Publication Ethics

Maintaining the highest standards of ethics in scholarly publishing is essential to the credibility, transparency, and reliability of scientific research. At Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS), we are firmly committed to upholding the ethical principles that ensure public trust in the academic record and proper attribution of intellectual work.

To that end, HESS adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and aligns its practices with globally recognized standards. We expect all participants in the publication process (including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher) to act with integrity, honesty, and accountability. Misconduct such as data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, and improper authorship attribution will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

For more details, we encourage all stakeholders to consult the COPE website: https://publicationethics.org

Publisher's Responsibilities

The publisher of HESS is committed to:

  • Supporting editorial independence and ensuring that editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit and peer review, free from commercial or political influence.
  • Providing resources and tools to detect and prevent ethical violations, including plagiarism and image manipulation detection software.
  • Ensuring transparency in the editorial process and being responsive to any concerns raised about published content.
  • Publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions, or updates when necessary to preserve the scholarly record.

Editorial Responsibilities

The HESS editorial team, under the leadership of the Editor-in-Chief, is responsible for:

  • Ensuring fair and impartial decisions based on the manuscript's scientific quality and relevance, independent of the authors' affiliations or personal characteristics.
  • Maintaining strict confidentiality throughout the review process and ensuring manuscripts are not shared with or discussed outside the peer review process.
  • Protecting reviewer anonymity unless explicitly waived by the reviewer.
  • Declaring and managing any conflicts of interest among editors and reviewers.
  • Investigating ethical concerns, including plagiarism, data manipulation, or authorship disputes, and taking corrective actions, such as retractions or expressions of concern, as appropriate.
  • Making the final decision on manuscript acceptance or rejection in a fair, unbiased, and accountable manner.

Reviewer's Responsibilities

Peer reviewers are expected to:

  • Provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations of submitted manuscripts.
  • Maintain strict confidentiality regarding manuscript content and the review process.
  • Disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest and decline to review if such conflicts exist.
  • Refrain from using information obtained through peer review for personal advantage or unethical purposes.
  • Base their evaluations solely on the academic merit, originality, and relevance of the manuscript to the journal's scope.
  • Reviewers must not submit any portion of a manuscript into AI or GenAI tools for analysis or summary purposes, as this may breach confidentiality and copyright. Limited use of GenAI to refine the wording of reviewer comments is permissible, but such use must be disclosed to the handling editor when submitting the review.

Author's Responsibilities

Authors submitting to HESS must:

  • Ensure that their work is original, accurately presented, and appropriately referenced.
  • Disclose any conflicts of interest, funding sources, or affiliations that may influence the interpretation of their findings.
  • Refrain from submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.
  • Accurately represent contributions to the work and avoid guest, ghost, or honorary authorship.
  • Be prepared to provide raw data upon request and participate in post-publication discussions or corrections when required.
  • Authors must include all necessary ethical statements, disclosures of conflicts of interest, data availability statements, acknowledgments, funding information, and any other declarations essential to ensuring the integrity and transparency of the research.
  • Authors must disclose any use of AI or GenAI tools in the preparation of the manuscript, including writing assistance, data analysis, image generation, or code development. They remain fully accountable for the accuracy, originality, and ethical compliance of all AI-assisted content.

Changes in Authorship

Once a manuscript has been accepted for publication in Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS), changes to the authorship (including the addition or removal of authors, or modifications to the order of authors) are not permitted. Exceptions will only be considered under exceptional circumstances and must be supported by a formal request.

If an author requests removal from the author list, a signed letter must be submitted by the author in question and endorsed by all remaining co-authors, confirming mutual agreement on the withdrawal. Similarly, any request to change the author order must be accompanied by a written statement signed by all listed authors, explicitly stating their consent to the proposed change.

Use of Generative AI in Scientific Writing

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) upholds rigorous ethical standards and recognizes the evolving role of generative AI in the research and publication process. The following policy governs the use of generative AI tools in the preparation of scholarly manuscripts submitted to the journal.

This policy applies specifically to AI used in writing or editing manuscripts. It does not apply to the use of AI tools for data analysis, which may be governed by separate methodological transparency requirements.

  • Generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, GrammarlyGO, DeepL Write, or similar) may be used only for language refinement or to improve readability, and must be employed under direct human oversight.
  • Authors must thoroughly review, edit, and validate any AI-assisted content to ensure that it is accurate, original, and free from bias or misinformation.
  • AI tools must not be credited as authors. Authorship implies intellectual contribution, responsibility, and accountability, which cannot be fulfilled by non-human entities.
  • Full responsibility for the content of any submission (including parts assisted by AI) remains with the human authors.

