Publishing in the Journal of Hydrologic Engineering

As editors of your journal, we are continually striving to improve the quality of the publication that is distributed to the readership of this hydrologic engineering journal. To keep the lines of communication open between the authors, reviewers, and the editorial staff, which includes more than 30 dedicated associate editors, we want the readers of JHE to be aware of the status of the journal.

In recent years, we have been receiving well over 300 submittals per year, with a final acceptance rate of about 60%. Submittals were in the form of technical papers, case studies, technical notes, and discussion and forum papers. The average time from submission to the authors being advised of the first decision is about 100 days, with our goal to decrease that to 90 days or less. The time from submission to publication is approximately 10 months, but this varies with the number of submittals and the time required by the authors to respond to the comments of the reviewers. Although authors usually take about 50 days to respond to the comments, our goal is to reduce this to 30 days. Reviewers generally complete their review in four weeks, even though we see a wide variation in this time.

Along with the number of submissions, the impact factor (IF) has risen in recent years. For example, in 2010, the IF was 0.787, whereas in 2012, the IF was 1.379, a 78% increase. The five-year IF has increased from 1.43 in 2008 to 1.63 in 2012. Our goal is for it to continue to rise. We believe that this rise in IF reflects the improved quality of the papers. Online usage has steadily increased from about 34,000 full-text downloads in 2011 to slightly above 39,000 downloads in 2013.

The goal of the editorial board is to continue the upward trend toward making the JHE a premier journal in hydrologic engineering. This will require the dedication of authors, reviewers, and the entire editorial board. Authors can do their part by organizing their manuscripts and ensuring that the grammar is correct. Although we interpret hydrology in a very broad sense to include hydrogeology, ecohydrology, and water quality, authors should ensure that their article is appropriate for readers of the JHE by ensuring that the content of their paper matches the scope of the JHE. The most common concerns of reviewers are the following:

It is especially important for authors to clearly respond to all reviewer comments because a revised paper is generally returned to the same associate editor and reviewers to reassess the revised manuscript. Addressing all of the comments of the reviewers and the editorial board, whether in terms of revising the paper according to the comments or by providing a thoughtful rebuttal, greatly increases the likelihood of acceptance. Ignoring the review comments or simply offering a perfunctory response is not a good recipe for success.

Again, we are continually trying to provide a better, more useful journal. If you have suggestions for improving the journal, please contact us. We will make every effort to act on your recommendations.