JAWRA - Instructions for Authors

All submissions and reviews currently are processed through ScholarOne Manuscript Central™ .

Please note that Word 2007 is not yet compatible with journal production systems. Unfortunately, the journal cannot accept Microsoft Word 2007 documents until such time as a stable production version is released. Please use Word’s ‘Save As’ option therefore to save your document as an older (.doc) file type.

• Page Charges
• Review and Publication Process
• Publication
• Discussion and Reply
• Featured Collections
• Copyright
• Professionalism and Civility
• Preparing a Manuscript

Page Charges

JAWRA recognizes an obligation to the water community and to its authors to distribute the knowledge contained within its pages as widely as possible. To accomplish this in an economically sustainable manner, page charges partially covering the costs of producing JAWRA are assessed to the author. Current rates are:

*To receive the AWRA member discount, an author must be a member the year the paper is submitted and maintain membership through printing.

To estimate page charges, multiply the number of double-spaced pages by .4 and round up to the next whole number. A 20 page, double-spaced typed manuscript, including tables and figures, will be approximately 8 journal pages.

Relief from Page Charges

Authors who are International Electronic Members will receive relief from their proportionate share of page charges. For example, if there are two authors and one is an International Electronic Member, page charges will be halved. The author seeking relief must be or become an International Electronic Member in the year the paper is submitted and maintain membership through printing.

Please note there is no relief from charges for color pages. See below, for further details.

Color Figures

By default, if a paper contains color figures, we will assume the authors want to show color figures in both the printed and online versions of the paper. Authors may avoid charges for color figures by requesting the figures be printed in black-and-white in the submittal cover letter or at acceptance; the online version may continue to show color at no charge. Please see the section below on figures, for information on color schemes which print nicely in black-and-white.

OnlineOpen

OnlineOpen is available to authors who wish to pay a fee to make their published article available to non-subscribers.  The OnlineOpen option is offered only to those authors whose peer-reviewed articles have been accepted for publication and only at the point when the article is accepted.  This ensures the OnlineOpen option has no influence on the peer review and acceptance process.

Authors of accepted articles have the choice to pay a fee of $3,000 in order for their published article to be made freely accessible to all. Standard page charges still apply, as well as any color charges. The OnlineOpen fee is charged at the time galley proofs are sent and is due within 30 days. Payment must be received in full for the article to be published OnlineOpen.

All OnlineOpen articles are treated the same as any other article. They go through JAWRA's standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit.   The accepted articles are prepared for publication in the usual manner and are posted online on Wiley InterScience.   Further details may be found at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/authorresources/onlineopen.html .

Review and Publication Process

All papers are reviewed by at least 2 (usually 3) reviewers selected from names suggested by authors, a list of reviewers maintained by AWRA, and other experts identified by the Associate Editors. Names of the selected reviewers are not disclosed to authors. The Editor and Associate Editor(s) evaluate reviewer comments. A list of questions reviewers are asked is available for viewing. The review process is outlined as follows:

Tip! One of the best things you can do to improve your manuscript's chances of acceptance is to have your draft copy edited BEFORE you submit it to us! This is particularly important if English is not your first language or your writing skills are weak. Manuscripts with non-standard grammar tend to score poorly with reviewers.

1. Author submits paper.
2. JAWRA Editor reads the paper and assigns it to an Associate Editor, or returns unsuitable papers without review. (We will not review papers that are not on a suitable subject or that have little chance of receiving a favorable recommendation from reviewers.)
3. Associate Editor identifies at least 2 reviewers, or returns unsuitable papers.
4. After receiving reviewer comments, the Editor, consulting with the Associate Editor, makes a decision:
   • Tentatively accept, with minor revisions to be reviewed by the Editor.
   • Return to author for major revisions which will require further review (step 3, usually with the same reviewers). This will only be done once; failure to pass the second round of reviews usually will result in rejection.
   • Reject the paper.
5. After the author makes any required changes, the Editor gives final acceptance and approves the manuscript for proofing and publication.
6. Electronic proofs are sent to the author for approval. Page charges are assessed. At this point, authors may track production through Blackwell Publication.
7. Once layout is complete and page charges are paid, the paper is placed in OnlineEarly prior to printing.

The rejection rate is approaching 50%. Papers not accepted for review are returned within one month. For reviewed papers in 2007, our median time to first decision was 82 days, with 90% decided within 123 days. Prospective authors must realize these are past statistics, and that obtaining meaningful reviews for an informed decision will always take precedence over schedule.

Published papers will include the date of first submission and the date of final acceptance.

Publication

17 to 21 papers are published in each bimonthly issue. Completed papers are generally published in the order in which they are accepted. Papers which are part of a Featured Collection of related papers are published as a group in an agreed-upon issue. The Editor may advance the order of publication for a paper on a topic of current public interest.

JAWRA is published in both hardcopy and online versions, with the online version, as of 2007, being the version of record. See Blackwell Publishing for subscription and distribution information.

AWRA is happy to cooperate with authors' organizations in issuing news releases about forthcoming JAWRA articles. Please contact the AWRA staff at headquarters.

