Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development

Instructions for authors

1. General policy

Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the dissemination of high-quality information on the science, policy and practice of drinking-water supply, sanitation and hygiene at local, national and international levels. The journal wishes to encourage diversity in published material, and welcomes the submission in English of original contributions including research, analysis, review and commentary[1]:

Research Papers: Research papers are fully documented, interpreted accounts of significant findings of original research, and should not normally exceed 5000 words. Manuscripts exceeding 6000 words will not be accepted for review.

Practical Papers: Practical papers provide new information on subjects of interest to professionals in practice, and should not normally exceed 2500 words. Manuscripts exceeding 3500 words will not be accepted for review.

Short Communications: Short Communications are fully documented, interpreted accounts of significant findings of original research. As compared to research papers they normally reflect a tightly defined piece of work or works. They should not normally exceed 2500 words. Manuscripts exceeding 3500 words will not be accepted for review.

Review Papers: Review papers are critical and comprehensive reviews that provide new insights or interpretation of the subject through thorough and systematic evaluation of available evidence. They should not normally exceed 8000 words. Manuscripts exceeding 10,000 words will not be accepted for review.

Discussions: Discussions should normally take the form of a ‘letter’ and present significant comments or questions about a work published in the Journal. A discussion would normally include substantiated disagreement with, or alternative interpretation of, one or more aspects of a paper. It would also normally discuss associated implications for the conclusions reached. Discussions should be received within 3 months of the publication date of the paper on which they comment. Authors of potential discussions are encouraged to enter into communication with the Editor-in-Chief before preparation or submission of text. While there is no word limit, discussions should be brief and tightly focused. A discussion, if accepted, will normally be shared with the authors of the paper concerned who will be provided opportunity to respond.

Editorials: Editorials provide commentary, by a recognized authority, on an issue of wide interest. They may precede an event (such as an international development policy conference); or be in response to a development (for example to a major international policy change or pandemic disease). Authors of potential Editorials are encouraged to enter into communication with the Editor-in-Chief before preparation or submission of text. Editorials should not normally exceed 700 words and are limited to a maximum of 1500 words.

Support for authors from lower and middle income countries

The Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development is concerned to attract high quality papers from a wide range of countries, sectors and disciplines. Its Editors recognize that there are barriers that often discourage individuals and teams, especially in low income countries, from publishing in international journals. Some of these barriers relate to language (lesser confidence in English as the language of publication) and to ease-of-access to colleagues with familiarity with paper writing processes, skills and demands. The Journal, IWA and its editors have launched three initiatives to help reduce the impact of these barriers and to increase access to publication in JWaSHDev: (i) a small group of 'mentors' who assist potential authors from lower income countries; (ii) workshops on how to prepare and publish in JWaSHDev, and (iii) a Prize for the best paper each year from an author from a developing country.

All submissions should be accompanied by a list of 3 potential referees.

Where requested to do so by the Editor, authors must revise their papers, normally within one month of the request (extensions are granted at the Editor’s discretion). No page charges apply for papers published in the journal. The journal can accommodate colour figures, at a cost to the author of £300 per figure.

Submission of a paper implies that it has not been published previously, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, and that if accepted it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the publisher.

All papers should be submitted electronically to https://www.editorialmanager.com/washdev

Upon acceptance of a paper, authors will be asked to sign a Transfer of Copyright Agreement releasing copyright of the paper to IWA Publishing. Provision is made on the form for work performed for the United States Government (for which Copyright cannot be assigned) and other extenuating circumstances.

Proofs will be sent by e-mail to the listed corresponding author. Any corrections must be returned within two days of receipt and should only cover typesetting errors. Proofs should be returned to Emma Gulseven at IWA Publishing in London.

2. Article content and format

(a) General. All pages in papers must be numbered consecutively. The main text should be typed flush left with no indents and double line spaced. Insert one return between paragraphs, and a double return between paper title, and authors' names and addresses on the first page.

(b) Title page. The title of the paper should be as concise as possible. The title page or section must also state the names and full addresses of all authors. Telephone, fax, e-mail numbers and, if appropriate, web site identifications must be included for the corresponding author to whom proofs will be sent. A short title of not more than 80 letters and spaces must be provided for printed page headings.

(c) An Abstract of 100-200 words should appear under the authors' names and addresses in printed papers, briefly specifying the aims of the work, the methods used, the main results obtained and the conclusions drawn.

(d) Under the abstract up to 6 Keywords should be listed in alphabetical order.

(e) Main text: for clarity this should normally be subdivided into:

Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusions, References

A conclusions section is particularly valuable to readers and should always be included in papers. Do not number or letter section headings.

(f) Abbreviations and Notations. Nomenclature must be listed at the beginning of all printed paper contributions and must conform to the system of standard SI units. Acronyms and abbreviations must be spelled out in full at their first occurrence in the text and summarised at the start of the contribution. Write equations in dimensionless form or in metric units.

(g) Figures and tables should be embedded near their first mention in the text. Figures should be high quality (at least 300dpi) and easy to read.

(h) References: citations in text. Use surname of author and year of publication: Jones (1982) or (Jones 1982). Insert initials only if there are two different authors with the same surname and same year of publication.

Two or more years in parentheses following an author's name are cited chronologically, and two or more references published in the same year by the same author are differentiated by letters a, b, c, etc. For example: Brown (1969, 1972, 1973a, b). Different references cited together should be in date order, for example: (Smith 1959; Thomson & Jones 1982; Green 1990).

(i) List of references. References should be listed alphabetically at the end of contributions and in the case of printed papers should conform to the following styles for a journal or book reference.

Asano, T., Maeda, M. & Takaki, M. 1996 Wastewater reclamation and reuse in Japan: overview and implementation examples. Wat. Sci. Technol. 34(11), 211-226.

Henze, M., Harremoës, P., LaCour Jansen, J. & Arvin, E. 1995 Wastewater Treatment: Biological and Chemical Processes. Springer, Heidelberg.

Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 1995 19th edition. American Public Health Association/American Water Works Association/Water Environment Federation, Washington DC.

[1] All word limits are inclusive of the space used for tables and figures. One printed page in the journal is c.800 words.