1. Content

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, comprising contributions in the form of unpublished articles that offer original scientific and technological insights into water resources and their environment.

2. Thematic focus

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, water-related, with a thematic focus on the following fields of knowledge:

• Water and Energy
• Water Quality
• Water Treatment
• Hydroagricultural Sciences
• Social Sciences
• Water Management
• Hydrology (surface and groundwater)
• Hydraulics

3. Type of submissions

Article: a scientific paper that presents and reports for the first time the results of a successful research project or innovation, whose findings contribute to and expand current knowledge in the field of water matters; maximum 30 pages, not including the reference list.

3.1. Layout

The article must include the following sections:

• Title in english and spanish
• Abstract/Resumen
• Keywords/Palabras clave
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Results
• Conclusions
• Funding (only if the article is accepted for publication)
• Statement of conflict of interest
• Statement on the use of AI
• References

3.2. Article Submissions

The journal continuously accepts submissions via its OJS (Open Journal Systems) platform. Articles must comply with the requirements set forth in the Author Guidelines.

Articles that are divided into parts or intended to be published in series will not be accepted. This is because each article is reviewed independently and usually by different experts in the field, which means that some parts may be approved while others are not; ultimately, this would result in the publication of an incomplete article.

4. Publication frequency and processing timelines

Published bimonthly (january–february, march–april, may–june, july–august, september–october, november–december). The issue is published on the first day of the first month of each period.

The journal uses an “ahead of print” publication model; therefore, articles are published as soon as the requested final version files are acknowledged as received and the authors are sent the “Accepted for Publication” letter, with an active DOI, but without undergoing a style editing process. This version will appear in the "Upcoming Issues" section of the journal’s website.

4.1. Process timelines

The Editorial Office operates monday through friday; days within that period are considered “business days”.

• Since the submission of the article until the Editorial Office sends a rejection notice or acknowledgment of receipt: 15 business days at most
• Since sending the acknowledgment of receipt for the article until submission to the editor-in-chief: five business days at most
• Since sending it to the editor-in-chief until it is assigned and sent to the section editor: five business days at most
• Since sending to the section editor until rejection/acceptance, or sending for review and assigning reviewers: 30 business days at most
• Since the assignment of reviewers until the section editor’s initial decision (acceptance with changes, rejection, or acceptance for publication): 40 business days at most
• Since acceptance with changes and submission of the corrected version by the author: 15 business days at most
• Since receiving the author’s corrected version until the section editor’s second decision (return for review, rejection, or acceptance for publication): 30 business days at most

If the decision is to return for review, the same periods described above apply

• Since sending the notification of acceptance for publication until sending the editorial guidelines to the author for the final version of the accepted article: 15 business days at most
• Since sending the editorial guidelines to the authors until sending the final version and requested documentation: 12 business days at most
• Since the sending of the final version and the requested documentation until the review, and/or acknowledgment of receipt of the files and the sending of the “Accepted for Publication” letter by the Editorial Office: 15 business days at most
• Since the Editorial Office sent the “Accepted for Publication” letter until publication in the “ahead of Print” format: 15 business days at most

These deadlines may vary due to circumstances beyond the Editorial Office's control.

5. Special issues

The journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua may publish special issues on its own or in collaboration with other journals, professional associations, or prestigious publishers in the field of water. All articles must undergo the peer-review process established in this Editorial Policy.

Care will be taken to ensure the quality of the technical content and scientific contributions.

Special issues will be published as part of the regular publication schedule

6. Editorial Board

Composed of the editor-in-chief, section editors, the technical secretary and the editorial coordinator, the board is responsible for overseeing the journal and ensuring its quality and excellence as a medium for disseminating knowledge on water-related topics. The members of the board serve in a pro bono capacity, with the exception of those who are employees of the Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua (IMTA), who already receive a salary as staff members of the institution.

The editor-in-chief is responsible for the overall management of the journal. The editor-in-chief is a leading professional in the journal’s field of expertise, stays abreast of the latest advances and developments in the scientific community, ensures the quality of the published content, and has a genuine interest in the dissemination of knowledge.

