About the Journal

The Journal of Governance and Smart City (JGSC) is an international, open access, peer-reviewed scholarly journal dedicated to advancing high-quality research, professional practice, and policy innovation at the intersection of governance, technology, urban development, and smart-city transformation. Established with the mission of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, the journal serves as an academic platform for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and innovators seeking to explore the challenges, opportunities, and evolving paradigms of modern urban governance in an increasingly digital world.

JGSC covers the full spectrum of theoretical and applied research related to good governance, smart urban ecosystems, digital transformation, data-driven policymaking, ICT-enabled public services, smart infrastructure, sustainable cities, and community-centered technological development. The journal emphasizes holistic, evidence-based approaches that integrate governance principles, technological advancements, ethical considerations, and socio-economic impacts.

The journal employs a rigorous double-blind anonymous peer-review process, in which each manuscript is evaluated by two or three expert reviewers. The typical duration from manuscript submission to final publication is approximately 8 weeks, ensuring a balance between high scientific quality and timely dissemination of research findings. JGSC welcomes contributions from all regions of the world and strongly encourages comparative, interdisciplinary, empirical, and policy-oriented submissions that support the advancement of sustainable and inclusive smart cities.

Aims and Scopes

The Journal of Governance and Smart City aims to:

  1. Advance scientific knowledge on governance frameworks, smart-city models, technological innovations, digital transformation processes, and their implications for urban sustainability and development.

  2. Promote interdisciplinary research, integrating insights from public administration, political science, urban planning, information technology, environmental studies, management, and social sciences.

  3. Encourage policy innovation by publishing high-quality studies, case analyses, and best practices that inform public decision-making in digital and intelligent urban systems.

  4. Support scholarly and professional collaboration among academics, policymakers, city managers, urban technologists, and startups active in smart-city development.

Scope of the Journal Includes (but is not limited to):

  • Smart city governance, models, frameworks, and assessment systems

  • E-government, digital government, and digital public services

  • Urban informatics, big data, and data-driven decision-making

  • Smart infrastructure, IoT systems, and cyber–physical urban networks

  • Urban sustainability, resilience, climate adaptation, and green smart cities

  • Smart mobility, intelligent transportation systems, and autonomous mobility

  • Smart energy systems, renewable energy integration, and energy governance

  • Public policy innovation, regulatory frameworks, and digital ethics

  • Citizen engagement, participatory governance, and digital inclusion

  • Urban safety, cybersecurity in smart cities, and risk governance

  • Digital leadership, organizational transformation, and capacity building in the public sector

  • Comparative smart-city studies across regions, countries, and cultural contexts

  • AI-enabled governance, machine-learning applications, and urban automation

  • Digital economy, smart entrepreneurship, and innovation ecosystems

  • Smart housing, smart waste management, environmental monitoring

  • Legal, ethical, social, and cultural dimensions of smart-city technologies

The journal supports both conceptual and empirical papers, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case studies, and policy analyses.

Open Access Statement

The Journal of Governance and Smart City is fully open access, committed to the principles of universal knowledge dissemination and unrestricted academic exchange. All published articles are immediately and permanently available online, free of charge, without subscription barriers or access fees.

Readers, researchers, practitioners, and the general public may:

  • Read, download, and print articles without charge

  • Share and distribute articles with proper attribution

  • Use the material for non-commercial educational or research purposes

All authors retain full rights to their work under a Creative Commons license (specified below). Open access ensures that the journal’s content contributes to global scholarly dialogue, policy development, and practical innovation across all regions, particularly in developing countries where access barriers are often significant.

Copyright and License

Authors publishing in JGSC retain full copyright of their work.

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). Under this license:

  • Others may copy, distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes,

  • Provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors,

  • A link to the license is included, and

  • Any changes made to the material are clearly indicated.

Commercial use, including reproduction or distribution for commercial gain, is not permitted without explicit permission from the copyright holder (the author). The journal encourages authors to deposit and share their work widely under this license.

Plagiarism Policy (iThenticate)

Maintaining academic integrity and original scholarship is central to the mission of JGSC. All submissions are screened for plagiarism using iThenticate, an industry-leading similarity detection software.

Policy Standards:

  • Manuscripts containing significant or uncredited similarity, inappropriate paraphrasing, or duplication from previously published work are immediately rejected.

  • Minor similarity issues may be returned to the authors for correction before peer review.

  • Duplicate publication, self-plagiarism, or improper citation practices are strictly prohibited.

  • Authors must ensure that all sources are properly acknowledged and that submitted manuscripts are original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere.

Any violation of these principles may result in rejection, withdrawal, or notification to the authors’ institution, depending on the severity.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

The Journal of Governance and Smart City operates under an open-access model and requires an Article Processing Charge (APC) to support editorial management, peer review, digital archiving, indexing, and long-term online hosting.

APC Amount:

3,000,000 Iranian Tomans per accepted article

Important Notes:

  • No fees are charged at the time of submission.

  • APCs are payable only after peer review and acceptance.

  • APCs do not influence editorial decisions.

  • Waivers or partial discounts may be considered in cases of financial hardship or for authors from low-income institutions (subject to approval).

The journal is committed to transparency, fairness, and ensuring that financial considerations do not compromise scientific integrity.

Peer-Review Process

JGSC employs a rigorous double-blind anonymous peer-review system to ensure scientific integrity, objectivity, and methodological soundness. Neither the authors nor the reviewers know each other’s identities throughout the evaluation.

Peer-Review Steps:

  1. Initial Editorial Screening

    • The editorial office evaluates scope, formatting, originality via iThenticate, and basic scientific quality.

  2. Assignment to Handling Editor

    • A section editor or subject specialist is appointed.

  3. Reviewer Selection

    • Two or three qualified reviewers with expertise in the manuscript’s field are invited.

  4. Double-Blind Review

    • Reviewers evaluate originality, methodological rigor, theoretical contribution, clarity, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal scope.

    • Constructive feedback is provided for improvement.

  5. Revision Process

    • Authors revise the manuscript based on reviewer comments.

    • Revised versions may undergo further rounds of review.

  6. Final Decision

    • The Editor-in-Chief makes a decision: Accept, Minor Revision, Major Revision, or Reject.

  7. Copyediting and Publication

    • After acceptance, manuscripts undergo technical editing, formatting, proofreading, and online publication.

Normal timeline from submission to publication is approximately 8 weeks, depending on reviewer availability and the author’s responsiveness.

Archiving and Repository Policies

JGSC supports long-term preservation and public accessibility of all published research through multiple repositories.

Self-Archiving Policy:

Authors are permitted and encouraged to deposit:

  • Pre-print versions (submitted draft before peer review)

  • Post-print versions (final author manuscript after peer review)

  • Published versions (PDF of record)

in:

  • Institutional repositories

  • Personal websites

  • Research networks (e.g., ResearchGate, Academia.edu)

  • Digital archives and thematic repositories

Deposited files must include proper citation to the published article and a link to the journal website.

Journal Archiving:

All published articles are permanently archived on:

  • The official journal website

  • Backup servers for redundancy

  • External digital repositories to ensure ongoing preservation and accessibility

The journal is committed to maintaining accessibility even in cases of website migration, organizational restructuring, or unforeseen disruptions.