Hydro Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) is a fully open access journal: all articles are freely accessible online immediately upon publication. HESS operates under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this license, authors retain copyright to their work while granting users permission to download, share, adapt, and build upon the content for any purpose—even commercially—provided the original authors and source are properly cited.

HESS open access policy aligns fully with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines: we ensure that authors' rights are protected, that licensing terms are clear, and that scholarly content is disseminated without barriers.

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Benefits of Open Access in HESS

Enhanced Visibility and Citations

Open-access articles typically receive significantly higher citation rates—often more than 1.5× those of subscription-only papers—thereby amplifying the scholarly impact of your research.

Broader Readership and Collaboration

By removing paywalls, HESS enables practitioners, policymakers, and researchers worldwide—especially in resource-limited regions—to read, apply, and build upon published findings, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world solutions.

Accelerated Knowledge Transfer

Immediate, unrestricted access accelerates the uptake of new methods and technologies in hydraulics, watershed management, and sustainable land and water systems, shortening the time from discovery to implementation.

Increased Societal Impact

HESS open access articles attract greater attention in non-academic outlets—such as industry reports, regulatory guidance, and public policy discussions—enhancing the societal relevance of your work.

Author Rights and Archiving

Authors may deposit the published PDF in institutional or subject repositories and share it on personal or departmental websites. HESS guarantees long-term digital preservation via recognized archiving services, ensuring that your work remains permanently accessible. By publishing in HESS, you maximize the reach, usability, and influence of your research while benefiting from a rigorous, ethical peer review process fully compliant with DOAJ and COPE standards.

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

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Journal Archiving and Repository Policy

To guarantee that every article published in Hydro Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) remains accessible, citable, and protected against loss, we maintain a comprehensive digital preservation and self-archiving framework fully aligned with COPE and DOAJ best practices.

1. Permanent Preservation

Upon publication, the Version of Record (VoR)—the final, typeset PDF—is deposited in the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) and mirrored through independent archiving services (e.g., CLOCKSS, Portico). Each article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) that ensures a permanent, resolvable link. This multi-layered approach protects against data corruption, server failures, or institutional changes, preserving the scholarly record for future generations.

2. Unrestricted Self-Archiving

HESS authors retain full rights under the CC BY 4.0 license and may immediately share any version of their manuscript without embargo:

• Preprint (submitted draft): Authors may post on personal websites, institutional repositories, or recognized preprint servers to solicit feedback and increase early visibility.
• Accepted Manuscript (post–peer review): The peer-reviewed, author-accepted version may be deposited in institutional or subject-specific repositories, enabling colleagues to access validated research.
• Version of Record (published PDF): Authors are encouraged to circulate the final PDF via academic social networks, departmental pages, or collaborative platforms—always including the DOI and full citation to maintain version integrity.

3. Transparency and Integrity

By clearly communicating archiving rights and procedures, HESS fulfills COPE's requirement for transparency in publication policies. We protect the integrity of the academic record by emphasizing the VoR as the authoritative source, preventing citation confusion or fragmentation across multiple versions. Our policy also meets DOAJ's criteria for open access journals: authors' copyright is preserved, licensing terms are explicit, and no fees or embargoes restrict sharing.

4. Benefits to Authors and Readers

• Maximized Reach: Unrestricted archiving and immediate open access boost readership, citations, and real-world impact, especially in resource-limited regions.
• Longevity and Reliability: Secure, redundant archiving ensures that HESS articles remain available regardless of technological or organizational changes.
• Ethical Compliance: Aligning with COPE and DOAJ guidelines underscores HESS's commitment to ethical publishing, reinforcing trust among authors, reviewers, and readers.

By publishing in HESS, you secure lasting preservation for your work, enjoy full rights to share and reuse your research, and contribute to an open, transparent, and ethically robust scholarly ecosystem.