Discussion and Reply

All published papers will be open for discussion for a period of 6 months, unless the Editor extends this period. Discussions should be limited to dealing directly and specifically with issues raised in the JAWRA paper. Discussions should not introduce new information that has heretofore not been published in a peer-reviewed forum (e.g., JAWRA or a similar journal). Discussions should be as brief and concise as possible.

Discussion manuscripts follow a similar review process as for original papers, but reviewers will be assigned only if needed to adjudicate a technical matter. A copy of the discussion will be provided to the authors of the discussed paper to prepare a reply. Timely replies will be printed in the same issue as the discussion. However, discussions and replies will be placed OnlineEarly as soon as each completes production.

Page charges apply to discussions, with a minimum charge of one page. No page charges are assessed for the reply.

Featured Collections

A Featured Collection is a group of 3 or more related papers on a topic put together by a Guest Associate Editor and published together in an issue. (We used to call these "Special Issues" but few actually took up a whole issue.) Papers in a Featured Collection are held to the same high standards as ordinary JAWRA submissions, and go through the full JAWRA review process.

Featured Collections often arise out of sessions at AWRA conferences. In the best collections, the Guest Associate Editor carefully chooses papers and authors to cover the subject and breadth and depth. The Guest Associate Editor recruits authors, identifies reviewers, and helps keep all involved on schedule. If you would like to propose a Featured Collection, please contact the JAWRA Editor.

Copyright

Each author is required to sign a Copyright Assignment Form (CAF) assigning copyright to AWRA. Please note the provisions for U.S. Government employees. The CAF allows, under certain conditions, sharing the paper with colleagues and placing versions of the paper on a website. Please read the CAF carefully, as we expect authors to adhere to its provisions.

Access to JAWRA is available free online within institutions in the developing world through the AGORA initiative with the FAO. For information, visit: www.aginternetwork.org

Professionalism and Civility

All papers must comply with the following principles of professionalism and civility.

• Conclusions or claims must be based upon observable or documented facts, and speculation or personal opinion, if present at all, must be clearly identified.
• It is permissible to criticize ideas, writings, and actions, but not to make personal attacks upon individuals or organizations.
• Except for relevant, factual content (e.g., attributable quotes, pictures showing some condition), language and figures must not offend a person of ordinary sensibilities.
• All authors of a paper are expected to have contributed substantially to its production and to be knowledgeable about the entire paper. (Minor contributors should be mentioned in the acknowledgment section.)
• Authors must disclose any interests or affiliations that could be perceived as influencing the objectivity of their writings.
• Commercial products or activities may be mentioned for informational purposes only and without giving the appearance of endorsing or promoting them.

Reviewing Papers

Professionalism involves not only writing papers, but helping to review the work of others. ScholarOne Manuscript Central™ will automatically register authors as reviewers.

Digital Photo Manipulation

It is critical for digital photos within papers to accurately represent what they claim to portray. Photos may be cropped and adjusted for normal photographic controls such as exposure, contrast, and color balance, but may not be "cloned" or similarly manipulated. Exceptions to this rule must be mentioned in the figure caption; in such cases, we suggest including the original photo as an electronic attachment.

Preparing a Manuscript

You may see our detailed instructions to copy editors in the JAWRA Style Guide. Major points and recent changes are summarized below.

Title

Search engines often only show the title, so it's important for the title to succinctly reflect the contents of the article. Fewer than 120 characters is recommended, and the first 66 characters - all that Google™ shows - are the most important. In addition to the full title, Manuscript Central will ask for a short "running head" to go at the top of the page.

Abstract

The abstract serves two purposes: (1) help potential readers to decide if they want to read the whole paper, and (2) help search engines index the paper. It should briefly summarize, in one paragraph, the general problem and objectives, the results obtained, and the implications. Mention place names and program names if they are important to the study, since this will help search engines. Do not include citations.

Key Terms

At least four (4) key terms must be listed as a aid to information retrieval and selecting reviewers. Three or more of these terms must be selected from the JAWRA list of key terms.

Author Information

Although author information is listed in Manuscript Central, the names may not be in the format you prefer. Therefore, in your manuscript, following the title, please show the author names in the exact form and order you want them to appear. The JAWRA style is to include, in a footnote, a position title and affiliation for each author (e.g., "Associate Professor, Department of Basketball, Enormous State University, Bigten, Ohio"), and full mailing and email addresses for one author designated as the corresponding author.

Sometimes authors change their affiliation after preparing a paper. In this case, you may give past, present, or both affiliations as you prefer: "Associate Professor, Enormous State University at the time this paper was prepared, now Chief Advisor, Acme Consultants." Another approach would be to list your current affiliation, and give credit to your former employer (who, presumably, paid you to do the research!) in the Acknowledgements.

Footnotes

Footnotes are not used except for the author identification. Include all explanations within the text.

Text

The text should be written so it will be of interest to readers in the wide variety of disciplines represented by AWRA's membership. The manuscript may be written in the first or third person. A manuscript is not a PowerPoint™ presentation: excessive use of "bulleted" or numbered text is discouraged. Rare is the manuscript that cannot be shortened!

