Water will operate open peer review for full transparency about decision-making and in order to mitigate issues that contribute to editorial bias, and to enable reviewers to collect their contributions as part of their academic record. Reviewers are strongly encouraged to consent to the publication of their review(s) with an attribution and accompanying ORCID, but can now opt to remain anonymous.  Where reviewers opt for Full Attribution, review reports are published with the reviewer name and ORCID; where reviewers opt to remain anonymous, review reports are published with a consistent alias (Reviewer 1, Reviewer 2, Reviewer 3 etc.) that enables end-users to distinguish contributions by multiple anonymous reviewers.  All reviews are assigned an item-level DOI and are accompanied by a reviewer Conflict of Interest Declaration regardless of the anonymity preferences of the contributor.

Open peer review does not mean that reviewers should contact authors directly, or that authors should contact reviewers. All queries should be directed through the Editorial Office; [email protected].

Appeals

To appeal an editorial decision, contact the Scientific Editor through the editorial office and specify the reason for your appeal. Your appeal will be reviewed by the Scientific Editor and the Editor in Chief. The final decision regarding your appeal will rest with the Scientific Editor and the Editor in Chief.

If you have submitted an appeal and are awaiting an outcome, you should not submit your manuscript for publication elsewhere until you have notified this journal that you wish to withdraw your manuscript from consideration.