Types of Manuscripts

Print ISSN: 3117-5953
Online ISSN: 3117-5961

Manuscript Categories

The Journal of Circular Economy Innovations publishes scholarly work that advances understanding, evidence, methods, technologies, policies, and practical approaches related to circular economy transitions, resource efficiency, sustainable production and consumption, waste prevention, material recovery, circular business models, industrial transformation, and associated interdisciplinary fields.

The journal accommodates different forms of academic contribution so that appropriate research designs, evidence syntheses, theoretical developments, methodological advances, and practice-oriented studies can be communicated effectively. Authors should select the manuscript category that most accurately represents the objectives, research design, evidence base, analytical approach, and principal contribution of their submission.

Regardless of article type, manuscripts should demonstrate a clear relationship with the journal's aims and scope, appropriate scholarly rigor, transparent reporting, sound interpretation of evidence, and compliance with applicable research and publication-ethics requirements.

Original Research Articles

Original Research Articles present previously unpublished findings derived from empirical, experimental, quantitative, qualitative, computational, modeling, or mixed-method investigations.

Research articles should clearly establish the research problem, explain its relevance to circular economy scholarship or practice, describe the methods used, present the resulting evidence, and provide a reasoned interpretation of the findings.

Where applicable, an Original Research Article should include:

  • a clearly defined research problem, objective, or research question;

  • engagement with relevant scholarly literature;

  • transparent description of the research design and methodology;

  • appropriate presentation and analysis of data;

  • results supported by the reported evidence;

  • discussion in relation to prior research and the wider field;

  • limitations of the study;

  • theoretical, policy, environmental, technological, managerial, or practical implications; and

  • a conclusion proportionate to the evidence presented.

Methods should be described with sufficient clarity to permit meaningful scholarly assessment and, where reasonably possible, reproducibility.

Review Articles

Review Articles provide a critical and integrative examination of established and emerging literature relating to a defined circular economy topic.

Suitable reviews may address developments in areas such as circular production systems, resource recovery, sustainable supply chains, product life extension, circular business models, industrial symbiosis, recycling technologies, waste management, life-cycle approaches, policy instruments, or other relevant subjects.

A scholarly review should do more than summarize publications individually. Authors should synthesize evidence, compare perspectives or approaches, evaluate areas of agreement and uncertainty, identify limitations in the existing literature, and explain the implications for future research or practice.

The approach used to identify and organize the literature should be described sufficiently for readers to understand the basis of the review.

Systematic Reviews

Systematic Reviews examine a clearly formulated research question using a structured and reproducible approach to evidence identification, screening, selection, appraisal, and synthesis.

Authors should report the review methodology transparently. Depending on the review design, relevant information may include:

  • databases and other information sources searched;

  • search terms or search strategy;

  • date range and date of the final search;

  • inclusion and exclusion criteria;

  • screening and study-selection procedures;

  • data-extraction process;

  • quality appraisal or risk-of-bias assessment;

  • evidence-synthesis method; and

  • limitations of the review process.

Where an established reporting framework is appropriate to the discipline and study design, authors are encouraged to follow it and identify its use.

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses quantitatively integrate findings from multiple eligible studies to estimate overall effects, relationships, patterns, or differences relevant to a clearly defined research question.

Authors should provide transparent information concerning study eligibility, data extraction, effect measures, analytical models, heterogeneity, sensitivity analysis, publication-bias assessment where relevant, and assumptions underlying the statistical synthesis.

Pooled estimates should be interpreted carefully in relation to study quality, methodological differences, sample characteristics, contextual variation, and limitations of the available evidence.

Meta-analysis should not be undertaken solely because numerical data are available; the included studies should be sufficiently comparable for meaningful quantitative synthesis.

Case Studies

Case Studies provide detailed scholarly analysis of a defined organization, community, industry, intervention, technology, supply chain, policy initiative, circular business model, material-recovery system, waste-management program, or other real-world setting relevant to circular economy research.