The section editors are high-level specialists with recognized national and international standing in the field of scientific and technological research related to the topics they will cover in the journal.

The technical secretary is the IMTA’s Water Governance and Capacity Building Coordinator, or the equivalent position should there be a change in the institution’s organizational structure.

The person responsible for Editorial Office is a professional in the publishing field with strong organizational skills and experience in communication, knowledge dissemination, marketing, innovation, and teamwork.

7. Article reception process

Submissions are accepted on an continuous basis through the journal's OJS platform.

Once the article has been uploaded to the platform, it will be reviewed by the Editorial Office to ensure that it meets the requirements for new submissions outlined in the Author Guidelines; a plagiarism detection system is used (Ithenticate 2.0) to verify that the article does not contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or duplicate content. This system generates a report on the matches found in databases and online documents. This analysis consists of a percentage of matches and a detailed report.

If the article does not comply with the requirements set forth in the Author Guidelines and/or if instances of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or duplicate submissions are found, the article will be rejected. The authors will be notified of the reasons for the rejection; they will have the option to make the necessary corrections and resubmit their article.

When the article complies with the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines and no instances of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or duplicate submissions are found, the authors will be sent an “acknowledgment of receipt”; at that momento the article is formally accepted by the journal.

When the article is uploaded to OJS, an automatic notification is sent to all members of the list of contributors, who must reply to that email to confirm their participation as authors; if any of them do not confirm, the article will not proceed to the peer review process.

8. Review process

The review process will be conducted on a “double-blind” basis, so that neither authors nor reviewers will know the identity of the other group, in order to ensure the impartiality of the process.

All documentation related to the review process is classified as confidential; this includes the names of the reviewers and their evaluations, in order to maintain the impartiality of the process, as well as personal data, to comply with applicable regulations.

The peer review process is conducted by specialists and experts who are qualified to reliably and efficiently evaluate both the quality and originality of the articles submitted for review, as well as their level of scientific and technological innovation.

This participation is considered a professional contribution, provided on an honorary or pro bono. Reviewers who participate by submitting a peer evaluation will receive a letter of acknowledgment for any academic or professional purposes they may require. They are invited to consult the Reviewer’s Guide.

The review process begins only after the authors have received the “Acknowledgment of Receipt” letter, not when they upload their article to the OJS.

The article is sent to the editor-in-chief for content review. The editor-in-chief may forward it to the section editor, reject the article, request revisions, or accept it for publication. If the article is rejected or revisions are requested, the authors are notified and the editor-in-chief’s comments are included.

If the editor-in-chief determines that the article is eligible to proceed, it will be assigned to a section editor based on the article’s subject matter.

Each article must undergo at least two reviews (which may be conducted by a reviewer and the section editor), which may result in the following recommendations: acceptance for publication; revisions without the need for another review process; revisions followed by another review process; referral to another publication more suited to the article’s topic; or rejection of the article. Based on these recommendations and their own evaluation, the responsible section editor will make the final decision.

The intention is to ensure that at least one of the reviewers is from an institution in another country.

Reviewers may not be affiliated with the same institution as the authors submitting the article for publication. In the case of a large institution with multiple schools and departments, the assigned reviewers may be from the same institution, but not from the same department as the authors of the article.

When reviews conflict or are inconsistent, the relevant section editor may conduct a review or request the involvement of other reviewers, or of one or more members of the Editorial Board.

If the section editor decides that the article requires revisions—whether or not it is to be resubmitted for peer review—the authors will receive the existing reviews and the section editor’s comments, if any. Authors must submit both their revised article via the OJS platform and a document explaining in detail how the received revisions were applied, or not. If the article is sent back to the peer review process, it goes through the aforementioned steps again. If only corrections were needed, the section editor will review the new version of the article and decide whether to accept it for publication or reject it.

If the article is accepted for publication by the section editor, the authors will receive a notification from the Editorial Office and will be provided with the necessary information to proceed with publication.

Any article rejected through the peer review process will not be accepted for further review. If the authors decide to resubmit it, the article must have a new title and include the revisions suggested in the reviews; it will be treated as a new submission.

