Editorial Policy of Verdant Legacy Publishers

1. About the Publishers

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2. Scope of the Publishers

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3. Editorial Structure for Journals

·       Editor-in-Chief: Provides overall leadership, ensures quality standards, and final decision-making authority.

·       Associate Editors: Handle submissions within their area of expertise and coordinate peer review.

·       Editorial Board/Advisory Board: Composed of international experts in nanotechnology, plant sciences, agriculture, and biotechnology who advise on policy, strategy, and content development.

4. Peer Review Policy

All submissions undergo initial editorial screening for scope, format, and plagiarism check. Manuscripts deemed suitable are subjected to double-blind peer review by at least two independent reviewers. Reviewers evaluate manuscripts on originality, scientific rigor, clarity, ethical values, contribution to the field, and relevance. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision (accept, minor/major revision, or reject) based on reviewers’ recommendations. The journals aim for a first decision within 6–8 weeks of submission.

5.     Editorial Workflow and Peer Review Policy

Submission

After submission of the article to the respective journal through online system, the Editor-in-Chief or an assigned Associate Editor screens the manuscript for its Relevance to journal scope, compliance with author guidelines, language and formatting quality, and for plagiarism check (using standard detection software). Manuscripts failing to meet basic standards may be desk-rejected without external review. Suitable manuscripts are assigned to an Associate Editor/Editor with subject expertise. The Assigned Editor oversees the peer review process.

Reviewer Selection

Manuscripts are typically sent to two independent reviewers (occasionally three if opinions diverge). Where reviewers are selected based on expertise, impartiality, and availability. Authors may suggest potential reviewers, but the final selection rests with the editors.

Peer Review Process

All journals follow a double-blind peer review system where Authors’ identities are concealed from reviewers and vice versa. Reviewers are asked to evaluate the articles as described earlier. Reviewers submit a detailed report with a clear recommendation like

                        i.         Accept as is

                       ii.         Minor revision

                     iii.         Major revision

                      iv.         Reject

                       v.         Resubmission

Editorial Decision

The Assigned Editor reviews the reports and makes a recommendation and communicates the decision to the Editor in chief for final recommendation. The Editor-in-Chief makes the final decision that is communicated to the authors.

Revision Process

Authors submit a revised manuscript along with a point-by-point response letter addressing reviewer comments. Revised manuscripts may be sent back to the same reviewers for re-evaluation.

Final Acceptance

Once all issues are satisfactorily addressed, the Editor-in-Chief issues a final acceptance letter. The manuscript proceeds to copyediting and typesetting. Page proofs are sent to the corresponding author for final approval. Only minor corrections (typos, formatting errors) are permitted at this stage.

Publication

Articles are published online first immediately after final approval. Each article is assigned a DOI and archived in the journal’s repository. Articles remain freely accessible under the CC BY 4.0 license.

Appeals

Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a written explanation to the Editor-in-Chief. Appeals are reviewed by the editorial board to ensure fairness.

Post-Publication Updates

The journal may issue corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern as needed. Authors are encouraged to share updates, datasets, and follow-up studies linked to their publication.

6.     Publication Ethics

Verdant Legacy strictly adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) https://publicationethics[SJ1] .org/guidance-and-tools. Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to maintain the highest standards of integrity.

·       Authorship: All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the research.

·       Plagiarism: Submissions are screened using plagiarism-detection software; plagiarized manuscripts will be rejected.

·       Data Fabrication/Falsification: Any evidence of data manipulation will result in rejection or retraction.

·       Conflict of Interest: Authors, reviewers, and editors must declare potential conflicts of interest.

·       Retractions and Corrections: The concerned journal will issue retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern when necessary.

Further details are present in Publication[SJ2]  Ethics Tab

7.     Open Access Policy

Our journals follow an open-access publication Policy. All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), allowing for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original work is properly cited.

8. Archiving and Indexing

Articles will be preserved through digital archiving systems using OJS. The journals will seek indexing in Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and other databases over time.

