological, or production errors are identified. Retractions are published in cases of confirmed misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism) or where errors render the main conclusions invalid. Expressions of Concern are issued when an investigation is ongoing. All corrections are prominently linked to the original article and the original article is clearly marked. JERA follows COPE guidelines for all post-publication actions.
Conflicts of Interest — Editorial Staff
Members of JERA's editorial board must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as creating a conflict of interest with respect to submitted manuscripts. Editors with a conflict of interest in a manuscript must recuse themselves from the editorial process for that manuscript, which is then handled by another editor or the Editor-in-Chief. Editorial decisions are never influenced by advertising revenue, institutional relationships, or commercial interests.
Language & Accessibility
JERA publishes exclusively in English. Manuscripts with significant language deficiencies that impair scientific clarity may be returned to authors for revision before peer review. Non-native English speakers are encouraged to seek professional language editing services prior to submission; disclosure is not required. JERA's digital platform is designed to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards, including keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, alt-text for figures, and structured PDF accessibility.
Advertising & Sponsorship
JERA does not accept paid advertising within its published articles, issues, or journal website. Commercial sponsorships, if accepted for events or special sections, are fully disclosed and have no bearing on editorial decisions. The journal does not allow commercial interests to influence article selection, reviewer choice, or any aspect of the peer review or publication process.
Data Availability & Research Transparency
JERA encourages authors to share the underlying research data supporting their findings. Authors may deposit datasets in publicly accessible repositories (e.g., Figshare, Zenodo, Mendeley Data, PANGAEA, or discipline-specific archives) and cite them in the article's Data Availability Statement. Data sharing is strongly encouraged and positively regarded during peer review; however, JERA recognises that data sharing may not be possible in all cases (e.g., confidential industrial data, sensitive personal information, national security constraints).
Article Versioning
JERA publishes a single definitive Version of Record (VoR) for each article. There are no "accepted manuscript" or "early online" versions published prior to final typesetting (unless designated by the editorial office for expedited publication). Once published, the VoR supersedes all preprint versions. Substantive corrections to the VoR are handled through formal Erratum/Corrigendum notices, not by silent replacement.
These policies were established in January 2026 and are subject to annual review. For policy enquiries, contact jeraeditor@gmail.com.