Hydro-Environmental Sciences and Solutions

Hydro-Environmental Sciences and Solutions

Guide for Authors

Hydro-Environmental Sciences & Solutions (HESS) 

The Hydro-Environmental Sciences & Solutions (HESS) journal welcomes submissions written in English and operates under a Double-Blind Peer Review process to ensure impartial evaluation of manuscripts. To uphold academic integrity, all submissions are thoroughly checked using advanced plagiarism detection software. The journal adheres strictly to the ethical guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ensuring transparency and responsibility throughout the publication process.

 

Types of Papers

The Hydro-Environmental Sciences & Solutions (HESS) journal accepts a diverse range of high-quality manuscripts that fall within the scope of hydro-environmental engineering, environmental systems, and sustainable solutions. Submissions may include the following types:

  • Original Research Articles: Present new scientific findings and original data relevant to the journal’s scope.
  • Review Articles: Summarize and critically evaluate existing research, highlighting trends and research gaps.
  • Short Communications: Brief reports (max 3000 words, 20 references) on emerging results, technologies, or practices.

 

Preparing Your Manuscript

Word Limits

Submissions to HESS should remain concise. The total word count, including the abstract, main text, and declaration sections, should not exceed about 7,000 words. This limit excludes the title page, reference list, and figures/tables. For review papers, although a strict limit is not imposed, authors are encouraged to stay within 10,000 words.

 

Formatting Requirements

Manuscripts must be submitted in Microsoft Word format, using single-column layout, single spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and 2.5 cm margins on all sides.

Headings

To maintain clarity and organization, use headings only as needed, with a maximum of three hierarchical levels.

Abbreviations

Define all abbreviations upon first use and use them consistently throughout the manuscript.

Units

Use SI units throughout. If non-SI units are referenced, provide SI equivalents.

Equations
Equations should be created using Microsoft Word Equation Editor or MathType and must be fully editable (not image-based).

 

Manuscript Structure

Please structure your manuscript in the following order:

  • Title Page: Include the paper title, full names and affiliations of all authors, ORCID IDs (16-digit), and the email of the corresponding author. Submit the title page separately.
  • Abstract: Around 150-200 words, summarizing the study’s purpose, approach, and key findings without citations or formulae.
  • Keywords: Provide 4–6 keywords that describe the study and are distinct from the title words.
  • Highlights: Submit 3–5 bullet points (max 85 characters each) that emphasize your paper’s novelty and contributions.
  • Main Text:
    • Introduction: Present the background, rationale, key literature, and study objectives (~1.5 pages).
    • Materials and Methods: Clearly describe the research design, sampling, variables, and analytical methods to ensure reproducibility.
    • Results and Discussion (combined): Present findings clearly, using concise tables/figures, and interpret their implications in the context of current literature.
    • Conclusions: Highlight key insights, note limitations, and suggest future directions or applications (brief and citation-free).
  • Tables and Figures: Number and title all tables/figures using Arabic numerals in order of appearance. Place titles above tables and below figures, and position them near their first mention in the text.
  • Appendices (if applicable)
  • Acknowledgments
  • Declaration of Interest
  • References: Use APA 7th edition style for citations and bibliography.

 

File Submission

Submit the manuscript as a single “.docx” file including all tables and figures. If the file is too large, submit high-resolution figures separately, named with the prefix “Fig” (e.g., Fig1.tif). All files must be editable; submissions lacking editable components will not be reviewed.

 

Cover Letter

A cover letter must accompany your submission, briefly explaining the novelty and relevance of the work to HESS readers. Use the provided template and ensure it is signed by the corresponding author.

 

Publication Charges

HESS does not charge submission fees, publication fees, or page charges. All articles are open access, freely available upon publication without any article processing charges (APCs).

 

References

Please format your manuscript references according to the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition style.

 

In-text Citations

When citing in the main text, include the author’s last name and the year of publication in parentheses. For sources with a single author, use:

  • Parenthetical: (Amini, 2010)
  • Narrative: Amini (2010)

For works with two authors, cite both last names joined by “and” in narrative citations, or by “&” in parentheses:

  • Parenthetical: (Amini & Othman, 2021)
  • Narrative: Amini and Othman (2021)

For sources with three or more authors, include only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” and the year:

  • Parenthetical: (Dingman et al., 2019)
  • Narrative: Dingman et al. (2019)

If an author has multiple works published in the same year, distinguish them by adding letters after the year:

  • Example: (Dingman, 2010a), (Dingman, 2010b)

 

Reference List

Only include references that are cited within the manuscript and have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished materials should be mentioned only in the main text and not listed in the reference section.