A strong case study should clearly identify:

  • the context and rationale for case selection;

  • the problem or phenomenon being examined;

  • sources of evidence;

  • analytical approach;

  • principal observations or findings; and

  • lessons, implications, or transferable insights.

Case Studies should extend beyond narrative description and demonstrate how the case contributes to broader academic knowledge, policy development, technological practice, organizational learning, or circular-economy implementation.

Short Communications

Short Communications provide concise reports of focused and original scholarly findings that are sufficiently significant to warrant timely communication but do not require the length of a full research article.

Suitable submissions may include focused experimental results, early but well-supported findings, methodological innovations, technological observations, pilot investigations, novel datasets, or narrowly defined analytical contributions.

Short Communications must contain enough methodological and evidentiary detail to support the claims presented. Their shorter format does not reduce the journal's expectations concerning originality, research integrity, transparency, or analytical quality.

Research Notes

Research Notes communicate focused scholarly contributions that may arise from methodological refinements, replication studies, preliminary but adequately supported analyses, computational developments, measurement approaches, technical observations, or targeted investigations.

A Research Note should have a clearly defined academic purpose and should explain why the contribution is relevant to ongoing circular economy research.

Research Notes should not be used merely to publish incomplete studies, unsupported ideas, or fragmented results lacking sufficient scholarly context.

Theoretical Papers

Theoretical Papers develop, extend, integrate, compare, or critically evaluate theories and explanatory frameworks relevant to circular economy scholarship.

Such manuscripts may examine conceptual relationships involving resource circulation, sustainable consumption, industrial ecology, regenerative systems, economic transitions, circular value creation, environmental governance, behavioral change, or related areas.

A theoretical contribution should demonstrate:

  • clear engagement with established scholarship;

  • logical development of the theoretical argument;

  • distinction between existing theory and the authors' proposed contribution;

  • internal conceptual coherence; and

  • implications for future research, policy, management, technology, or practice.

Theoretical manuscripts should provide genuine analytical development rather than a descriptive overview of existing concepts.

Conceptual Papers

Conceptual Papers propose or refine frameworks, models, classifications, constructs, relationships, or propositions through rigorous engagement with scholarly literature and reasoned analysis.

Conceptual contributions may be particularly appropriate for emerging circular economy topics where existing terminology, relationships, mechanisms, or research frameworks remain insufficiently developed.

A Conceptual Paper should ordinarily:

  • define the problem or conceptual limitation being addressed;

  • establish the relevant theoretical background;

  • develop the proposed framework or conceptual structure systematically;

  • explain relationships among key concepts;

  • provide scholarly justification for the proposed contribution; and

  • identify implications for research or application.

Conceptual Papers should offer an identifiable advancement in understanding rather than merely reorganizing existing literature.

Methodological Papers

Methodological Papers introduce, evaluate, refine, or compare research methods, measurement frameworks, analytical techniques, assessment tools, indicators, models, or procedures relevant to circular economy research.

Possible contributions may involve methods for:

  • circularity measurement;

  • resource-efficiency assessment;

  • material-flow analysis;

  • life-cycle assessment;

  • circular supply-chain evaluation;

  • waste-stream analysis;

  • sustainability indicators;

  • circular business-model assessment;

  • environmental performance evaluation; or

  • computational and decision-support approaches.

Authors should explain the methodological need being addressed, the development or evaluation process, assumptions, validation procedures where applicable, limitations, and potential applications.

Policy and Practice Analyses

Policy and Practice Analyses examine regulatory, institutional, managerial, economic, or implementation issues related to circular economy transitions.

Submissions may address legislation, policy instruments, governance systems, extended producer responsibility, waste regulation, circular procurement, industrial policy, sustainable finance, regional circularity strategies, market incentives, or comparable topics.

These manuscripts should be analytically grounded and should distinguish evidence-based conclusions from advocacy or opinion.

Where recommendations are proposed, they should follow logically from the evidence and analysis presented.

Perspective Articles

Perspective Articles provide informed scholarly interpretation of emerging developments, unresolved debates, conceptual challenges, or future directions relevant to the journal's scope.

