Invited Articles Policy

Innovation of Chemistry & Materials for Sustainability (ICMS) occasionally invites distinguished researchers, academicians, and professionals with recognized expertise to contribute review articles, perspectives, guest editorials, commentaries, and other scholarly works that align with the journal's aims and scope. Invitations are extended solely on the basis of the author's expertise, scientific achievements, and the relevance of the proposed topic to the journal. An invitation to submit a manuscript does not guarantee acceptance for publication.

Editorial Screening and Peer Review

ICMS is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity, editorial independence, research ethics, and publication quality. All invited research articles and review articles undergo the same editorial screening, plagiarism screening, and single-blind peer-review process as regular submissions. Each manuscript is first assessed by the Editorial Office to ensure that it complies with the journal's aims and scope, editorial policies, and ethical requirements before being assigned to a Handling Editor, who oversees the editorial assessment and peer-review process.

Review Process

Invited research and review manuscripts are evaluated by at least two independent expert reviewers with relevant subject expertise. The Handling Editor manages the peer-review process, evaluates the reviewers' reports and authors' revisions, and makes the editorial decision based solely on scientific quality, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, significance of the research and relevance to the journal. Reviewer comments are communicated anonymously to the authors to support the improvement of the manuscript.

Editorials and Other Invited Contributions

Invited editorials, guest editorials, perspectives, and commentaries are evaluated by the Handling Editor through editorial assessment and, where appropriate, external peer review. These manuscripts are handled with the same commitment to fairness, transparency, editorial independence, and publication ethics as all other submissions.

Publication Ethics and Conflicts of Interest

All invited submissions are handled in accordance with the journal's Peer Review Policy, Publication Ethics Policy, and Conflict of Interest Policy, following the principles and best practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Any actual or potential conflicts of interest involving authors, reviewers, or editors must be disclosed and are managed appropriately to ensure an objective and unbiased editorial process. Where a conflict of interest involves the assigned Handling Editor, the manuscript will be reassigned to another qualified Handling Editor or managed by the Editor-in-Chief.

Article Processing Charges (APC)

ICMS is a fully open-access journal committed to the broad dissemination of high-quality scientific research. No Article Processing Charge (APC) or publication fee is charged for invited articles. The invitation to submit a manuscript does not confer any publishing advantage and acceptance is based solely on the successful completion of the journal's editorial and peer-review process and the scientific merit of the work.

Editorial Independence

The Handling Editor is responsible for the editorial assessment, peer-review management, reviewer selection, evaluation of reviewer reports, and editorial decision for invited manuscripts. All invited submissions are assessed impartially and independently based solely on their scientific merit, without regard to invitation status or any personal, institutional, or financial interests. The Editor-in-Chief provides editorial oversight and may intervene only in cases involving conflicts of interest, ethical concerns, appeals, or exceptional circumstances.

Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Susanta Banerjee Email: eic-icms@insuf.org; susanta@matsc.iitkgp.ac.in

Policy Updates

This policy may be updated periodically to ensure alignment with international best practices in scholarly publishing.