If you need help with English translation, Blackwell Publishing offers a translation service. Authors must make their own arrangements to use this service and are responsible for all costs. Authors are not required to use this service.

Units

For units of measurement, System International (SI) units are required, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/introduction.html. Other units may be given only when they derive from source materials, as in, "The ordinance allowed the diversion of 1,000 acre-ft (1.23 Mm3) of water," and should include the SI equivalent in parentheses.

The preferred unit for large volumes of water is cubic meters, m3, often prefixed by million (Mm3) or billion (Gm3). There is no direct metric equivalent for acre-feet, such as hectare-centimeters; rather, one should use cubic meters.

Dates and Times

The preferred way to write a date is either, Month day, year (e.g. "August 6, 2005"), or the ISO Standard 8601 form, YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., "2005-08-06"). Alternative forms, such as "6 August 2005," "6Aug05," may be used in figures if graphics programs or space requirements do not allow the preferred form. Use of non-ISO numerical forms, such as "6/8/05" or "8/6/05," is discouraged because of confusion between American and European notations.

The preferred way to write time is the 24-hour notation, or "20:15," not "8:15 PM." All times are assumed to be local, unless indicated as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) or a specific time zone. A complete date and time should follow the ISO Standard form.

Contested Place Names

The names of geographic locations and even countries are not always universally accepted. In these cases, JAWRA policy is to use the name preferred by the author. Where required to avoid confusion, the Editor will add a clarifying note.

Appendices

All appendices must have a title. Appendices are placed before the Acknowledgments and Literature Cited sections.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgements are included in a separately titled section, following the text. This also can be an appropriate place for disclosing any affiliations that could be perceived as influencing the objectivity of your work.

Literature Cited (References)

Proper citations are critical not only as a matter of professional courtesy, but because search engines such as Google Scholar™ recognize them as citations and infer linkages. Cite references to published literature by author(s) and date, as in the examples provided. Do not use a numbering system.

References to an unpublished work should not be listed under Literature Cited unless it has been fully approved for publication. Unpublished results and other such materials should be included in the text within parentheses. These include personal communications and other materials not normally included or catalogued by libraries.

Data Sets

All data sets obtained from outside sources must be identified either within the text or as a citation. We strongly recommend all original data sets used in the paper be placed into an archive available to the public. The concern with data availability is any qualified researcher should be able to obtain your data to reproduce or check your results. Starting in 2007, JAWRA will allow authors to include data sets with the electronic version of their paper.

Tables

Tables should be used to replace text, not duplicate it. They should be numbered consecutively and include a brief but descriptive title; the title may be followed by up to several lines of explanation. Use a minimum amount of horizontal or vertical lines to separate rows and columns. A table will appear in the text as soon as possible after it is first mentioned, unless you indicate a specific place by notes such as, "[TABLE 2 HERE]."

Figures

There are three preferred formats for digital artwork submission: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Tagged Image Format (TIFF). We suggest that line art be saved as EPS files. Alternately, these may be saved as PDF files at 600 dots per inch (dpi) or better at final size. Tone art, or photographic images, should be saved as TIFF files with a resolution of 300 dpi at final size. For combination figures, or artwork that contains both photographs and labeling, we recommend saving figures as EPS files, or as PDF files with a resolution of 600 dpi or better at final size. More detailed information on the submission of electronic artwork can be found at www.blackwellpublishing.com/authors/digill.asp.

Figures should be numbered consecutively and include a brief title followed by an optional description. The title/description should explain the main point of the figure to a person who can't see the figure. Examples: "FIGURE 1. Photograph Showing Bank Erosion on Mud Creek. The arrow points to severe undercutting," or "FIGURE 2. Graph of Costs. Note how cost increases exponentially with size." A figure will appear in the text as soon as possible after it is first mentioned, unless you indicate specific place by notes such as, "[FIGURE 2 HERE]."

Figures should serve the purpose of clarifying a point or documenting some condition. As with tables, figures should add to text, not duplicate it. The concepts of Edward Tufte's "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" (ISBN 0961392142) are highly recommended, particularly those of minimizing ink and avoiding "chartjunk."

Color illustrations should use a color scheme easily viewable by readers with impaired color vision. The common red-yellow-green "stoplight" pattern, for example, causes problems for users who can't distinguish red. The University of Oregon, Data Graphics Research Program, http://geography.uoregon.edu/datagraphics/ , has developed attractive color schemes viewable by nearly all readers. These color schemes have the additional advantage of showing well in black-and-white printing.

Equations

Equations should be numbered consecutively with a numeral in parentheses to the right of the equation. Prepare equations in the simplest form possible and define all variables, including their units. If the length of an equation is likely to exceed one column width (3-1/2 inches), provide the equation on multiple lines, breaking it to cause the least ambiguity.

Computer Code

Except for short fragments, computer code should not be included within the text of a manuscript. Computer code may be submitted as separate files to accompany the on-line version of the paper, so users can download the code as a text file