Journal of Physical & Natural Sciences

JPNS provides immediate and permanent open access to published content so that research can be read, downloaded and shared without subscription barriers. Author copyright is retained. Articles are intended to be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0), subject to final institutional approval.

The initial journal volumes are intended to be supported through sponsorships, Faculty research funds and University support. The proposed fee schedule, when activated by the University, is LKR 5,000 for local authors and USD 50 for international authors per accepted manuscript. Fees do not influence review or editorial decisions. Waivers or reductions may be considered in exceptional circumstances with Editorial Board approval.

JPNS does not permit plagiarism, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, data or image manipulation, fabricated information or copyright infringement. All submissions are screened using Turnitin or equivalent software and overlap is evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively.

• Below 15%: generally acceptable, subject to source-by-source editorial assessment.
• 15%-20%: may be returned for correction, clearer citation, restructuring or paraphrasing.
• Above 20%: normally rejected for excessive overlap, subject to editorial confirmation.

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI tools. AI may assist with language or formatting only when transparently declared. AI tools cannot be listed as authors and must not be used to create or falsify research data, results, analyses, figures, tables or graphs.

JPNS is committed to recognised publication-ethics principles, including guidance issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Editors, authors, reviewers, board members and the publisher must protect the integrity, fairness and transparency of the scholarly record.

Copyright remains with the author or authors. Authors grant the Faculty of Applied Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, a non-exclusive licence to publish, reproduce, distribute and identify JPNS as the original place of publication.

Authors may reuse, archive and distribute their work provided that the original JPNS publication is acknowledged. The proposed article licence is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction with appropriate attribution.

Names, email addresses, affiliations and other personal information submitted to the journal will be used only for editorial, peer-review, publication, indexing, preservation and communication purposes. Information will not be sold or disclosed to unrelated third parties, except where required for journal operations, legal obligations, research-integrity investigations or with the data subject's consent.

• Erratum: corrects an error introduced by the journal or publisher.
• Corrigendum: corrects an author-originated error that does not invalidate the article.
• Expression of concern: alerts readers while a serious matter is being investigated.
• Retraction: identifies an article whose findings are unreliable, plagiarised, duplicated, unethical or otherwise unsuitable for the scholarly record.

Corrected or retracted articles normally remain available to preserve the scholarly record, with a prominent linked notice explaining the action, reason and decision authority. Removal is reserved for exceptional legal or safety circumstances; bibliographic information should remain whenever possible.

Before formal publication, the corresponding author may request withdrawal in writing. The request must include a signed statement confirming the agreement of all co-authors. The journal may also withdraw a manuscript when serious ethical violations, duplicate submission, fabrication, plagiarism, unlawful content or invalidating errors are identified. After publication, concerns are handled through correction, expression-of-concern or retraction procedures rather than simple removal.

The journal website will provide permanent access to published issues and article metadata. Published material is intended to be deposited in Sri Lanka Journals Online and subsequently in the Sabaragamuwa University institutional e-repository. The repository will function as a permanent preservation copy and the journal site will link to both services.

Additional preservation services, including distributed preservation systems, should be activated only after a formal technical arrangement is established; the site must not claim participation before confirmation.

Authors are strongly encouraged to make the minimum data and, where relevant, code needed to interpret, reproduce and build upon the findings available through a trusted repository, supplementary files or a controlled-access process. Sharing must not breach participant confidentiality, legal obligations, licences or ethical approvals.

Every original research article must contain a data availability statement. Suitable formulations include:

1. The datasets generated and/or analysed during the study are available in [repository name] at [persistent link/DOI].
2. The datasets are not publicly available because [reason], but may be obtained from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
3. The datasets are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
4. Data sharing is not applicable because no datasets were generated or analysed.
5. All data generated or analysed are included in the article and its supplementary files.
6. The data are available from a third party under licence; access may be requested subject to the third party's permission.

Public datasets should be cited using a persistent identifier, preferably a DOI, and included in the reference list where appropriate.

Authors may submit a reasoned appeal or complaint to the Editorial Office. Appeals must identify the decision, explain the alleged procedural or factual error and provide supporting information. The appeal should be assessed by an editor or committee without a disqualifying conflict. An appeal does not guarantee reconsideration or acceptance.

Editors, reviewers and authors must disclose relationships or interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence the work or decision. A conflicted editor or reviewer must not handle the manuscript.