The average turnaround time for acceptance, provided an article successfully passes the peer review process, is six months. You can view a schematic overview of the peer review process in the journal’s workflow.

8.1. Final decision

The final decision resulting from the arbitration process is the responsibility of the section editor, based on the reviews received.

Authors may appeal the final decision by presenting evidence and arguments that allow the section editor to reconsider their decision.

Authors have one week from the date the final decision notification is sent to submit an appeal. Appeals will not be accepted after that time. Only one appeal may be submitted per article.

Articles under appeal will remain in the “Rejected” status and will be moved back to the “Review” status only with the section editor’s approval.

8.2. Accepted for publication

Once an article is accepted for publication, it will follow the following process.

The Editorial Office will notify authors of the scheduled publication date, along with the final editing requirements and the “Permission to Publish” form. This form outlines both the rights that authors transfer to the journal to publish their article and the rights they retain over it.

Authors must submit their article in accordance with the final publication requirements, along with a signed “Permission to Publish” form bearing the signatures of all authors, which must be handwritten and/or digitally certified. Once the Editorial Office confirms receipt of these files, it will send the “Accepted for Publication” document, which includes the publication details where the article will appear (year, volume, issue).

If authors have already received the email notifying them that their article has been accepted for publication and do not submit the final version within two weeks, their article will be withdrawn and must go through the peer review process again. If authors need an extension to submit the final version, they may request one by email (tyca.ojs@gmail.com).

The proofreading process will begin two months before the publication of the issue in which the article is scheduled to appear. This process will be carried out in consultation with the authors to reach a mutual agreement on the necessary corrections.

Once the authors have approved the proofreading, the article is included in the issue; when the publication date arrives, the issue is published.

Once the compilation issue is published, no changes may be made to the text.

9. Reviewers

Reviewers will receive the invitation via email through the journal's OJS platform.

The reviewer is free to accept or decline the invitation to review without this affecting their status on the journal’s list of reviewers. The invitation is accepted or declined via the OJS platform. A reviewer who declines may suggest another expert in the field to conduct the review. This suggestion will be sent to the section editor for approval. If the section editor accepts the suggestion, the invitation will be sent to the new reviewer.

The reviewer will have seven business days to respond to the invitation, and two reminders may be sent at three-day intervals.

Once the invitation has been accepted, the reviewer will have 20 business days to submit the review via the OJS platform. The reviewer may request an extension for the submission deadline.

Reviewers must follow the guidelines in the journal's Reviewer's Guide.

Reviewers must complete the review form available on the OJS platform. They can find the form in the Reviewer Guidelines. The form includes a section where reviewers can provide all their comments regarding the article, including concerns about fabricated data, the use of undeclared AI, or the integrity of the research. Reviewers may attach files to the review form to supplement their review.

Once they have submitted their review, reviewers should wait for the section editor to acknowledge receipt of the review. Once the section editor has acknowledged receipt of the review, reviewers may request a letter on official letterhead from the Editorial Office confirming their participation. This letter will include the date of the section editor’s acknowledgment, the section editor’s name, and the title of the article.

Reviewers may be added to the journal’s database in the following ways: a) selected by the Editorial Board based on their experience and knowledge of the relevant field; b) authors who have previously published in the journal; c) directly invited by the Editorial Office with the endorsement of either the editor-in-chief or the Editorial Board; d) experts who propose themselves as reviewers (the editor-in-chief evaluates their profile and expertise and endorses them)

Reviewers may request to be removed from the journal’s reviewer database at any time.

10. Fees or charges

At no stage of the process—from submission, peer review, proofreading, editing and publication—will authors be charged any fees; the entire process and publication are free of charge.

11. Authors

We publish articles by authors of any nationality who submit their contributions in Spanish or English.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their contact information is valid and up to date. They can request an update to their contact information sent to the following email address tyca.ojs@gmail.com

Once an article has been accepted for publication, authors must submit the final version in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Editorial Office; they must submit the version in the language in which it was accepted; they may subsequently submit a translation into Spanish or English, as appropriate.