Disclosure Requirement

All authors must disclose any use of generative AI tools in manuscript preparation, including assistance in writing, editing, or language enhancement. This disclosure must be included in a dedicated "AI Use Disclosure" section of the manuscript.

  • Disclosures will be published as part of the final article.
  • Use of basic spelling or grammar check tools (e.g., Microsoft Word's spelling checker) does not require disclosure.
  • Failure to disclose AI usage where applicable may be considered a violation of publishing ethics and could result in manuscript rejection or retraction.

Ethical Considerations in Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects

Research involving human participants, personal data, or biological materials must comply with recognized ethical standards. Ethical approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or ethics committee is required before the study and must be stated in the manuscript. Informed consent is mandatory for participants, including consent for publication of identifiable data or images. If approval is not required, a clear justification must be provided. For animal studies, authors must confirm that all procedures complied with institutional, national, or international guidelines for the care and use of animals in research, and approval from an appropriate animal ethics committee must be stated. Studies involving vulnerable populations or sensitive data must be clearly justified and may be subject to additional review.

Citation Guidelines

Authors must adhere to responsible citation practices to ensure transparency, academic integrity, and scholarly rigor. All sources, including the authors' own previous work, must be properly cited. Direct quotations must be enclosed in quotation marks with accurate attribution. Excessive self-citation should be avoided to maintain objectivity. Citations must be based solely on academic relevance, not personal or institutional affiliations, and should include only sources the author has personally consulted. Promotional or irrelevant citations are not permitted. Authors should avoid citation manipulation and follow the ethical citation standards outlined by COPE, ensuring that references are selected based on merit and contribution to the research topic.

Principles of Transparency

Study Design and Ethical Approval

Research must be well-justified, scientifically sound, and ethically approved. Authors are fully responsible for the integrity of their work, including the accuracy of citations and adherence to ethical standards. Conducting research without appropriate ethical approval may constitute misconduct.

Data Analysis

Data must be analyzed using appropriate, validated methods. While flawed analysis does not necessarily imply misconduct, any form of data fabrication or falsification is a serious breach of research integrity.

Data Availability

Authors must include a clear data availability statement indicating how the underlying data can be accessed. If data cannot be shared, a valid justification must be provided. Data should be made available by the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Conflicts of Interest

All potential conflicts of interest (whether personal, financial, institutional, academic, or political) must be transparently disclosed. These include, but are not limited to, research funding, stock ownership, consulting roles, or honoraria. Undisclosed conflicts that later come to light may call the credibility of the work into question.

Peer Review Process

HESS follows a double-blind peer review model, ensuring the anonymity of both authors and reviewers. Authors must anonymize their submissions accordingly and may request the exclusion of specific reviewers due to potential conflicts. Details of the journal's peer review policy are available on the journal website.

Publication Schedule

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) is published semiannually. All articles are freely and permanently accessible on the journal's official website upon publication.

Privacy and Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated with the strictest confidentiality. Authors entrust editors with their intellectual and scientific work, which must be protected throughout the review and publication process. Editors must not disclose any information about a manuscript (including its status, content, reviewers, or editorial decisions) except to those directly involved in the review process. Reviewers are also required to maintain confidentiality and may not retain or share manuscripts without prior editorial permission. Reviewer comments may not be published or publicly shared without the explicit consent of the author, editor, and reviewer. Editors and reviewers must avoid unauthorized use or misappropriation of unpublished material. In cases of suspected misconduct, limited disclosure may be warranted in accordance with ethical guidelines. Rejected manuscripts must not be retained or stored by the editorial team. HESS is committed to ensuring a fair, ethical, and confidential peer review process at all stages.

Ownership and Management

Publisher and Owner: Prof. Ata Amini

Copyright and Licensing

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) provides immediate open access to all content, promoting the free exchange of scientific knowledge. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, allowing users to share, adapt, and reproduce content in any medium, provided appropriate credit is given. Authors retain full copyright of their work without restriction.

Third-Party Content and Permissions

Authors are responsible for securing rights and permissions for any third-party content used in their submission. Proper attribution must be provided for reused figures, tables, or data.

Advertising Policy

HESS does not accept or publish advertisements in any form, maintaining a strictly non-commercial publishing model.

Corrections and Retractions

To maintain the integrity of the academic record, Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) may issue corrections or retractions when necessary. All such actions are guided by COPE recommendations and are handled with transparency.

Plagiarism Detection

All submissions are screened using plagiarism detection software (e.g., iThenticate). Submissions with unethical overlap or duplication are returned or rejected.

