Japanese Society for Geographical Sciences
The Japanese Society for Geographical Sciences（JSGS）publishes an academic journal, Geographical Sciences（Chiri-Kagaku）. It aims to advance the knowledge in geography and geographicaleducation while promoting the field of geography in society. We welcome studies related to geography
and geographical education including physical and human geography.
Journal Information
Geographical Sciences（ISSN: 0286-4886）is an open-access（after one year）, peer reviewed academic journal. Anyone can submit an article regardless of their membership status in the JSGS as longas it is written in English. However, you need to be a member to submit an article in Japanese. The
editors of this journal accept original articles, short reports, review articles, forums, and symposium
reports on topics associated with geography and geography teaching.
Review Process
JSGS employs a single-blind review, where the referees remain anonymous throughout the process. A manuscript will be assessed by multiple reviewers, including experts outside the editorial
board, and the final decision will be made by the editorial board. Typically, the manuscript will bereviewed within 2 – 3 months. Should the referees' reports contradict one another, or a report is unnecessarily delayed, a further expert opinion will be sought. The revised manuscript will be returned tothe initial referees within two weeks. Referees and editors may request more than one revision of themanuscript. After the final decision, the editorial board can seek to modify the manuscript.
Ownership and Management
Geographical Sciences（Chiri-kagaku）is owned and managed by JSGS, which is financed throughmembership of the society.
Editorial Board Members
Chief Editor:
KAWASE, Masaki
Deputy Editor:
WADA, TakashiEditors:
ISHIMARU, Tetsushi
USUI, Rie
KAGAWA, Yuichi
KATSUMATA, Yutaro
KIMOTO, Koichi
KUMAHARA, Yasuhiro
SAKAUE, Hiroaki
SASAKI, Midori
SATO, Yuya
SAWADA, Yuki
SUGITANI, Mariko
CHEN, Lin（School of Geography, South China Normal University, China）
Javed N. MALIK（Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kunpur India）
Dieter K. MÜLLER（Department of Geography, Umeå University, Sweden）
Board Secretar y:
TABUCHI, Youichiro

Editorial Office:
Editorial Board of Geographical Sciences
The Japanese Society for Geographical Sciences
Department of Geography, School of Letters, Hiroshima University
1-2-3 Kagamiyama, Higashi-hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8522 JAPANhttp://www.chiri-kagaku.jp/office/index-e.html
http://www.chiri-kagaku.jp/office/index.html
Copyright
After submission and following peer review, the editors are responsible for deciding whether apaper is to be accepted. The JSGS acquires full and exclusive copyright upon its publication. Permission should be sought for reproduction and/or use in any form or by any means. Requests for copyright permission should be sent to: syomu@chiri-kagaku.jp
Publishing Fees
No publishing fees to authors whose articles are published in black and white. However, there will
be processing fees for color production. The amount of processing fee varies by article length. The
editorial office will notify the processing charge before the production.
Access to Published Articles
Hard copy
Members will have access to a hard copy of the journal that publishes four issues a year. For nonmembers, only the first author will receive a hard copy for free. Additional copies can be requested
with charge.
J-Stage（open-access）
All published articles will be archived on J-Stage and made available as open-access after one yearof publication in the journal.
Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement
The JSGS is committed to upholding high-quality scientific publications. The prevention of publication malpractice is an important responsibility of the editorial board. To ensure integrity in our
scholarly publishing, all related parties — editorial board, reviewers, authors, and publisher — arerequired to follow ethical standards in performing their respective roles.
Duties of the Editorial Board Members
Fair play
Submitted manuscripts are evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to race,
gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, political philosophy, or the institutional affiliation of the authors.
Confidentiality
Editorial board members must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript toanyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers,
and the publisher, as appropriate. This will not apply when a duplicate submission of the same manuscript is suspected.
Disclosure and conflicts of interests
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in the editor's own
research without the explicit written consent of the author（s）.

Publication decisions
Editorial board members are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published.
Complaints
The Editors of Geographical Sciences（Chiri-kagaku）are under no obligation to send submitted
manuscripts for review. They are also under no obligation to follow reviewer recommendations, favourable or negative. Peer review is undertaken on condition of anonymity and the Editors will not disclose
the identity of peer reviewers to authors or others. Our Editors are ultimately responsible for theselection of all its content, and their editorial decisions may be informed by issues unrelated to thequality of a manuscript, such as suitability for the journal as mentioned in the Journal Information. The
Editors reserve the right to reject any article at any time before publication, including after acceptanceif concerns arise about the integrity of the work.
If you wish to raise a complaint, authors must raise complaints, in writing, in the first instancewith the Editor who handled their submission at edit@chiri-kagaku.jp
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to editorial decisions
Peer reviews assist the editorial board in making decisions and, through editorial communication
with the author, may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.
Promptness
If any reviewer feels that it is not possible for him/her to complete the review of the manuscript
within the stipulated time, the reviewer is bound to communicate this to the editor, so that the article
can be sent to another reviewer.
Confidentiality
Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and betreated as privileged information.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively and impartially. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable. Reviewers should express their views clearly with appropriate supporting arguments andshould identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an
observation, derivation, or argument has been previously reported should be accompanied by a relevant citation.
Disclosure and conflict of interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer reviews must be kept confidential and notused for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflictsof interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships, or connections with any of
the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Duties of Authors
Reporting standards
The authors reporting the results of original research should present an accurate account of thework performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. The underlying data should berepresented accurately in the manuscript. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references topermit others to replicate their work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constituteunethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Originality and plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors haveused the work and/or words of others, they should make sure that the text has been appropriately
cited or quoted.

Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication
Authors submitting articles to the JSGS affirm that the manuscript contents are original. Furthermore, they warrant that their article has neither been published elsewhere nor is it under review forpublication anywhere. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgement of sources
Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should also cite
publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
Authorship of the paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception,
design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who made significant contributions
should be listed as co-authors. If there are others who have participated in any substantive aspects of
the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sourcesof financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Fundamental errors in published works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it isthe author's obligation to promptly notify the journal's editor-in-chief or publisher and to cooperate withthem to either retract the paper or publish an appropriate erratum.