Perspectives may be forward-looking, interdisciplinary, or critical, but they should remain grounded in relevant evidence and scholarship.

Authors should clearly distinguish established evidence from interpretation, prediction, or normative argument.

Perspective Articles should contribute a distinctive and defensible scholarly position rather than function as promotional commentary.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor provide concise scholarly correspondence concerning published research, methodological issues, emerging academic debates, or matters of clear relevance to the Journal of Circular Economy Innovations.

Letters should be focused, evidence-based, professionally written, and academically constructive.

Where a Letter addresses an article previously published in the journal, the authors of the original article may be invited to respond when editorially appropriate.

Personal criticism, unsupported allegations, promotional correspondence, or material unrelated to scholarly discussion will not be considered suitable.

Requirements Applicable to All Manuscript Types

Irrespective of category, manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Circular Economy Innovations should satisfy the journal's applicable editorial and ethical requirements.

Authors should ensure that:

  • the manuscript represents original scholarly work;

  • substantially identical work is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere;

  • the selected manuscript category accurately reflects the nature of the submission;

  • the work falls within the journal's stated aims and scope;

  • all listed authors satisfy the journal's authorship requirements;

  • relevant conflicts of interest are disclosed;

  • funding information is reported accurately where applicable;

  • research-ethics approval and informed consent are reported where required;

  • an appropriate Data Availability Statement is provided where applicable;

  • sources, datasets, tables, graphs, images, and other materials are accurately attributed;

  • references are relevant and bibliographically accurate;

  • conclusions are supported by the evidence presented;

  • limitations are disclosed appropriately;

  • any substantive use of artificial intelligence tools is reported in accordance with the journal's AI Usage Policy; and

  • the manuscript is prepared appropriately for the journal's peer-review procedure.

Simulated, Synthetic, and Hypothetical Research

The journal recognizes that simulation, modeling, synthetic datasets, scenario analysis, and hypothetical frameworks may represent legitimate research approaches in relevant disciplines.

Where such approaches are used, their nature must be disclosed clearly.

Authors must not present simulated, synthetic, illustrative, or hypothetical observations as if they were results obtained from real participants, organizations, industrial facilities, field investigations, or empirical datasets.

The manuscript title, article type, methodology, results, and limitations should accurately communicate the nature of the evidence.

Initial Editorial Assessment

Every submission is subject to preliminary editorial assessment before external peer review.

The editorial team may evaluate:

  • alignment with the journal's aims and scope;

  • suitability of the selected manuscript category;

  • completeness of the submission;

  • scholarly relevance;

  • clarity of the research contribution;

  • methodological or analytical adequacy;

  • originality;

  • research-integrity considerations; and

  • compliance with applicable author requirements.

A manuscript may be declined during initial screening where it falls outside the journal's scope, lacks sufficient scholarly substance, contains fundamental methodological deficiencies, or presents unresolved integrity concerns.

Peer Review

Manuscripts considered suitable following initial editorial assessment proceed to the journal's published peer-review process.

Reviewers assess submissions according to criteria relevant to the manuscript type, including originality, methodological appropriateness, analytical quality, scholarly significance, transparency, interpretation of evidence, clarity of presentation, and contribution to circular economy knowledge.

Reviewer recommendations inform editorial decision-making but do not independently determine publication.

The final editorial decision remains with the journal's authorized editorial leadership.

Scholarly and Publication Standards

Acceptance is based on the overall scholarly merits of the manuscript and satisfactory completion of applicable editorial and peer-review procedures.

Different manuscript categories are evaluated according to their respective purposes and methodologies. For example, an empirical research article is not assessed using precisely the same criteria as a conceptual paper or systematic review. Nevertheless, all accepted manuscripts should demonstrate intellectual rigor, transparent reporting, academic relevance, ethical responsibility, and a meaningful contribution appropriate to the type of article submitted.

Authors are encouraged to review the journal's Aims and Scope, Author Guidelines, Peer Review Policy, Publication Ethics Policy, Research Misconduct Policy, Data Availability Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, Copyright and Licensing Policy, and AI Usage Policy before submission.