Upon acceptance of an article for publication, authors must sign a publication agreement in which they transfer their patrimonial rights to the Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua (IMTA), the publisher of the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua. This agreement extends to the use of any images or photographs submitted to the journal; such material will be used solely for the purpose of promoting the publication or the articles themselves.

Authors must also include their ORCID in the final version of the accepted article. If they do not have one, they can register here at this link: https://orcid.org/register

Authors may not select or suggest reviewers, nor may they request that a specific reviewer be excluded from the peer review process for their article.

11.1. About the authorship

An author is defined as someone who makes substantial intellectual contributions to the study during its conception or design, or in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; participates in the drafting or critical review of the content; approves the final version submitted for publication; and takes responsibility for all aspects of the study to ensure that the article was prepared accurately and with integrity regarding the results.

Individuals who are included in the article only because of their hierarchical position, but who did not contribute to any of the aforementioned aspects, are not considered authors; nor are those who only obtained funding or performed style editing (they could be listed in the acknowledgments).

Authors’ affiliations must include the institution(s) that provided funding for the research and/or the article. See section 13. Funding.

11.2. Types of issues related to authorship

Ghost author: someone who is omitted or removed from the list of authors despite meeting the criteria to be considered an author; they are sometimes mentioned in the acknowledgments or omitted entirely from the document.

Guest author: a person who is added, with or without their knowledge, to make the list of authors look more impressive, even though they did not participate in the research.

Gift author: a person who has not made a significant contribution to the research or publication (but who might otherwise have been acknowledged for their role) or someone who has not participated in the research, and who is listed as a favor, out of gratitude, or as a courtesy.

Author who did not give consent: an author listed in the authorship section who was not aware that the paper was submitted and did not personally provide their signature on the responsibility letter.

11.2.1. How are potential disputes over ghost authorship handled

Any author of an article or anyone who believes they have been used as a ghost author may submit a complaint via email to the journal’s Editorial Office.

Once the journal’s Editorial Office receives the complaint, it will take the following steps:

1. It will share the received email with all the authors of the article, including the complainant, requesting clarification or an explanation of the situation with evidence of each author’s contribution (emails, project proposal, final report, acknowledgments in the research, etc.). The information is considered confidential and is intended only for those involved; third parties who are not witnesses or who cannot provide evidence shall not be involved until the dispute is resolved. If those involved disclose the information to third parties with no direct connection to the article before the final decision is taken, the article will be permanently removed.
2. If the article is currently undergoing any of the reception, review or editing processes it will be put on hold until the dispute is resolved.
3. If the article has already been published online, no action will be taken until the dispute is resolved.
4. Once the various evidence provided by the parties involved has been received, the editor-in-chief, the section editor, and the Editorial Office will review the evidence and make one of the following decisions, which will be unappealable:
   • If the decision is in favor of the complainant, their name will be added to the list of authors; the corrected article will include a note with a link to the correction notice. The new document will replace the original in the compiled volume and will be assigned a new DOI.
   • If the complainant’s authorship is verified and the complainant does not authorize the publication of the manuscript, the article will be removed from its current process; if it has already been published, a retraction citing fraudulent authorship will be published and the article will be removed from the corresponding issue.
   • If the complainant's identity cannot be verified, the case will be dismissed and the article will proceed with the process.

11.2.2. How are potential disputes regarding guest authorship and/or gift authorship handled

Anyone may submit a complaint via email to the journal’s Editorial Office regarding a guest author and/or a gift author.

