Landscape Architecture is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, editorial independence, and responsible scholarly communication. These ethical guidelines apply to authors, editors, reviewers, and all individuals involved in the submission, review, editing, and publication of manuscripts in the journal.
The journal expects all submitted work to be original, properly documented, ethically conducted, and presented with honesty and transparency. Manuscripts should contribute to knowledge in landscape architecture and related fields without plagiarism, data manipulation, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other forms of research or publication misconduct.
1. Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts are original, accurate, complete, and ethically prepared. By submitting a manuscript to Landscape Architecture, authors confirm that the work has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal.
Authors must ensure that:
The manuscript represents original scholarly work.
All sources, ideas, images, maps, plans, drawings, data, and quotations taken from other works are properly cited.
The research has been conducted in accordance with relevant ethical, legal, institutional, and professional standards.
All listed authors have made a meaningful contribution to the work.
All authors have reviewed and approved the submitted version of the manuscript.
Any financial, institutional, personal, or professional conflicts of interest are clearly disclosed.
Funding sources and institutional support are properly acknowledged.
Any required ethical approval, consent, or permission has been obtained before submission.
Authors should present their research honestly and should not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or selectively omit data, evidence, images, maps, field records, survey results, interview materials, design documents, or analytical findings.
2. Originality and Plagiarism
All manuscripts submitted to Landscape Architecture must be original. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. This includes copying text, ideas, figures, maps, photographs, drawings, tables, data, or design materials from other sources without proper acknowledgment.
The journal may screen manuscripts for similarity or plagiarism before peer review, during peer review, or before publication. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, duplicate publication, excessive text reuse, or unattributed use of material may be rejected. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the seriousness of the case.
3. Duplicate Submission and Prior Publication
Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Manuscripts submitted to Landscape Architecture must not be under review, accepted, or published elsewhere.
If a manuscript is based on a thesis, conference paper, working paper, report, preprint, or project document, authors should disclose this at submission and explain how the manuscript differs from the earlier version. Any prior dissemination of the work should be clearly acknowledged.
4. Authorship and Contributorship
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the conception, design, research, analysis, interpretation, writing, or critical revision of the manuscript. All authors should approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for the integrity of the work.
Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged with their permission.
The following authorship practices are not acceptable:
Guest authorship
Gift authorship
Honorary authorship
Ghost authorship
Exclusion of eligible contributors
Addition or removal of authors without proper approval
Any request to change authorship after submission must be made in writing and must include a clear explanation. The journal may require written confirmation from all authors before approving any authorship change.
5. Conflicts of Interest
Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any conflict of interest that could influence, or appear to influence, the submission, review, decision-making, or publication process.
Conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, professional competition, funding arrangements, consultancy work, employment, project sponsorship, or any other situation that may affect impartial judgment.
If there is no conflict of interest, authors should include the following statement:
“The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.”
6. Research Involving Human Participants
Research involving human participants, interviews, surveys, focus groups, community engagement, participatory design, behavioral observation, private information, or identifiable individuals must comply with appropriate ethical standards.
Where required, authors must obtain ethical approval from an institutional review board, ethics committee, or relevant authority before conducting the research. Authors should also obtain informed consent from participants where applicable.
Manuscripts should protect the privacy, dignity, and confidentiality of participants. Identifying information should not be published unless explicit permission has been obtained.
7. Community, Cultural, and Heritage Ethics
Research in landscape architecture often involves communities, cultural landscapes, heritage sites, indigenous knowledge, public spaces, rural environments, sacred places, and historically significant landscapes. Authors should conduct such research with respect, sensitivity, and responsibility.
Authors should avoid misrepresentation of communities, places, traditions, cultural meanings, or local knowledge. Where research involves community participation, local knowledge, culturally sensitive sites, or heritage materials, authors should clearly explain the methods of engagement, consent, documentation, and interpretation.
Research should not exploit vulnerable communities, misappropriate cultural knowledge, or disclose sensitive site information in a way that may cause harm.
8. Environmental and Fieldwork Ethics
Authors conducting fieldwork, ecological studies, site surveys, environmental assessments, landscape documentation, or conservation-related research should follow responsible environmental practices.
Research should avoid unnecessary damage to landscapes, habitats, protected areas, plant communities, wildlife, archaeological sites, cultural resources, or public property. Authors should obtain relevant permits or permissions for fieldwork where required.
If the research involves protected areas, conservation sites, endangered species, sensitive habitats, or restricted locations, authors should ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and institutional requirements.
9. Use of Images, Maps, Plans, Drawings, and Third-Party Material
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all images, photographs, maps, plans, drawings, diagrams, tables, datasets, design documents, and other third-party materials are used legally and ethically.
Authors must obtain permission for copyrighted material where required and must provide appropriate credit lines. If an image, map, or figure has been adapted from another source, this must be clearly stated.
Materials generated from satellite imagery, GIS databases, public archives, private project documents, design offices, planning agencies, or institutional collections should be properly credited according to the terms of use of the source.
