Alue ja Ympäristö on kaksi kertaa vuodessa ilmestyvä monitieteinen aikakauslehti, jota julkaisee Yhteiskuntatieteellisen ympäristötutkimuksen seura ry. Lehti on tärkein suomalaisen aluetieteen ja yhteiskuntatieteellisen ympäristötutkimuksen foorumi.
Publication ethics
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement (PEMS)
Journal: Alue ja Ympäristö (Region and Environment)
Publisher: Yhteiskuntatieteellisen ympäristötutkimuksen seura ry (The Finnish Society for Environmental Social Science), YHYS ry – Yhteiskuntatieteellisen ympäristötutkimuksen seura ry
Last updated February 2026. This document will be subject to periodic review.
This document outlines the Publication Ethics Policies followed in the Alue ja Ympäristö journal. The statement is developed building on the guidance on the Scopus Title Evaluation Requirements of Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. These essential Ethical Policies follow the COPE et al (2022) Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. The journal adheres to all COPE Core Practices in cases not explicitly covered here.
Alue ja Ympäristö emphasizes the importance of integrity, accessibility, and inclusivity in publishing. The journal website is updated periodically to ensure it contains key information including copyright and licensing policies, publication ethics, peer review processes, access details, and editorial team information.
The journal is published by a non-profit scientific society and follows the so-called diamond open access publishing model. No fees are collected from authors publishing in the journal, and all content is openly accessible online. Additionally, the printed journal is available for subscription and can be purchased separately as individual issues. The journal receives financial support from the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. The journal editors take decisions concerning the journal independent from the publishing society or other parties.
Integrity of scholarly content
In Alue ja Ympäristö journal, the integrity of the published scholarly content is taken very seriously. We uphold the high standards outlined in The Finnish code of conduct for research integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations of research integrity in Finland, issued by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK in 2023. The guidelines are openly available online. TENK holds authority in research ethical questions in Finland and thus research institutions and Finnish academic publishers commit to its guidance. In this document, we outline the policies and procedures for handling possible misconduct when they arise, adopted from the TENK guideline. The aim of the guidelines is to promote good and responsible research practices and to prevent violations of research integrity.
Responsible conduct of research means procedures that are endorsed by the research community, i.e., integrity, general meticulousness and accuracy in conducting research, in documenting and presenting research findings and in evaluating the research and its findings, ethical data acquisition methods, and respecting the work of other researchers. The editorial process and the double-blind review at Alue ja Ympäristö journal aim to ensure that the content published follows research integrity guidelines.
The journal editorial team is committed to highest academic publication standards and continuous reviewing of editorial practices. The journal editors are established experts in their field. The editorial process from manuscript submission to the publication of an article is described on the journal web page in a transparent manner, as is the peer review process (in Finnish). Alue ja Ympäristö follows the peer review code of conduct by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, which indicates that the peer review has been carried out in accordance with the qualitative and ethical principles followed by the international scientific community.
Authorship and contributorship
The Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK has issued a recommendation on authorship for research publications in 2018. The recommendation is available online. Alue ja Ympäristö journal follows the guidelines and recommendations of TENK on authorship and contributorship.
The principles regarding authorship must be agreed upon between the researchers before a manuscript is submitted for publication. All authors are responsible for the entire published content, unless stated otherwise. To be listed as an author, the researcher must have made a substantial contribution to the research reported in the publication and must have read and approved the final version to be published. In the case of multiple authors, they are listed according to their contribution. If the authors wish, they can declare equal authorship in a footnote. The authors may specify their contribution to the research in the methods section or at the end of the paper. Other contributors whose contribution is not sufficient enough to entitle them to be listed as authors can be named in the acknowledgements.
Corresponding author refers to the person who manages interaction with the journal. Their contact information is given in the published article, and it is their responsibility to ensure that information flows between the publisher and the other authors. The authors must agree on who is the corresponding author towards the journal before submitting their paper.
Authors must ensure that underlying data is available for editorial review and, where appropriate, for public access. Authors are expected to avoid redundant publication (“salami slicing”) and excessive self-citation and to correct significant errors promptly in collaboration with the editorial team.
Reviewer responsibilities
Reviewers invited for Alue ja Ympäristö must conduct reviews objectively, maintain confidentiality of all materials, declare any conflicts of interest, and inform the editors if they are unqualified or unable to review. Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited and alert the editors to suspected misconduct.
Complaints and appeals
Alue ja Ympäristö provides a clear process for handling complaints and appeals related to editorial decisions, peer review, or published content. Concerns may be submitted directly to the editors. All complaints are addressed impartially and in a timely manner.
If an author or reviewer wishes to appeal an editorial decision, a written explanation must be provided. Appeals are reviewed by an editor not involved in the original decision, and, when necessary, by members of the editorial board. Decisions made upon appeal are final.
Complaints or appeals involving suspected violations of research integrity will be handled according to the procedures set out in the TENK guidelines.
Allegations of research misconduct
Research misconduct refers to misleading the research community. This includes disseminating false information or results in a publication or a manuscript intended to be published. Misconduct also refers to misappropriating other researchers’ work and the representation of other researchers’ work as one’s own. Research misconduct includes plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification or fabrication, among others.
