Instructions for Authors
1. Introduction
The Journal of Solar Energy and Sustainable Development (JSESD) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scientific journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research that advances knowledge, innovation, and practical applications in solar energy, renewable energy, and sustainable development.
The journal welcomes original research articles presenting significant scientific contributions, innovative methodologies, technological developments, and findings with potential academic, industrial, environmental, and societal impact.
All submitted manuscripts must be original, scientifically sound, clearly presented, and relevant to the journal's aims and scope. Manuscripts must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submissions comply with these instructions before submission.
2. Types of Manuscripts
The journal considers the following types of contributions:
2.1. Original Research Articles
Original research articles should present novel, high-quality scientific findings resulting from research conducted by the authors. The work should make a meaningful contribution to one or more of the journal's subject areas and demonstrate scientific rigor, appropriate methodology, and clear interpretation of results.
Research articles should include sufficient methodological details to enable other researchers to understand and, where applicable, reproduce the work.
2.2. Review Articles
Review articles should provide comprehensive, critical, and analytical evaluations of specific research topics within the journal's scope. They should go beyond a general literature survey by critically examining existing knowledge, identifying research gaps, discussing recent developments, and highlighting future research directions.
Review articles are generally considered by invitation from the Editorial Board. Prospective authors are encouraged to submit a review proposal, including the proposed title, abstract, scope, and outline, to the Editorial Board for preliminary evaluation before preparing the full manuscript.
Submission of a proposal or invitation does not guarantee acceptance of the final manuscript, which remains subject to editorial assessment and peer review.
3. Manuscript Submission
All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the journal's online manuscript submission and editorial management system:
Online Submission System:
https://www.ejmanager.com/my/sesd/
Authors must register for an account or log in to an existing account before submitting a manuscript.
Manuscripts should be submitted as editable Microsoft Word files (.doc or .docx). Figures, tables, supplementary files, and other supporting materials should be uploaded as required by the submission system.
Submissions by email or other methods will not normally be considered unless specifically authorized by the Editorial Office.
4. Checklist Before Submission
Authors should carefully check the following requirements before submitting their manuscripts:
4.1. General Requirements
A cover letter should accompany the submission, explaining the significance and scientific contribution of the research.
The manuscript must be original and must not be under consideration by another journal.
All authors' full names and institutional affiliations must be correctly provided.
The corresponding author's full contact details, including institutional address and email, must be provided.
ORCID identifiers should be supplied for all authors, where available.
The manuscript must include an abstract and keywords.
All tables and figures must have appropriate titles or captions and must be cited in the text.
The manuscript must be checked for spelling, grammar, and language accuracy.
All references must be cited in the text and formatted consistently according to the journal's referencing requirements.
Permission must be obtained for any copyrighted material reproduced from other sources.
All required declarations must be included in the manuscript.
4.2. Submission Declaration
By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that:
The work has not been previously published in a journal or other publication, except where the journal has explicitly permitted an appropriately disclosed prior version.
The manuscript is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
All authors have read and approved the submitted version.
All authors agree to its submission to JSESD.
Appropriate institutional or organizational approval has been obtained where required.
The manuscript will not be submitted or published elsewhere while it is under consideration by JSESD.
4.3. Competing Interests
Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial competing interests that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the research, its interpretation, or its publication.
If no competing interests exist, authors should include the following statement:
"The authors declare that they have no competing interests."
4.4. Funding Declaration
All sources of financial support for the research must be acknowledged, including grant numbers where applicable.
If the research received no external funding, authors should include:
"This research received no external funding."
4.5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Declaration
Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in preparing their manuscripts, including their use in writing, data analysis, coding, data collection, or image generation, where applicable.
AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scientific validity of all content submitted.
The declaration should identify the AI tool used and describe its specific application. If no such tools were used, authors should state this explicitly.
4.6. Author Contributions
Authors must provide a statement describing the individual contributions of each author according to the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT).
The CRediT taxonomy is available at:
The contribution statement should be included in the manuscript before the Acknowledgements section.
5. Manuscript Preparation
5.1. Language and Formatting
Manuscripts may be submitted in clear, scientifically appropriate English or Arabic.
The following formatting requirements should be followed:
Font: Times New Roman, 12-point.
Line spacing: Double-spaced throughout the manuscript.