Corrections (Erratum)

Substantive errors that affect the interpretation, but not the overall validity of a published article, will be corrected through an Erratum. This notice will be clearly linked to the original article, which will remain unchanged and accessible. Changes in authorship after publication must also be addressed through an Erratum.

Retractions

In cases where an article is found to be seriously flawed or ethically compromised (such as through data fabrication, plagiarism, or major methodological errors), a retraction may be issued. Retracted articles will remain available in the journal archive, with a prominent notice explaining the reason for retraction.

Article Removal

In exceptional circumstances (such as legal concerns involving defamation, privacy violations, or intellectual property infringement), the article may be removed from the journal's website and archives. A notice of removal will be published in its place.

Minor Updates

Authors may request minor post-publication updates (e.g., clarifications or typographical corrections) in the form of a comment, provided the changes do not affect the study's results or conclusions.

Procedure for Addressing Allegations of Research Misconduct

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity. Allegations of misconduct (including plagiarism, data falsification or fabrication, image or citation manipulation, and unethical authorship practices) are taken seriously and investigated in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Initial Review

If an allegation of misconduct is reported, the Editor-in-Chief will first assess the claim and gather relevant documentation, including the manuscript in question and any supporting evidence. A neutral and non-accusatory inquiry letter is sent to the corresponding author, requesting an explanation.

Author Response

If the author provides a satisfactory and evidence-based explanation, the case is closed with no further action. If the response is insufficient or confirms the concern, the case is escalated to the HESS Ethics Committee via the Editorial Office.

Investigation and Decision

The Ethics Committee will review the case confidentially and fairly and determine the appropriate course of action. Possible outcomes may include:

  • Minor violations: A formal warning and reminder of the journal's ethical policies.
  • Serious violations: Immediate rejection of the manuscript, removal of the published article (with a retraction notice), and a ban on future submissions.
  • Severe misconduct: Notification of the author's affiliated institutions, funding bodies, or other affected journals.

Authors found guilty of misconduct may also be barred from serving as reviewers or editorial board members for the journal.

Post-Publication Action

If misconduct is confirmed after publication:

  • A correction or retraction notice will be published.
  • The original article will remain accessible but clearly marked as corrected or retracted, with links to the relevant notices.
  • If applicable, an apology from the author may also be published.

Institutional Notification

In serious cases, the journal reserves the right to report confirmed misconduct to:

  • The author's affiliated institution(s)
  • Relevant research funders
  • Other journals where similar misconduct may have occurred

Appeals and Complaints Process

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) is committed to maintaining transparency, fairness, and integrity throughout the editorial and peer review processes. While editorial decisions are made through rigorous, unbiased evaluation, authors have the right to appeal if they believe a decision was made in error or without full consideration of the facts. This process follows the ethical principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors wishing to appeal must submit a detailed explanation outlining specific concerns or perceived oversights. Supporting evidence (such as clarifications, updated analyses, or corrections to misunderstandings) should be included. If an author believes that a reviewer misjudged the work or that a conflict of interest occurred, substantiated documentation must be provided.

Each manuscript is eligible for only one appeal. The Editorial Board will review the appeal in consultation with the original editors and reviewers, as needed. Following the review, the Board may:

  • Uphold the original decision,
  • Request an additional round of peer review, or
  • Invite a revised submission for further evaluation.

The final decision of the Editorial Board is binding. If the appeal is unsuccessful, authors may consider submitting their manuscript to another journal.

Policy on Editors and Editorial Board Members as Authors

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). To ensure transparency, impartiality, and fairness in the publication process, the following policies apply to editors, employees, and editorial board members who submit manuscripts to the journal:

  • Editorial Independence: Editors and editorial board members are excluded from the peer review and editorial handling of their own submissions. An independent editor will manage the review process to avoid any potential bias.
  • Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Editors, employees, and board members must fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest (whether financial, institutional, or personal) at the time of submission.
  • Rigorous Peer Review: All submissions by editors or board members will undergo the same objective, double-blind peer review process as other manuscripts. Reviewers will be selected based on expertise and must have no conflicts of interest with the author(s).
  • Transparency and Oversight: Any deviation from standard editorial procedures for such submissions will be documented and justified to maintain accountability and uphold the journal's integrity.

Adherence to COPE Guidelines and Flowcharts

Hydro-Environmental Systems & Solutions (HESS) strictly follows the ethical standards and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The journal applies COPE's flowcharts and guidance documents to ensure best practices in handling submissions, peer review, authorship issues, conflicts of interest, research misconduct, and other aspects of academic publishing.

Editors, reviewers, and authors are encouraged to consult COPE resources when questions of ethics arise.

By aligning with COPE's internationally recognized framework, HESS reinforces its commitment to transparency, accountability, and integrity throughout the publication process.