Editorial Policies

Use of AI-based tools

This policy is based on the ASSAf and SciELO Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and Resources in Research Communication, and is informed by the guidelines provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Policy on the Use of AI and Large Language Models of the South African Journal of Science.

Water SA editors and subject editors do not use artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools to generate review decisions or write any letters or other communications with authors or reviewers.

The following principles, restrictions and permissions apply to the use of AI-based tools by Water SA authors and reviewers (see examples in Table 1):

1. Originality

AI-generated content is not permitted, whether text or images.  Generative AI tools, such as large language models, cannot be used to write any part of a manuscript, review report or response to a review.  AI tools may be used to find and summate references, and to conceptualise or refine the research approach and methods.  AI tools may also be used to translate, edit or summarise sections of text, and to edit non-data images.  Users must remain aware of the potential for AI-based tools to produce incorrect, incomplete or biased results, and must always review and edit the outputs of any tools used. Copyediting tools which are used to correct grammar or punctuation, and tools which are used to manage references or perform similarity checking are permitted (and their use does not need to be declared).  Use of AI-based tools to analyse or present data is permitted and must be described in the methods section, as is required for any other data analysis method.

2. Transparency

All use of generative AI for the purposes described as permitted above must be declared by authors in the cover letter accompanying the submission, and in the relevant section of the manuscript or an appendix where it pertains to methods, editing of text or images.  Details of the specific use of a tool in such cases must be given, including the name, version and source, the date on which the tool was used, as well as the prompt (plain-language instruction) entered into the tool. Reviewers who use an AI tool to assist in their review of a manuscript must similarly declare this use and the details thereof in the review form. 

e.g. Chat GTP 3.5, Version 28 August 2023, Open AI (Accessed 16 September 2023)

3. Accountability

Authors retain all responsibility for the content of their submissions and AI tools cannot be attributed co-authorship. As declared in the Publishing Agreement, authors are accountable for the scientific integrity, accuracy and originality of their work, and for ensuring that their submission does not contain any unlawful or plagiarized content, or infringe copyright or any moral right or intellectual property rights.

Any submission to Water SA which is found to contain AI-generated content as prohibited above will be declined, or retracted if already published.

This policy will be revised periodically in response to future developments in AI tools and resources and their use in scholarly publishing.  We welcome feedback on this policy (watersa@wrc.org.za).

Table 1. Examples of permitted and prohibited use of AI tools in content submitted to Water SA (adapted with permission from the South African Journal of Science)

Peer review

Manuscripts will be submitted to and assessed by peer reviewers.  A single-blind review system is used.  The authors’ names are included in the manuscript sent for peer review but the reviewers’ names are not included on the review reports sent to authors.  The evaluation of any manuscript is undertaken with the understanding that neither the substance of the article nor the figures or tables has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere during the period of review.  Authors bear sole responsibility for the factual accuracy of their publications.

Open access policy

Water SA is an open access journal and all content is available without charge to the user. The content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.  Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal under the terms of this Licence, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. 

Self-archiving

The publisher's version of the article may be archived in an online repository. Archiving of pre-print and post-print (i.e. final draft post-refereeing) versions of articles in an online repository is not permitted except under special circumstances and with the written permission of the Editor.

Copyright

Authors retain copyright in their submission but grant the Water Research Commission and Water SA a non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide licence to publish their manuscript under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.  In submitting their manuscript, authors warrant that the content does not violate any existing common law or statutory copyrights.

Authorship

Contributors to the paper identified as authors must meet both of the following criteria (those not meeting all criteria should merely be acknowledged): (i) substantial contribution to the conception or design of the study, or the collection, analysis or interpretation of data; (ii) writing or critically revising the paper. All authors are accountable for all aspects of the published work, and must approve the version of the paper submitted for review and final publication.

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest, defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) as “those which may not be fully apparent and may influence the judgement of authors, reviewers and editors” and “those which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived”, must be declared by authors, reviewers and editors:

Authors: must declare any potential conflicts of interest in their cover letter, for example, employment, funding sources, owning of shares and payment for lectures or travel.  Should the manuscript be published this statement will be included in the published version.

Reviewers: must declare any potential conflicts of interest on the review form, for example, submissions by family members or students, any previous involvement in a part of the study or manuscript under review, a close past or current association with the authors.  A conflict of interest does not necessarily invalidate the review report.

Subject editors: are required to withdraw as editor for a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest, for example, a submission by a family member or student.

Subject editors and members of the Editorial Board are permitted to submit manuscripts for review and publication in Water SA.

Ethical clearance

If the research reported on in the manuscript was conducted on vertebrates (human or non-human) then details must be provided on the necessary ethical considerations applied and the approval of the study by the relevant institutional ethics committee (name and any applicable reference number to be stated in the Methods section). In addition, all manuscripts describing research involving human subjects, tissue or data must also indicate that informed consent was obtained and that the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki were adhered to. All manuscripts describing research involving non-human animals must also indicate that the ARRIVE guidelines for reporting in vivo animal experiments were adhered to. 

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another's words or ideas without acknowledging the original source, and in so doing representing them as one's own original work. Failure to correctly cite direct quotations or paraphrases of other published work (including one's own) is categorised as plagiarism, and unsuited to publication in Water SA. The editors make use of iThenticate plagiarism detection software to assess similarity of submitted content with other publications, and submitted papers may be withdrawn from consideration for publication if any plagiarised content is found.

Corrections and retractions

Once published, papers become part of the permanent scholarly record – changes to papers after publication are only permitted under exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Editor.  Changes to correct errors introduced by the journal or the authors will be published as Errata or Corrigenda, respectively, which will be linked to the original article online.  In cases of fraudulent, invalid or plagiarised results, papers may be retracted (original article is still accessible but with notice of retraction attached) or removed (only the article metadata and a notice of removal are still accessible).