Text alignment: Justified.
Page numbering: Continuous throughout the manuscript.
Line numbering: Continuous automatic line numbering.
Maximum length: 8,000 words, excluding references, tables, figure captions, and supplementary materials.
Manuscripts should be organized into clearly defined sections and subsections. Authors should use concise scientific language and avoid unnecessary repetition.
All measurements and units should follow the International System of Units (SI), wherever applicable.
5.2. Article Structure and Sections
Research articles should generally follow the structure below:
Title
Author names and affiliations
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
Author Contributions
Acknowledgements
Competing Interests
Data Availability Statement
Funding Statement
AI Declaration
References
Sections may be combined or adapted when appropriate to the nature of the research.
Sections and subsections should be numbered consecutively, for example:
Introduction
Materials and Methods
2.1. Experimental Design
2.1.1. Data Collection
2.1.2. Statistical Analysis
Results
Discussion
Conclusions
5.3. Title
The title should be concise, informative, and descriptive of the main subject and findings of the research.
Authors should avoid unnecessary abbreviations, specialized symbols, and overly long titles.
5.4. Author Names and Affiliations
The full given name(s) and family name(s) of all authors must be provided.
Institutional affiliations should appear below the authors' names and should include:
Department or research unit, where applicable.
Institution or university.
City and postal code, where applicable.
Country.
The corresponding author's email address should be clearly identified. Authors are encouraged to provide their ORCID identifiers.
All authors should carefully check the spelling and order of their names and the accuracy of their affiliations before submission.
5.5. Corresponding Author
One corresponding author must be designated for each manuscript.
The corresponding author will be responsible for all communications with the Editorial Office throughout the submission, peer-review, publication, and post-publication processes.
The corresponding author is also responsible for coordinating communications among co-authors and addressing editorial or scientific queries concerning the manuscript.
The corresponding author's full institutional address and active email address must be provided.
5.6. Abstract
The abstract should not exceed 350 words and should provide a clear and concise overview of the research.
It should normally include:
Background and research objectives.
Methodology and principal methods.
Main results and important findings.
Scientific significance and conclusions.
The abstract should be understandable independently of the main text and should not contain unnecessary references, undefined abbreviations, or detailed methodological descriptions.
5.7. Keywords
Authors should provide 4–6 relevant keywords immediately after the abstract.
Keywords should reflect the principal topics, methodologies, technologies, and applications addressed in the manuscript. Authors should avoid simply repeating all the words used in the title.
5.8. Introduction
The Introduction should provide the scientific background and rationale for the study.
It should:
Introduce the research topic and its importance.
Summarize relevant previous studies.
Identify existing knowledge gaps or research challenges.
Explain the scientific rationale for the investigation.
Clearly state the objectives and, where applicable, research hypotheses.
The introduction should be sufficiently comprehensive but avoid an unnecessary review of the literature.
5.9. Materials and Methods
This section should describe the materials, experimental design, research methods, equipment, procedures, and analytical approaches used in sufficient detail to allow other researchers to understand and reproduce the work.
Authors should provide relevant information about:
Experimental design and study conditions.
Materials, equipment, and instruments.
Data collection procedures.
Mathematical models and computational methods, where applicable.
Statistical analyses and software used.
Relevant ethical approvals and permits, where applicable.
Any modifications to established methods should be clearly explained, and appropriate references should be provided for previously published procedures.
5.10. Results
The Results section should present the research findings clearly, accurately, and objectively.
Results should be organized logically and supported by appropriate tables, figures, graphs, and statistical analyses.
Authors should avoid unnecessary repetition of information already presented in tables and figures.
5.11. Discussion
The Discussion should interpret the findings in relation to the research objectives and existing scientific literature.
Authors should:
Explain the significance of the main findings.
Compare the results with relevant previous studies.
Discuss possible explanations for similarities or differences.
Highlight the scientific and practical implications.
Identify study limitations and areas requiring further investigation.
The Discussion should provide critical scientific interpretation rather than simply repeat the Results section.
5.12. Conclusions
The Conclusions section should summarize the principal scientific conclusions arising from the research.
It should emphasize the significance and implications of the findings and explain how the study contributes to the relevant field of knowledge.
Conclusions should be supported by the results and should not introduce new findings or unsupported claims.