Once the journal’s Editorial Office receives the complaint, it will take the following steps:

1. The received email will be shared with all authors of the article, including the complainant. The complainant must provide evidence that the guest author and/or contributor did not participate. The other authors must submit evidence of each author’s participation (emails, project proposal, final report, acknowledgments in the research, etc.). The information is considered confidential and is intended only for those involved; third parties who are not witnesses or who cannot provide evidence shall not be involved until the dispute is resolved. If those involved disclose the information to third parties with no direct connection to the article before the final decision is taken, the article will be permanently removed.
2. If the article is currently undergoing any of the reception, review or editing processes it will be put on hold until the dispute is resolved.
3. If the article has already been published online, no action will be taken until the dispute is resolved.
4. Once the various evidence provided by the parties involved has been received, the editor-in-chief, the section editor, and the Editorial Office will review the evidence and make one of the following decisions, which will be unappealable:
   • If the decision is in favor of the complainant and the article is in the process of being received, reviewed or edited the article will be removed.
   • If the decision is in favor of the complainant and the article has been published, a retraction citing fraudulent authorship will be published, and the article will be removed from the respective issue.
   • If the complaint is not substantiated, the case will be dismissed, the article will continue in the process, and the complainant will never be allowed to publish in the journal; furthermore, their institution of affiliation will be notified of their malice aforethought.

11.2.3. How are potential disputes handled regarding an author who did not give their consent

Any author who has not provided consent may submit a complaint or request for clarification regarding authorizations by email to the journal’s Editorial Office, or the journal’s Editorial Office may identify discrepancies in the authorization.

Once the journal’s editorial office receives an email from an author who has not provided authorization, or if it detects any irregularities in the authorization, it will take the following steps:

1. It will review and verify the authenticity of the signatures received from each author on the letter of authorization.
2. If the signatures are authentic, the complainant will be asked to explain their actions and whether or not they wish to retain authorship of the article. If they do not wish to maintain their authorship, they must send a letter to the Editorial Office stating their decision to be removed from the article and acknowledging that they will lose their authorship rights if the article is published in the journal; this letter must be signed by all authors and the individual requesting removal. The signatures on these letters must be handwritten and/or digitally certified
3. If there are suspicions about the authenticity of the signatures or if they are not legitimate, the Editorial Office will send an email to each and every author asking them to confirm that they authorized the submission of the manuscript and personally signed the letter of authorization; this will be done while explaining the suspicion of illegitimate signatures or possible forgery of authorization. The information is considered confidential and is intended only for those involved; third parties who are not witnesses or who cannot provide evidence shall not be involved until the dispute is resolved. If those involved disclose the information to third parties with no direct connection to the article before the final decision is taken, the article will be permanently removed
4. If the article is currently undergoing any of the reception, review or editing processes it will be put on hold until the dispute is resolved.
5. If forged signatures or authorizations are detected, the article will be removed for fraudulent authorship; at the same time, the highest authority at the institution of the author who submitted the article and sent the forged signatures/authorizations to the journal will be notified of the professional misconduct

11.3. Changes to the list of authors

The initial list of authors at the moment of receipt of the article and at the start of the review process may be modified only during the review process; once the article is accepted for publication authors may not be added or removed.

To add a new author, a letter must be sent to the Editorial Office explaining the reasons for the new addition to the article; this letter must be signed by the original authors and the new contributor. This can only be done during the review process and before the article is accepted for publication.

To remove an author, they must send a letter to the Editorial Office explaining the author's decision to be removed from the article; the letter must be signed by all authors, including both the original authors and the author requesting removal.

The signatures on these letters must be handwritten and/or digitally certified.

If the authors make changes to the list of authors and refuse to submit the requested documentation, their article will be rejected, even if it had been accepted for publication. In addition, the journal will notify the highest authority at the authors’ institution of this situation.

The authors’ affiliation cannot be modified. It is understood that the institution listed at the submission of the article is the one that provided the funding for the research and/or the article; for this reason, it cannot be modified at any time, even if the author is no longer affiliated with that institution.

If the author changes affiliation while the article is in the review process and the article is accepted later, both institutions must be added to the author’s affiliation, and the author must notify the Editorial Office when uploading the corrected version.

11.4. Authors' responsibility

By submitting an article, the author(s) agree not to submit it simultaneously to other publications. In the event that the article is submitted to another journal for possible publication, the authors agree to notify the Editorial Office, which will suspend the peer review process and inform the Editorial Board of the authors’ decision; this same suspension will take effect if the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua identifies and verifies a similar situation.

The authors are responsible for the content, originality and authenticity of the articles.