9. Copyright and Licensing

Articles are licensed under CC BY 4.0, granting users the right to share and adapt with proper attribution. These guidelines will help establish a clear and transparent copyright policy that protects the rights of authors while maximizing the accessibility and usability of research findings. Implementing such policies ensures the integrity and usability of scholarly work.

Our journals follow an open-access publishing policy and all articles are free to access. Any submission to Journals must be original, that is, neither published previously nor accepted/under consideration for publication elsewhere. On acceptance of a manuscript, the corresponding author on the behalf of all co-authors will sign and submit a Copyright and Author Consent Form available in downloads[SJ3]  tab.

The author(s) shall be solely responsible for any information written/informed/reported in the submitted manuscript. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain signed permission from the copyright holder to use and reproduce text, illustrations, tables, etc., published previously in other journals, electronic or print media. If any material (Figure/Table/map etc.) is taken from other copyrighted material, should have prior permission to use it in their publication. Articles can be reproduced, distributed, derived and may be used commercially_ provided the original work is properly cited. Authors have certain rights to reuse their work. Authors retain the right to reuse their own published material by fully acknowledging their original work.  Authors can reuse and share their work for scholarly purposes, in classroom teachings, in conferences, in research theses.  Authors can publicly share the final published article.

10. Publication Fee

Authors have to pay article processing charges for article as per journal guidelines after acceptance of the article

11. Publishing Schedule

It will be displayed with each journal. Special issues are also invited after the approval of Editorial and Advisory Board.

12. Policy for Special Issue

For a special issue, a title is required with clearly defined scope and theme that should be aligned with the scope of the journal. Proposals may be submitted by the qualified guest editor (Proposal form is available in downloads[SJ4] ). Guest editor of the special issue should be a well-recognized scientist/researcher of the particular field of that journal. He/she should have proven expertise and an academic background in the theme of special issues. It is highly desirable that the guest editor should have experience in editorial roles and peer review. Guest Editor is responsible for following activities

1.     Providing a clear timeline for calling papers, submission deadlines, review periods, revisions and final decisions

2.     Identifying and inviting potential contributors of the relevant field

3.     Overseeing the peer review process

4.     Making editorial decisions on submissions, based on peer review reports and journal policies

5.     Ensuring the high quality and integrity of the content published

6.     Ensuring compliance of all the submissions with the ethical guidelines of the journal

7.     Ensuring the strategies to promote the special issue to reach the wide audience and in achieving the significant impact

Detailing any available budget for special issues and mentioning any compensation

13. Anti-Plagiarism policy

All Journals strictly follows the antiplagiarism policy of Higher Education Commission, Pakistan (hec.gov.pk). If any stage of article processing, any discrepancy is found, paper will be rejected at that stage. If editorial board finds discrepancy related to any article after its publication, then publisher has complete authority and rights to retract the article. Its retraction will also be mentioned online with authors name and title of article.

Manuscripts with plagiarized material (>18%) from any other published data, will be immediately rejected and authors may face severe penalties including sanctions on future submissions. Furthermore, any submission found with data/results/image fabrication or falsification will be immediately rejected during evaluation process and will be retracted if published. Authors’ names will be mentioned on websites with reason of retraction and article and will have to face other penalties. Unethical use of citation (just for increasing citation of a particular work/author/s) is strongly discouraged and if any author found guilty, sanctions may be incurred.

Appeals made to journal will be presented in Editorial board meetings and decision will be made by Editorial board under the convenorship of Editor-in-Chief. A committee may be formed by board to decide on the complaint or appeal of authors.

14.  Use of AI Tools

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI assisted technologies should be used only in writing with human oversight and control. AI should not be listed as author or coauthor. If AI is used in writing process, statement should be included in article.

15.  Disclaimer for Data

The names and email addresses and any other data for the authors or reviewers entered in this Publisher site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the journal/book/publication and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Note: The editorial policy will be periodically reviewed and updated to ensure alignment with best practices in scholarly publishing.