 

Journal article

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxx

Amini, A. (2020). The role of climate parameters variation in the intensification of dust phenomenon. Natural Hazards102(1), 445-468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-03933-w

Safoevna, S. J. Z., & Utkirovna, M. N. (2020). Efficiency of formation and use of water resources in irrigated agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research, 2(07), 99-113. https://doi.org/10.37547/tajiir/Volume02Issue07-17

Amini, A., Ahmed, K. O., & Parvizi, Y. (2023). The effects of check dams on the amount and pattern of flood. Journal of Applied Water Engineering and Research, 15(2) 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23249676.2023.2243810

Nguyen, B. Q., Kantoush, S. A., Nguyen, T. H., Sumi, T., & Kobayashi, S. (2025). Long-term assessment of hydropeaking and cumulative impacts on sediment transport, grain size dynamics, channel stability and water resource management. Journal of Environmental Management, 380, 124983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124983

Authors are advised to adhere to the official APA 7th edition guidelines regarding the number of authors to be included in reference list entries.

 

Book

Jain, S. K., & Singh, V. P. (2023). Water resources systems planning and management (Vol. 51). Elsevier.

Grigg, N. S. (2023). Water Resources Management: Principles, Methods, and Tools. John Wiley & Sons.

Rauschenbach, T. (2016). Modeling, control, and optimization of water systems. Systems engineering methods for control and decision making tasks. Springer Verlag GmbH, Berlin-Heidelberg.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16026-4

 

Thesis

Amini, A. (2009). Physical modeling on local scour at complex piers (Doctoral dissertation). Universiti Putra Malaysia.

 

Conferences paper

Türkay, Z., & Tezer, A. (2023, November). Integrating ecosystem services into spatial decision-making for ensuring water security. In International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (pp. 22–35). Springer Nature Singapore.

 

Internet Documents

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2020, August). Acidity in lakes and streams [Report]. https://cfpub.epa.gov/roe/indicator.cfm?i=12

 

Publication with unknown authors

Anonymous. (2024). Water scarcity and its impact on global food securityWater Resources Research, 60(12), 1234–1245. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024WR035678

 

Statements & Declarations

Authors must include the following statements in their manuscript under the "Statements and Declarations" section, which should be placed immediately before the "References" section. Manuscripts that do not include the required statements will be considered incomplete and returned to the authors for correction. To ensure a smooth review process and compliance with submission guidelines, authors should carefully review and include all necessary information.

 

Acknowledgments/Funding

Acknowledgments, including recognition of individuals, grants, or funding sources, should be presented in a distinct section before the reference list. Ensure that the names of funding organizations are spelled out fully.

 

Data Availability

Authors must provide a statement on data availability, specifying whether the data, analysis methods, code, and materials used in the study will be made available to other researchers or readers for the purpose of replication.

 

Conflict of Interest

A conflict-of-interest disclosure is required with every submission. Authors must either disclose any conflicts or declare that they have no conflicts of interest to report. For more information on conflict-of-interest guidelines, authors can refer to the journal’s official policy.

 

Author Contributions

All authors are required to take public responsibility for the content of the manuscript. Authors should clearly outline their individual contributions to the research process. The corresponding author must specify co-authors’ contributions using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) system. For example:

  • Zhang San: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software
  • Priya Singh: Data Curation, Writing, Original Draft
  • Wang Wu: Visualization, Investigation
  •  

Ethical Policy on the Use of Generative AI in Scientific Writing

The journal maintains high ethical standards in publishing. The use of AI tools in scientific writing should be limited to enhancing readability and language, under human supervision. Authors must review and edit AI-generated content, as AI may produce incomplete or biased text. AI cannot be listed as an author, and authors are fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the content.

 

Disclosure Requirement

Authors must disclose any use of generative AI in manuscript preparation. The disclosure statement should be included in the manuscript:

"During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [NAME OF AI TOOL/SERVICE] for [SPECIFIC PURPOSE]. The author(s) have reviewed and revised the content and assume full responsibility for the final manuscript."

Routine grammar and spell-check tools do not require disclosure. Failure to disclose AI use may be considered a violation of publishing ethics.

 

Submission Checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, ensure the following steps are completed:

  • Verify that the manuscript format complies with HESS guidelines.
  • Ensure all files are in the correct format, with high-quality images and tables.
  • Review the manuscript for spelling and grammatical errors.
  • Confirm that author details (names, affiliations, contact information) are accurate and approved.
  • Prepare a cover letter that highlights the significance of your research and key findings.
  • Ensure compliance with ethical standards regarding human/animal subjects, conflicts of interest, and plagiarism checks.
  • Complete any supplementary materials as required.

By carefully reviewing these points, you can enhance the quality of your submission and increase the chances of successful publication.

 

Online Submission

Please use the “Submit Manuscript” link to upload all your manuscript files, following the