5.13. Author Contributions
All authors must have made substantial intellectual or practical contributions to the research and/or manuscript and must approve the final submitted version.
Author contributions should be described using the CRediT taxonomy, which includes the following roles:
Conceptualization
Methodology
Software
Validation
Formal analysis
Investigation
Resources
Data curation
Writing – Original Draft
Writing – Review and Editing
Visualization
Supervision
Project administration
Funding acquisition
Authors should be identified by name or initials, followed by their respective contributions.
Example:
"Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, and Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Investigation, Data Curation, and Formal Analysis. E.F.: Supervision, Writing – Review and Editing, and Project Administration. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript."
Only applicable roles should be included.
5.14. Acknowledgements
The Acknowledgements section should recognize individuals, institutions, technical personnel, or organizations that contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship.
Funding agencies and grant support may also be acknowledged in this section, provided that the funding information is consistent with the separate Funding Statement.
Authors must obtain permission from individuals named in the Acknowledgements, where appropriate.
5.15. Changes in Authorship
Authors are expected to agree on the authorship list and the order of authors before manuscript submission.
Any request to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be justified and approved in writing by all authors, including those being added or removed.
Changes in authorship after acceptance will not normally be permitted. Exceptional requests must be submitted to and approved by the Editor-in-Chief, supported by written agreement from all authors and a satisfactory explanation.
5.16. Competing Interests
A Competing Interests statement must be included in every manuscript.
Authors should disclose any financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation.
If no competing interests exist, the following statement should be used:
"The authors declare that they have no competing interests."
5.17. Data Availability Statement
Authors are encouraged to make the data supporting their findings available to other researchers.
A Data Availability Statement must be included in the manuscript, indicating whether the data are available and, where applicable, providing links or references to the relevant repositories.
Authors may deposit their research data in any recognized institutional, national, or international repository.
Examples:
"All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article."
"The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."
"The datasets supporting the findings of this study are publicly available at [repository name and DOI or URL]."
"Data sharing is not applicable to this article because no datasets were generated or analyzed during the study."
5.18. Funding Statement
Authors must identify all financial support received for conducting the research and preparing the manuscript.
The statement should include the name of the funding organization, grant number, where applicable, and the role of the funding body in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit the work for publication.
If no external funding was received, authors should state:
"This research received no external funding."
5.19. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Declaration
The journal permits the responsible use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies to support manuscript preparation, including improving language, readability, and organization.
However, authors must:
Carefully review and verify all AI-generated or AI-assisted content.
Ensure that references, data, calculations, and scientific statements are accurate.
Avoid using AI-generated content as a substitute for original scientific investigation or critical scientific interpretation.
Ensure that confidential information, unpublished manuscripts, and sensitive research data are not disclosed to unauthorized AI platforms.
Disclose the use of AI tools in writing, data collection, analysis, coding, or image generation, where applicable.
AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authors retain full responsibility for the content and integrity of their manuscripts.
The declaration should be placed before the References section.
Example:
"During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool] for [specific purpose]. The authors subsequently reviewed and edited the content and take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the published work."
If no AI tools were used, authors should include:
"The authors declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript."
The use of AI tools does not exempt authors from complying with the journal's publication ethics and originality requirements.
5.20. References
References must be relevant to the subject, accurate, and consistently formatted according to the IEEE referencing style.
In-text citations should be numbered consecutively in square brackets according to their first appearance in the manuscript, for example [1], [2], or [3–5].
The reference list should be arranged in numerical order corresponding to the citations in the text.
Authors should ensure that:
All cited references appear in the reference list.
All references listed are cited in the manuscript.
Author names, article titles, journal titles, publication years, volume numbers, issue numbers, and page ranges or article numbers are accurate.
Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are included whenever available.
References to websites include the relevant URL and access date, where appropriate.
Examples:
Journal article:
[1] A. A. Author, B. B. Author, and C. C. Author, "Title of the research article," Journal Name, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 100–110, 2025, doi: xx.xxxx/xxxxx.
Book:
[2] A. A. Author, Title of the Book, 2nd ed. City, Country: Publisher, 2024.
Conference paper:
[3] A. A. Author and B. B. Author, "Title of conference paper," in Proceedings of the Conference Name, City, Country, 2025, pp. 100–105.
