About the Journal

Journal of Montology (J-MONT) is an interdisciplinary, open-access scientific journal dedicated to research on mountain regions and sustainable mountain development. It publishes original studies that contribute to understanding the environmental, economic, social, cultural and institutional processes affecting mountain areas.

The journal provides a platform for researchers from different disciplines to examine mountain-specific conditions, interactions and development challenges. Contributions may address individual mountain regions, comparative cases or broader theoretical and methodological questions relevant to mountain research.

J-MONT is associated with the Mountain Economy Center (CE-MONT), part of the National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kirițescu” of the Romanian Academy.

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Aims and Scope

Journal of Montology aims to advance scientific knowledge of mountain systems and support evidence-based approaches to sustainable mountain development. The journal welcomes disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research that explains how mountain environments and communities function, change and respond to local, regional and global pressures.

Submissions should clearly identify the mountain dimension of the research problem and explain the relevance of the findings to mountain studies, policy or practice.

Research areas include

The journal also considers research on related subjects when the study makes a clear contribution to understanding mountain areas, mountain communities or sustainable mountain development.

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Types of Contributions

J-MONT welcomes scientifically sound contributions that provide a clear and relevant addition to mountain research. Suitable submissions include:

• Original research articles presenting new empirical or theoretical findings;
• Review articles synthesizing and critically evaluating existing knowledge;
• Methodological papers introducing or evaluating methods relevant to mountain research;
• Case studies that provide transferable findings or address insufficiently researched mountain areas;
• Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies connecting scientific fields or integrating research, policy and practice.

Manuscripts should

• present original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration elsewhere;
• state the research objectives and scientific contribution clearly;
• describe the data, methods and analytical procedures sufficiently;
• present results accurately and distinguish them from interpretation;
• engage with relevant and current academic literature;
• discuss the implications and limitations of the research;
• make the mountain-specific relevance of the topic explicit;
• follow the journal’s formatting and submission requirements.

Detailed formatting, structure and submission requirements are provided in the Instructions for Authors.

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Editorial and Peer-Review Standards

Manuscripts submitted to J-MONT are assessed for relevance to the journal’s scope, scientific quality, originality and compliance with the author guidelines. Submissions considered suitable for publication undergo independent academic peer review.

Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly quality and relevance of the manuscript. The journal seeks to maintain a fair, confidential and impartial evaluation process. Editors and reviewers must disclose circumstances that could affect their independence or create a conflict of interest.

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Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

Journal of Montology is committed to integrity, transparency and accountability in scholarly publishing. Authors, editors and reviewers are expected to follow internationally recognized principles of publication ethics and responsible research conduct.

The journal’s ethical standards address

• originality, plagiarism and appropriate citation;
• duplicate and redundant publication;
• authorship, contributorship and acknowledgement;
• fabrication, falsification and inappropriate manipulation of data or images;
• conflicts of interest and sources of funding;
• confidentiality during editorial assessment and peer review;
• ethical approval, informed consent and protection of research participants, where applicable;
• corrections, retractions and other amendments to the scholarly record.

Author responsibilities

Authors must submit accurate and original work, acknowledge all sources, identify all contributors appropriately and disclose relevant financial or non-financial interests. Data, images and references must not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated deceptively or presented in a misleading manner.

Where research involves people, animals, confidential records or other regulated material, authors are responsible for obtaining the approvals and permissions required by applicable institutional, professional and legal standards.

Editorial responsibilities

Editors evaluate submissions on their academic merit and relevance to the journal, without discrimination based on personal characteristics, institutional affiliation or authors’ political, religious or other views. Editors must protect confidential information and avoid participating in decisions where a conflict of interest may affect, or appear to affect, their judgement.

Reviewer responsibilities

Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential documents, provide evidence-based and constructive assessments, identify relevant uncited work where appropriate, and disclose any conflict that could prevent an impartial evaluation.

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Open Access and Copyright

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Audience

J-MONT is intended for researchers, university staff, graduate students, policy specialists and practitioners working in mountain studies and related fields. Its readership includes specialists in economics, geography, environmental science, agriculture, forestry, rural development, sociology, spatial planning, tourism, public administration and regional policy.

Disciplinary studies are welcome when they communicate their findings to a broader academic audience and demonstrate their relevance to mountain systems or communities.

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Journal Information

Journal title	Journal of Montology
Abbreviated title	J-MONT
ISSN / ISSN-L	2360-6215
Access model	Open access
Licence	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Institutional affiliation	Mountain Economy Center (CE-MONT), National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kirițescu”, Romanian Academy
Academic publisher	Cluj University Press
Primary language	English

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Editorial Privacy and Data Protection

Personal information provided during submission, editorial assessment and peer review is used only for legitimate editorial, publication, communication and record-keeping purposes. Access is limited to editors, reviewers, journal staff and service providers where access is necessary for the editorial process.

Submitted manuscripts, review reports and private correspondence are treated as confidential. Editors and reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal research, professional advantage or any other unauthorized purpose.

Author names, institutional affiliations and professional contact details may be published as part of the scholarly record. Authors who have a justified concern regarding publication of a contact email address should inform the editorial office before publication.

Personal information may be retained where necessary to document editorial decisions, manage published articles, investigate ethical concerns or comply with legal and institutional obligations. Requests concerning personal data should be submitted to the journal through its official contact details.