Societies and Sustainability (SAS) welcomes high-quality scholarly contributions that advance research and professional knowledge across the social sciences, sustainability studies, governance, public policy, economics, education, healthcare, digital societies, cultural studies, urban development, and related interdisciplinary fields. The journal provides an open academic platform for authors whose work contributes to a deeper understanding of social systems, institutional processes, human behaviour, public welfare, sustainable development, and contemporary societal transformation.

Prospective authors are encouraged to review the journal's Aims and Scope, section policies, and Author Guidelines before preparing a submission. This ensures that each manuscript is aligned with the journal's academic profile, editorial expectations, formatting requirements, ethical standards, and publication procedures. Submissions should present original, well-structured, methodologically sound, and clearly written research that offers meaningful value to the relevant scholarly, professional, or policy-oriented community.

SAS considers a range of scholarly contributions, including original research articles, review papers, case studies, methodological papers, short communications, and other academic outputs that meet the journal's quality standards. The journal particularly welcomes manuscripts that demonstrate social relevance, clear research objectives, appropriate theoretical or methodological frameworks, transparent presentation of evidence, critical discussion, and a well-supported contribution to current academic debate.

Authors are required to register with the journal before submitting a manuscript. Registration can be completed through the Register link on the journal homepage. Once registered, authors may log in and follow the online submission process, which guides them through the key stages of manuscript upload, metadata entry, author details, file confirmation, and final submission. Accurate metadata, including title, abstract, keywords, author affiliations, references, and, where available, ORCID iDs, is essential for discoverability, citation, indexing evaluation, and long-term scholarly visibility.

All submitted manuscripts are subject to editorial screening before peer review. During this initial stage, the editorial team may assess the manuscript's relevance to the journal scope, structural completeness, academic quality, originality, ethical compliance, language clarity, reference quality, and adherence to submission requirements. Manuscripts that do not meet the journal's basic criteria may be returned to the authors for correction or declined before peer review.

SAS applies a rigorous peer-review process designed to support academic integrity and improve the quality of published research. Manuscripts considered suitable for review are evaluated by qualified experts in the relevant field. Reviewers assess the scholarly relevance, originality, theoretical grounding, methodology, clarity of argumentation, quality of evidence, interpretation of findings, contribution to the field, and overall readiness for publication. Authors benefit from constructive editorial and reviewer feedback aimed at strengthening the final manuscript.

The journal is committed to transparent editorial standards, ethical publishing practices, and responsible scholarly communication. Authors are expected to submit original work, properly cite all sources, avoid plagiarism and redundant publication, disclose conflicts of interest, follow research ethics requirements where applicable, and ensure that all listed authors have made a genuine contribution to the manuscript. Any use of data, images, tables, third-party material, survey instruments, sensitive information, or AI-assisted tools must be transparent, responsible, and consistent with the journal's policies.

Article Processing Charge (APC). SAS operates as an open access journal, which means that published articles are made freely accessible to readers worldwide without subscription barriers. To support this publishing model, the journal applies an Article Processing Charge (APC) of 390 EUR to manuscripts that are accepted for publication after successful editorial evaluation and peer review. The APC is not a submission fee and is not a fee for peer review. Authors do not pay to submit a manuscript, and there is no charge for the initial editorial assessment. The APC becomes applicable only after a manuscript has been reviewed, accepted, and approved for publication.

The APC helps cover the editorial, technical, and publishing costs required to maintain a professional open access journal. These costs include editorial administration, peer-review management, manuscript processing, copyediting support, layout preparation, online publication, DOI and metadata preparation, Crossref-related services, platform maintenance, archiving, indexing-oriented workflows, long-term article accessibility, and overall journal development. Payment of the APC does not influence editorial assessment, reviewer recommendations, or publication decisions. All manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of scholarly quality, relevance to the journal scope, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, clarity, and contribution to the field.

Accepted manuscripts are prepared for publication through the journal's editorial and production workflow. Published articles are made available as part of the journal's open access scholarly record and include clear bibliographic information, issue details, author information, article metadata, and persistent identifiers where applicable. Authors are encouraged to share and promote their published work responsibly through academic networks, institutional repositories, personal profiles, professional communication channels, and policy or practice communities, in accordance with the journal's copyright and licensing terms.

SAS aims to support authors not only as submitters, but as active contributors to an international research community. By publishing in the journal, authors participate in a scholarly platform dedicated to academic quality, interdisciplinary dialogue, social responsibility, long-term visibility, and the responsible dissemination of knowledge in social sciences and sustainability studies.

For questions regarding manuscript preparation, submission requirements, peer review, publication ethics, Article Processing Charges, or technical issues with the submission system, authors are welcome to contact the editorial office.