Publication Ethics

Editorial Policy

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Horticultural Sciences is committed to responsible research, rigorous peer review, transparent editorial practice and appropriate action whenever concerns about the scholarly record arise.

Blind peer reviewNo APCsAuthors retain copyrightCOPE-aligned

Journal Information

Publishing framework

Publishing schedule

The journal publishes two issues each year:

  • Issue 1: January–June
  • Issue 2: July–December

Editorial governance

The journal is managed by an independent Editorial Board delegated by the Society's elected governing body. Members are recognized subject experts, with names and affiliations published online.

No publication fees

There are no article processing or publication charges. The journal is free to read, submit and publish.

Editorial Process

Responsibilities and peer review

Authors and author responsibilities

Authors must participate appropriately in peer review, confirm that they made significant contributions, and declare that the research has not previously been published in a journal. Any deposited preprint must be disclosed to the editor. Authors must provide accurate references, funding information and, when necessary, corrections or retractions.

Authors should use the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy to describe each contributor's specific role and improve authorship transparency.

Blind review process

Journal content is subjected to blind peer review by experts in relevant fields. After the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Section Editors or Editorial Board confirm suitability and scope, manuscripts are normally sent to two or three reviewers. Acceptance or rejection considers reviewer reports and editorial consultation.

Reviewers must disclose conflicts of interest and should identify relevant published work that has not been cited.

Conflict of interest

Editorial Board members, reviewers and authors are required to disclose conflicts of interest. Relevant statements may be published on the journal website or included with the published manuscript, as appropriate.

Acknowledgments

Authors should acknowledge individuals, organizations and institutions that provided support, advice or assistance during the research or writing process.

Scholarly Record

Research integrity and misconduct

Preventing and addressing misconduct

Editors and the publisher take reasonable steps to identify and prevent publication where research misconduct has occurred. This includes plagiarism, citation manipulation and data falsification or fabrication. The journal and its editors do not encourage or knowingly permit misconduct.

Submissions are checked using plagiarism-detection software. When an allegation is raised, it will be handled appropriately following COPE guidance or equivalent procedures. The journal is willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when required.

Preprints and open review

Authors are encouraged to post manuscripts to preprint servers and disclose this in the cover letter. Reviewers may publish a peer-review statement after article publication, provided they do not disclose the journal's identity or the publication recommendation.

CRediT contribution statement

Use of CRediT is recommended to recognize individual contributions, reduce authorship disputes and make collaboration transparent.

Open Scholarship

Prior publication, copyright and preservation

Prior publication policy

An abstract, thesis or preprint is not considered prior publication. Authors may freely share submitted versions (preprints), accepted versions (postprints) and final published versions under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Archiving

The journal uses Open Journal Systems and participates in the PKP Preservation Network. See the journal's LOCKSS manifest. OAI-PMH supports metadata harvesting, and content is preserved on the host institute's webserver.

Best Practice

Transparency and management

Revenue sources

The Society receives revenue from membership fees, subscriptions, institutional and organizational support, and balances remaining after expenses from conferences or other events.

Society membership

Any eligible person or entity supporting the Society's objectives may apply for membership. Authors do not need to be members to submit articles.

  • Life member: ₹5,200
  • Annual member: ₹1,200; US $105 (US $55 for SAARC countries)

Membership details

Direct marketing

The Society may occasionally contact conference attendees or conduct presentations at universities and institutes to inform early-career researchers and horticulture students about the Society, membership and opportunities to submit manuscripts.