10. Data Integrity and Transparency
Authors should present data, evidence, and analysis accurately and transparently. Data should not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated, selectively reported, or presented in a misleading manner.
Where applicable, authors should describe the sources of data, research methods, analytical procedures, limitations, and assumptions clearly enough for readers to understand and evaluate the study.
If the manuscript relies on datasets, survey results, field measurements, GIS files, photographs, interviews, or archival records, authors should retain the underlying materials for a reasonable period after publication and provide access where possible, subject to ethical, legal, privacy, or contractual restrictions.
11. Artificial Intelligence and Digital Tools
Authors should use artificial intelligence tools, image-processing tools, GIS systems, design software, simulation tools, and other digital technologies responsibly and transparently.
AI tools should not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of all submitted work, including any content prepared with the assistance of digital or AI-based tools.
Where AI-assisted tools have been used in a substantial way for writing, translation, image generation, data processing, coding, analysis, or visualization, authors should disclose this use in the manuscript or cover letter. Such use must not involve fabrication of references, manipulation of findings, plagiarism, or misrepresentation of authorship.
12. Responsibilities of Reviewers
Landscape Architecture uses a single-blind peer review process. Reviewers know the identity of the authors, but reviewer identities are not disclosed to authors.
Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts fairly, confidentially, and objectively. They should provide constructive comments that help editors make informed decisions and help authors improve their work.
Reviewers should:
Maintain confidentiality of the manuscript and review process.
Evaluate the work based on scholarly quality, originality, relevance, method, clarity, and ethical standards.
Declare any conflict of interest before accepting a review invitation.
Avoid personal criticism or inappropriate language.
Notify the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data concerns, ethical issues, or undeclared conflicts of interest.
Complete the review within the agreed timeframe or inform the editorial office if more time is needed.
Reviewers must not use unpublished material from a submitted manuscript for personal, professional, or research advantage.
13. Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair, confidential, and academically rigorous editorial process. Editorial decisions should be based on the manuscript’s originality, quality, relevance, ethical compliance, and contribution to the journal’s aims and scope.
Editors should:
Treat all submissions fairly and without discrimination.
Maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.
Select qualified reviewers with relevant expertise.
Avoid handling manuscripts where there is a conflict of interest.
Consider reviewer comments carefully while making independent editorial decisions.
Respond appropriately to ethical concerns, complaints, appeals, corrections, and allegations of misconduct.
Protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Editorial decisions must not be influenced by authors’ nationality, institution, seniority, gender, personal background, financial status, or ability to pay. As a diamond open access journal, Landscape Architecture does not charge publication fees, and editorial decisions are not connected to payment.
14. Misconduct and Ethical Concerns
Research or publication misconduct includes, but is not limited to:
Plagiarism
Data fabrication or falsification
Image manipulation
Duplicate submission
Duplicate publication
Undisclosed conflicts of interest
Inappropriate authorship
Citation manipulation
Peer-review manipulation
Misuse of confidential material
Misrepresentation of ethical approval or participant consent
Unauthorized use of third-party material
When ethical concerns are raised, the journal may contact the authors, reviewers, institutions, funders, or other relevant parties for clarification. Depending on the outcome, the journal may reject the manuscript, request correction, issue an expression of concern, retract the article, or take other appropriate editorial action.
15. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
Landscape Architecture is committed to maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the scholarly record.
A correction may be published when an article contains an error that does not invalidate the main findings but requires public clarification. A retraction may be issued when the findings are unreliable, the article contains serious ethical problems, or the work has been published in breach of publication standards. An expression of concern may be issued when a serious concern is under investigation but the outcome is not yet final.
Authors, readers, reviewers, and editors may notify the journal of possible errors or ethical concerns by contacting the editorial office.
16. Appeals and Complaints
Authors may appeal an editorial decision if they believe that a manuscript was rejected because of a procedural error, misunderstanding, or significant factual mistake. Appeals should be submitted in writing and should provide a clear explanation of the grounds for appeal.
Complaints about editorial handling, peer review, publication ethics, corrections, or journal processes should also be submitted in writing. The journal will review appeals and complaints carefully and respond in an appropriate manner.
17. Confidentiality
All submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, author responses, and related materials are treated as confidential. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript except to those directly involved in the editorial and publication process.
18. Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing
Landscape Architecture is a diamond open access journal. The journal does not charge authors article processing charges, submission fees, publication fees, page charges, figure charges, or DOI registration fees.
Authors retain copyright of their published work. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided that proper credit is given to the original author(s), the journal, and the published source.
19. Contact for Ethical Matters
Questions, concerns, appeals, or complaints related to publication ethics should be sent to the editorial office.
For general journal inquiries, contact: editor@landscarchitmag.org
For manuscript status, submission files, revisions, and paper-related inquiries, contact: editassist@landscarchitmag.org