Authors are responsible for the quality of the Spanish and English they use. If the writing is substandard, the submission will be rejected. For the publication of accepted articles, the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua will handle proofreading in Spanish and/or a light edit in English, as well as editorial preparation.

The corresponding author is primarily responsible for maintaining communication with the editors and the Editorial Office regarding requests related to their article; however, this does not absolve the other authors of their responsibility to respond to emails sent by the journal regarding their article.

Authors agree to make any revisions requested by the section editor within the timeframe specified by the editor; noncompliance will result in the article's removal from the review process and its classification as rejected.

Authors should be available to respond to questions and suggestions submitted by both the section editor and the Editorial Office.

Authors must approve the final versions to be published in the corresponding issue.

Authors of the journal agree to serve on the panel of reviewers for the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua, with all the responsibilities that this entails.

Authors should refer to the Author Guidelines when submitting their articles.

The percentage of self-citations in an article may not exceed 20 %.

If authors have received the acceptance email with requested revisions and do not submit the revised version within two months, their article will be rejected and must go through the peer review process again. If they need an extension to submit the revised version, they may request one by email (tyca.ojs@gmail.com).

12. Statement on the use of AI

The journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua approves the ethical and responsible use of AI tools.

The following are the guidelines for the use of AI by contributors to the journal.

12.1. Editorial Office

• Ithenticate 2.0 is used to check for plagiarism or duplicate texts. Ithenticate 2.0 uses an AI system developed by Turnitin.
• Creating images using ChatGPT and/or Gemini for use in social media posts or banners.
• Using ChatGPT and/or Gemini to modify metadata on the journal's website.
• Using ChatGPT and/or Gemini to modify metadata on the journal's website.
• AI is not used to modify images, photographs, or text elements provided by the authors of articles accepted for publication.
• AI is not used for proofreading, translation or editorial formatting or editing.
• The journal's OJS platform does not incorporate plugins that use AI.
• All use of AI is supervised by one or more members of the Editorial Office team.

12.2. Editorial Board

• Use specialized AI tools to check for plagiarism or duplicate content. If plagiarism or duplicate content is identified using these tools, you must decide whether the article should continue through the review process, notify the authors, state which tools were used and submit the generated report.
• Use specialized AI tools to analyze the integrity of the text. If a high percentage of AI-generated text is detected, you must determine whether the article should proceed to the review process, notify the authors, state the tools used and submit the generated report.
• Use AI tools to analyze the data provided in the article.
• Using AI tools to find experts in a specific thematic area.
• Use AI tools to analyze the reviews received; however, the final decision cannot be made by an AI.
• If AI tools are used to analyze the reviews, the editor must inform the authors of the tool used in the email notifying them of the decision.
• Do not upload the entire article under review—only part of the text—to publicly available AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, etc.), as the articles are unpublished and the review process is confidential.
• You may not use AI tools to modify any part of the article.
• Members of the Editorial Board are responsible for their use of AI and for the decisions registered with regard to the articles.

12.3. Reviewers

• Use specialized AI tools to check for plagiarism or duplicate content. If these tools identify any instances of plagiarism or duplicate content, you must include this information in your review comments, stating the tool used and attaching the generated report.
• Use specialized AI tools to analyze the authenticity of the text. If a high percentage of AI-generated text is detected, include this information in your comments during the review, stating the tool used and attaching the generated report.
• Use AI tools to analyze the data provided in the article.
• They cannot use AI tools to generate the review.
• Do not upload the entire article during the review process—only part of the text—to publicly available AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Deepseek, etc.) because the articles are unpublished and the review process is confidential.
• You may not use AI tools to modify any part of the article.
• The reviewer is responsible for the quality of their review and comments.

12.4. Authors

• The authors are responsible for the quality of the article in terms of writing, formatting and the results obtained through the use of AI.
• In the final version of the accepted article, you must indicate who was responsible for verifying the results generated by the AI and their subsequent inclusion in the article.
• Using AI tools for text generation.
• Use AI tools to generate diagrams, charts, and images for your article.
• Use AI tools to analyze data collected during research.
• Using AI tools to generate a list of references.
• Statement on the use of AI must be included in the article text, as indicated in the Author Guidelines.
• Don't use AI tools to modify images and/or content from other sources.
• Don't list an AI tool as the author of the article or mention it in the Acknowledgments.

