International Journal of Community Engagement and Sustainable Development (IJCESD)

Focus and Scope

The International Journal of Community Engagement and Sustainable Development is dedicated to advancing knowledge and practice at the intersection of community engagement and sustainable development. It seeks to publish high-quality research that emphasizes innovative, participatory, and inclusive approaches to address local and global challenges. The journal encourages contributions that align with the following themes:

1. Community Engagement Strategies Exploring methods and frameworks that enhance community participation in decision-making processes, project implementation, and policy formulation.
2. Sustainable Development Practices Investigating practices that promote environmental sustainability, economic viability, and social equity while fostering community resilience.
3. Alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Examining how community engagement initiatives contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including but not limited to poverty reduction, gender equality, quality education, and climate action.
4. Social Justice and Equity Addressing issues related to social inclusion, equity, and justice within community development initiatives, ensuring marginalized voices are heard and represented.
5. Interdisciplinary Approaches Encouraging research that draws from various disciplines—such as sociology, environmental science, economics, and public policy—to provide comprehensive insights into community sustainability.
6. Case Studies and Best Practices Documenting successful community engagement initiatives and sustainable development projects that serve as models for replication and adaptation in different contexts.
7. Policy Analysis and Advocacy Examining the role of policy in shaping community engagement and sustainable development, and advocating for effective policies that empower communities.
8. Impact Assessment and Evaluation Analyzing the outcomes and impacts of community engagement and sustainable development initiatives, using quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

Specifications

Articles must be clearly presented and have purpose for the readers. The Editorial Board solicits and encourages publication of worthy papers with a length not exceeding 15 published pages (approximately 7,000 words). Those of a length exceeding 25 pages, but containing very important results, can be published by the consent of the Editorial Board. If an article contains material reproduced from other sources, the necessary written permission from the author(s) and publisher must accompany the paper.

Articles may be submitted by e-mail. Please submit your manuscript to the following address: urdc@usl.edu.ph

Page style: Articles should be typed in 12-point font on an A4 page, paginated, and double-spaced. Margins should be set as top & bottom: 1 inch and left & right 1 inch. The title should be followed by an abstract of 150 to 250 words and 3 to 5 keywords. Footnotes should be avoided, and endnotes kept to a minimum. All pages should be numbered.

References:Paper format, including references, should follow American Psychological Association (APA) (6th Edition) style.

After a plagiarism check and an initial screening for acceptability, submitted articles will be distributed for double-blind peer review. Two reviewers write their comments on each article along with recommendations to publish the article, to publish with revisions, or to decline the article for publication. The editorial staff forwards these anonymous reviews to the article author and gives the author further instructions about making revisions, if necessary. Revised texts are re-sent for peer review. Authors should note that the peer review process can take one to two months or longer to complete.

Statement About Open Access

This is an open access journal, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Articles are made available on the journal website as full-text pdf files.

Research Misconduct and Plagiarism

The journal has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism and research misconduct. All submissions are scanned for possible plagiarism. When plagiarism is detected and confirmed, the article is immediately rejected for publication and the offending author is blacklisted from further publication.

Review and Publication Process

The journal follows a double-blind peer review policy.

The submitted manuscript is acknowledged within 24 hours upon receipt.

The manuscript will be sent to two reviewers. The review process takes minimum two weeks.

The review reports are collected from the reviewers and the editor will send the review reports to the authors including all terms and conditions of the publication.

If the paper is accepted subject to modification, the editor will send the review reports to the author/corresponding author including a formal request to modify the paper by 10 days as per the suggestions of the reviewers. The author will send the modified paper to the same reviewers of the said paper to justify the modifications. If the paper is again returned by the reviewers, the paper is said to be finally rejected. The journal will not proceed with the said paper. However, in case of very minor changes, the editorial board may consider the paper for further modifications. The editor will send the processed paper for publication to the corresponding author for proof reading.

The paper is published online first. The editor will notify the author/corresponding author about online publication with necessary download link. The author/corresponding author may request for any correction in published paper (in case of extremely important changes) within three days of online publication.