Transactions in Energy and Sustainability

Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Transactions in Energy and Sustainability 

Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tes to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

SAGE Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Transactions in Energy and Sustainability will be reviewed.

There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Transactions in Energy and Sustainability will consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the Journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the Journal's author archiving policy.

If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

If you have any questions about publishing with SAGE, please visit the SAGE Journal Solutions Portal.

1. What do we publish?
   1.1 Aims & Scope
   1.2 Article types
   1.3 Writing your paper
2. Editorial policies
   2.1 Peer review policy
   2.2 Authorship
   2.3 Acknowledgements
   2.4 Funding
   2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
   2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
   2.7 Clinical trials
   2.8 Reporting guidelines
   2.9 Research data
3. Publishing policies
   3.1 Publication ethics
   3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
   3.3 Open access and author archiving
4. Preparing your manuscript
   4.1 Formatting
   4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
   4.3 Identifiable information
   4.4 Supplemental material
   4.5 Reference style
   4.6 English language editing services
5. Submitting your manuscript
   5.1 ORCID
   5.2 Information required for completing your submission
   5.3 Permissions
6. On acceptance and publication
   6.1 SAGE Production
   6.2 Online First publication
   6.3 Access to your published article
   6.4 Promoting your article
7. Further information
   7.1 Appealing the publication decision

1. What do we publish?

1.1 Aims & Scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Transactions in Energy and Sustainability, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability is dedicated to publishing original, timely, and methodologically rigorous research in all fields of energy and sustainability. The journal encourages interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches and innovative thinking that examine energy and sustainability issues through the lens of socio-technical-ecological systems. The journal distinguishes itself by its (g)locally oriented perspective of China’s energy and sustainability transition, one that stresses both global geopolitical and economic dynamics and localized practices and knowledge.

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability covers a range of topics including sustainable and renewable energy development, low carbon economy, carbon emissions, carbon peak and neutrality, energy and society, energy justice and equity, global energy networks, energy security, energy geography, renewable energy geopolitics, climate change, energy governance and so on.

The journal welcomes contributions that support and advance the UN’s sustainable development goals, in particular SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), as well as the transition to a low carbon future.

1.2 Article types

Research Articles

Research articles are full-length papers (6,000 to 8,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography) that make an original contribution to the field of energy and sustainability, with a regional focus on and beyond China. Research articles can be either theoretical or empirical. The journal strongly encourages empirically-focused research to engage, in a significant way, with up-to-date theoretical and/or conceptual debates in the field.

Review Articles

Review articles (8,000 to 12,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography) present an updated synthesis of previous scientific publications on a specific topic of the field of energy and sustainability. The review needs to build upon clearly defined methodology for the inclusion and exclusion of articles contained in the review. Review articles shall offer a critical and constructive examination of previous literature that is conducive to developing a significant contribution to understanding the state of the field.

Perspectives

Perspectives (2,000 to 5,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography) provide authors an opportunity to present their personal viewpoints on a specific topic relevant to the field of energy and sustainability, with a strong focus on current advances and future trends and challenges. Perspectives should be forward-looking and thought-provoking. They may be opinionated but should remain balanced with the intent to stimulate discussion. Specifically, the journal encourages perspective articles that, grounded on critical thinking and sound reasoning, advocate a controversial position, present a speculative hypothesis, introduce visionary concepts or critique new theories.

Brief Reports

Brief reports (1,000 to 3,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography) provide timely communications of recent development of policy, practice or public events relevant to the field of energy and sustainability. Brief reports are intended to address a pressing ongoing public concern or make a provocative intervention in a scholarly debate. Papers published under this heading will be concise and informative, with limited references. The journal strongly encourages case report on real-world practices of energy and sustainability, which can be the development and diffusion of new technologies or the transitions experiments on the ground. Policy reports are also welcome, preferably those adopting a comparative approach.

Book Reviews

Book reviews (1,500 to 2,000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography) provide a brief review of recent books in the field of energy and sustainability. The journal strongly encourages reviews of books written in Chinese that are not yet translated into English. Commentaries that compare books addressing similar topics are also welcome.

Special Issues and Special Sections

The journal is open to special issues/sections that bring together a coherent and high-quality collection of articles on a relevant theme of the field of energy and sustainability. Special issues/sections are intended to identify an important gap in the current literature or consolidate an area of research while opening up new research agendas. The journal welcomes submission of special issues/section proposal that should contain: 1) a statement of purpose of the special issue/section; 2) a statement about how the overall issue and the component contributions would fit the scope of the journal and how each submission would cohere to an integrated theme; 3) a list of guest editors (with names, positions, affiliations, and short bio); 4) a list of potential contributions (with authors, affiliations, titles, and short abstract).

1.3 Writing your paper

The SAGE Author Gateway has some general advice on how to get published, plus links to further resources.

1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

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2. Editorial policies

2.1 Peer review policy

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability adheres to a rigorous double-blind reviewing policy in which the identity of both the reviewer and author are always concealed from both parties.

As standard practice, SAGE does not permit the use of author-suggested reviewers.

2.2 Authorship

All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

2.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

2.3.1 Third party submissions

Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input

• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, SAGE reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

2.4 Funding

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading.  Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. 

2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the SAGE Journal Author Gateway.

2.6 Research ethics and patient consent

2.7 Clinical trials

2.8 Reporting guidelines

2.9 Research data

At SAGE we are committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research. Where relevant, Transactions in Energy and Sustainability encourages authors to share their research data in a suitable public repository subject to ethical considerations and where data is included, to add a data accessibility statement in their manuscript file. Authors should also follow data citation principles. For more information please visit the SAGE Author Gateway, which includes information about SAGE’s partnership with the data repository Figshare.

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3. Publishing policies

3.1 Publication ethics

SAGE is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the SAGE Author Gateway.

3.1.1 Plagiarism

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability and SAGE take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

3.1.2 Prior publication

If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a SAGE journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the SAGE Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

Before publication, SAGE requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. SAGE’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants SAGE the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than SAGE. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the SAGE Author Gateway.

3.3 Open access and author archiving

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability offers optional open access publishing via the SAGE Choice programme. For more information please visit the SAGE Choice website. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit SAGE Publishing Policies on our Journal Author Gateway.

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4. Preparing your manuscript

4.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. A LaTex template is available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit SAGE’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online.

4.3 Identifiable information

Where a journal uses double-blind peer review, authors are required to submit:

1. A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymised. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
2. A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymised material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.

See https://sagepub.com/Manuscript-preparation-for-double-blind-journal for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.

4.4 Supplemental material

This Journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.

4.5 Reference style

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability adheres to the SAGE Harvard reference style. View the SAGE Harvard guidelines to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the SAGE Harvard EndNote output file.

4.6 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the Journal’s specifications should consider using SAGE Language Services. Visit SAGE Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

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5. Submitting your manuscript

Transactions in Energy and Sustainability is hosted on SAGE Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tes to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the Journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created.  For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

5.1 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process SAGE is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this Journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

5.2 Information required for completing your submission

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

5.3 Permissions

Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the SAGE Author Gateway.

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6. On acceptance and publication

6.1 SAGE Production

Your SAGE Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal SAGE Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate. Please note that if there are any changes to the author list at this stage all authors will be required to complete and sign a form authorising the change.

6.2 Online First publication

Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the SAGE Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

6.3 Access to your published article

SAGE provides authors with online access to their final article.

6.4 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The SAGE Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

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7. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Transactions in Energy and Sustainability editorial office as follows:

Yu Yang yangyu@igsnrr.ac.cn

7.1 Appealing the publication decision

Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.

If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com

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