Website:
[4] Organization or Author, "Title of webpage." [Online]. Available: URL. [Accessed: Month Day, Year].
Authors are encouraged to use reference management software to ensure consistency and accuracy.
6. Figures, Tables, Equations, and Supplementary Materials
6.1. Figures
Figures should be of high quality, clearly labeled, and suitable for scientific publication.
Figures must be numbered consecutively according to their appearance in the manuscript (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc.).
Each figure must have a descriptive caption.
All figures must be cited in the manuscript.
Figures should be embedded in the appropriate locations within the manuscript.
Original figure files may also be requested during submission or production.
Images should have sufficient resolution and be provided in commonly accepted formats such as TIFF, JPEG, PNG, or EPS.
Authors must ensure that all labels, symbols, legends, and units are readable.
Figures must not be manipulated in a manner that misrepresents or obscures the original scientific information.
6.2. Tables
Tables should be numbered consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, etc.) and provided with clear, informative titles.
Each table must be cited in the manuscript and placed close to its first mention.
Tables should be editable rather than submitted as images whenever possible. Abbreviations and symbols should be explained in table footnotes.
6.3. Equations
Mathematical equations should be prepared using an appropriate equation editor and numbered consecutively when they are cited in the text.
All mathematical symbols, variables, and abbreviations should be clearly defined.
6.4. Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials may include additional tables, figures, datasets, videos, technical descriptions, or other supporting information relevant to the research.
All supplementary materials must be submitted with the initial manuscript for peer review, where applicable.
Each supplementary file should be clearly identified and cited in the main manuscript.
7. Other Requirements
7.1. Line Numbering
Authors must use the automatic continuous line-numbering function in their word-processing software to facilitate the peer-review process.
7.2. Permissions and Copyright
Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce copyrighted figures, tables, photographs, or other materials from previously published sources.
Appropriate acknowledgements and source citations must accompany reproduced materials.
7.3. Appendices
Appendices should be included after the main text and before the References section, where appropriate.
If more than one appendix is included, they should be identified alphabetically as Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.
Equations, tables, and figures in appendices should be numbered separately:
Equations: (A.1), (A.2), (B.1), etc.
Tables: Table A.1, Table B.1, etc.
Figures: Fig. A.1, Fig. B.1, etc.
7.4. Research Ethics and Integrity
Authors must ensure that their research has been conducted in accordance with recognized ethical standards and applicable institutional, national, and international regulations.
Where research involves human participants, animals, personal data, or other ethically sensitive activities, the manuscript must include the relevant ethics committee approval, approval number, and informed consent statement, where applicable.
Authors must not engage in plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate publication, or other forms of research misconduct.
The journal reserves the right to use plagiarism-detection software and other appropriate screening tools to assess the originality and integrity of submitted manuscripts.
8. Editorial and Peer-Review Process
All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine their suitability, scientific quality, originality, and compliance with the journal's requirements.
Manuscripts considered suitable for further evaluation are subject to peer review.
The Editorial Board reserves the right to:
Reject manuscripts that fall outside the journal's scope.
Return manuscripts that do not comply with the Instructions for Authors.
Request revisions or additional information.
Reject manuscripts that do not meet the required scientific or ethical standards.
Submission does not guarantee acceptance or publication. The final decision regarding publication rests with the Editor-in-Chief, taking into consideration the editorial assessment and reviewers' recommendations.
9. Final Submission Checklist
Before completing the submission process, authors should ensure that:
The manuscript follows the journal's Instructions for Authors.
The manuscript is original and is not under consideration elsewhere.
All authors have approved the submitted version.
The abstract and keywords are included.
Figures and tables are appropriately numbered, titled, and cited.
References follow the IEEE referencing style.
Continuous line numbering is enabled.
Author Contributions (CRediT) are included.
Acknowledgements, Competing Interests, Data Availability, and Funding Statements are provided.
The AI Declaration is included.
Relevant ethical approvals and permissions are documented.
The cover letter is prepared.
All necessary files have been uploaded through the online submission system.
Online Manuscript Submission:
https://www.ejmanager.com/my/sesd/
The Journal of Solar Energy and Sustainable Development looks forward to receiving high-quality scientific contributions that advance research, innovation, and sustainable development in solar energy and related fields.