Plagiarism is a form of misconduct. Plagiarism, or unacknowledged borrowing, refers to representing another person’s manuscript, article or other texts or parts thereof, as one’s own. Plagiarism means both direct copying as well as adapted copying, where the original author is not credited with proper citation. Self-plagiarism is a form of plagiarism and violates the responsible conduct of research. It refers to publishing the same results multiple times as new results. Upon submitting their work to Alue ja Ympäristö journal, the authors are asked to acknowledge that the manuscript hasn't been published before and that it is not being reviewed for another publication simultaneously.
The peer review and editorial process aim to detect potential misconduct and misappropriation. The authors will be contacted in case of suspected misconduct, and they will be asked to clarify the issue. Their submission will be revised accordingly, if necessary. In case the issue is not cleared, the submission may be rejected.
All allegations of misconduct are handled confidentially and according to COPE Core Practices and TENK guidelines. The editorial team will document each step of the process, communicate with all parties involved, and issue expressions of concern when appropriate during ongoing investigations.
Conflicts of interest
Funding sources and other conflicts of interest relevant to the published research must be disclosed for all authors. The journal editors aim to organize peer-review in a fair manner and avoid inviting such reviewers that might have a conflict of interest with the authors. Researchers must refrain from taking on peer-review duties when there is reason to suspect conflict of interest. The journal editors must also refrain from editing duties when there is reason to suspect conflict of interest, for example when a colleague of theirs submits a manuscript in the journal. The editorial work will be divided in a way to avoid conflicts of interest. The reviewers and the editors must not use the position to promote their own research.
Data sharing and reproducibility
Alue ja Ympäristö supports transparent research practices and encourages authors to make their data, methods, and analytical procedures openly available whenever possible and ethically appropriate. The journal expects authors to follow established disciplinary standards for data management and to ensure that all presented results are accurate, traceable, and responsibly documented. Authors are encouraged to follow FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and to describe data availability specifying where the data can be found or conditions for access, when appropriate. Authors should describe their data sources, research materials, and methods with sufficient detail to allow others to understand, evaluate, and, when feasible, reproduce the findings. We encourage researchers to share their data openly via for example the Finnish Social Science Data Archive or another reliable data repository.
Ethical oversight
In Finland, disregard for the responsible conduct of research is classed as a violation of the responsible conduct of research. It is manifested as gross negligence and carelessness at different stages of the research process. Authors must ensure that their research has received any required ethical approvals and that ethical considerations related to data collection, participant protection, and research procedures are clearly described when relevant.
Any concerns regarding ethical oversight or responsible conduct of research will be reviewed by the editorial team and handled in accordance with the procedures outlined in the TENK guidelines.
Intellectual property
The journal is published under the open access CC-BY-NC-ND license. The content may be freely distributed as long as the original authors are credited. Published content may not be modified or used for commercial purposes.
Authors retain the intellectual property rights to their work published in Alue ja Ympäristö. By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that the work is original, that they hold the rights to publish it, and that any copyrighted material used in the manuscript has been appropriately credited and cleared for publication.Any reuse of third-party materials must be accompanied by documented permissions. Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript in institutional repositories, provided the final published version is cited.
The journal requires proper acknowledgement of all sources and respects the intellectual property rights of authors, researchers, and third parties. Any concerns regarding potential copyright infringement or misuse of intellectual property will be investigated by the editorial team and addressed in accordance with the TENK guidelines and the journal’s correction and retraction policies.
Post-publication discussions
Alue ja Ympäristö supports transparent scholarly dialogue after publication. We welcome responsible post‑publication discussion that contributes to the clarification, contextualization, or further development of published research. Readers, authors, and members of the research community may contact the editorial office with comments, questions, or concerns regarding published content.
Post‑publication commentary may take the form of correspondence with the editors, letters to the editor, or formally invited responses when appropriate. All substantive concerns related to research integrity, methodological transparency, or the interpretation of results will be reviewed by the editorial team following the procedures outlined in the TENK guidelines for responsible conduct of research.
Where discussion reveals errors or ambiguities, corrective actions—such as clarifications, corrigenda, expressions of concern, or retractions—will be implemented in accordance with the journal’s policies on corrections and retractions.
Corrections and retractions
If an error is detected in already published content by the author, the journal or a third party, a correction may be published. The author must correct the error in the article, and it will be re-published with a separate Corrigendum detailing the error and how it was corrected in the text. In case of publication malpractice, an article may be retracted. In that case, a notification of retraction will be published on the journal web page. The alleged violation of research integrity will be handled according to the process detailed in TENK guidelines.
Use of generative AI
Alue ja Ympäristö permits the responsible use of generative AI tools for limited purposes such as language editing, formatting, and improving clarity. AI tools must not be used to generate, alter, or fabricate research data, results, or interpretations. Generative AI systems cannot be listed as authors, as authorship requires accountability for the published work.
Authors must fully disclose any use of generative AI in the preparation of their manuscript, including the tool name, and the specific purpose for which it was used. All content produced with AI must be carefully reviewed and verified by the authors to prevent inaccuracies, fabricated references, or misleading information, as generative models are known to produce such errors.
The authors remain solely responsible for the integrity, originality, and accuracy of all submitted content. Use of generative AI in peer review is not permitted unless explicitly allowed by the editors and disclosed to them in advance. Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscript materials to AI systems that do not guarantee confidentiality and data protection.
