Author Guidelines & Publication Ethics

Smart World Journal publishes original peer-reviewed research and applied studies related to smart cities, engineering, digital infrastructure, construction and architecture, economics, project delivery, and interdisciplinary technologies shaping the built environment.

The journal considers research articles, technical reports, case studies, review papers, and interdisciplinary contributions that align with the journal scope and demonstrate academic rigor, methodological clarity, and relevance.

Manuscripts must be written in clear academic English and follow a standard scholarly structure: title, abstract (150 to 250 words), keywords, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. Authors are encouraged to include data availability statements and reproducibility notes where applicable.

Submissions should be provided in DOCX or LaTeX format using the official journal template. References may follow IEEE or APA style, provided the formatting is consistent throughout the manuscript.

Authorship is limited to individuals who made a significant intellectual contribution to the work and can take public responsibility for its content. All listed authors must meet all of the following criteria:

• Substantial contribution to research design, data acquisition, or analysis
• Participation in drafting or critically revising the manuscript
• Approval of the final version for publication
• Accountability for the integrity of the work and responses to post-publication questions

Guest, honorary, or ghost authorship is not permitted.

All manuscripts are screened for originality. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism without proper attribution, data fabrication, data falsification, and duplicate submission are serious violations and may result in rejection, withdrawal of acceptance, or retraction after publication.

If the manuscript builds on previously published work (including preprints, datasets, or conference versions), authors must clearly disclose this and explain the novelty and added contribution.

For manuscripts entering the external peer-review track, the review policy calls for two independent reviewers who assess originality, methodological rigor, clarity, reproducibility and relevance. Completed review status must be recorded before a contribution is labeled peer reviewed. The 2026 editorial methodology series is published with article-level validation statements and an explicit notice that independent peer review is not recorded. Conceptual proposals and prospective protocols must be distinguished from completed empirical studies.

Editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit and suitability. The journal does not tolerate discrimination or biased evaluation of manuscripts.

Authors must disclose any financial, professional, or personal relationships that could be perceived as influencing the research. All sources of funding must be clearly identified. If no external funding was received, authors must explicitly state this.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data presented. Where applicable, ethical approval for studies involving human participants, personal data, sensitive information, or experimental procedures must be obtained and confirmed in the manuscript.

Data, code, and materials supporting the findings should be made available when possible, or the manuscript must include a clear data availability statement describing access conditions.

Authors may submit a reasoned appeal if they believe a decision involved a factual error or procedural issue. Complaints related to editorial conduct, peer review, or ethics are reviewed by the editorial office and may be escalated to independent advisors when needed.

The journal may publish corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record. Retractions may occur in cases of proven misconduct, unreliable findings, or major uncorrectable errors.

Authors retain copyright while granting the journal the right to publish and distribute the article. Full texts are freely accessible. Any licence for reuse must be stated explicitly on the individual article.

For questions regarding submissions, ethics, peer review, or indexing, contact the editorial office:
Email: shlaenretail@gmail.com