13. Funding

The journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua is funded by its publisher, the Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua (IMTA).

IMTA members who contribute to the journal receive a regular salary.

Editors and reviewers who are not affiliated with IMTA do not receive compensation for their participation. Their activities are carried out on a pro bono basis.

The journal does not display third-party advertisements on its website for the purpose of generating revenue.

Authors must state in the corresponding section of the article where the funding for the research and/or preparation of the article came from; this must be included only in the final version of the article when it is accepted for publication.

Funding includes grants, salaries, approved projects, donations, and all other financial resources received by the authors to carry out their research activities and complete the submitted article.

14. Statement of conflicts of interest

Authors must state in the corresponding section of the article whether there is any conflict of interest.

15. Digital collection

The journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua allows readers to access all published content free of charge in its digital version. The content is archived in the "Archives" section.

The content of electronic documents in the "Archives" section is preserved over the long term, and their attributes (integrity, authenticity, immutability, and accessibility) are maintained.

16. Digital preservation

To preserve the integrity of the journal’s archives, the publisher (Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua, IMTA) provides servers to store a backup of the journal’s website, including all its files. Additionally, issues of Tecnología y ciencias del agua will be uploaded to the Internet Archive once they are properly published.

17. Interoperability protocol

The journal's website uses the OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative-Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) protocol, which is used for the transmission of metadata over the Internet. This is done through the journal's OJS platform (https://revistatyca.org.mx/index.php/tyca/oai).

18. Code of ethics

The work of the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua is based on principles of impartiality, honestly, fairness, respect and responsibility; its Code of Ethics is intended for editors, reviewers, and authors. It is based on guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). To view the full version, please visit the Code of Ethics.

19. Open access

The journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua is an open access publication.

This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), license, which allows users to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) under the condition that proper attribution is given to the article’s authors and the journal; commercial use of the publications is not permitted. Users may access all published material free of charge and without the need to register.

20. Discussions, erratum, corrections, retractions and deletions of published papers

The Editorial Office of Tecnología y ciencias del agua will consider discussions, errata, corrections, retractions and deletions of articles on its publications considering the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

These actions will depend largely on the type and severity of the error in the data presented. All changes will be visible to users with their corresponding history (both in the DOI and on the web page).

20.1. Discussions

These are criticisms or comments from readers on a published article. These discussions must meet the following criteria to be considered for publication:

• Make reference to the article published in the compilation volume or in the Upcoming Issues section.
• The content of the critique or commentary should not be libelous or defamatory toward the authors or their institutions.
• It should include data or evidence that serve to give validity to your comments.

The editor-in-chief will receive the discussions and will check that these criteria are met. If so, it will be forwarded to the authors for review, and they will be given the option of whether or not they wish to respond.

When the authors decide to respond to the discussion, a communication will take place between the authors of the discussion and the authors of the published paper. When the responses from both parties are satisfactory to all involved, the discussion will be published along with the response.

In case the authors decide not to respond, only the discussion and a note mentioning the lack of response will be published.

20.2. Erratum

They are made when an error or omission made by the Editorial Office after the publication of the paper must be corrected, which may affect the publication data or the reputation of the authors or the journal, but where the academic integrity of the paper remains unchanged.

Changes made will be announced to the public indicating the errors corrected in the paper.

1. The correction of the paper.
2. At the end of the corrected paper, a note will be included with a link to the errata announcement.
3. The new document will be replaced in the compilation volume and a new DOI will be assigned.

20.3. Author's corrections

They will be made when it is necessary to correct an error or omission made by the authors that affects the publication data or the reputation of the authorship or the journal, but where the academic integrity of the article remains unchanged.

Changes made will be announced to the public, indicating the errors corrected in the document.

The actions taken by the Editorial Coordination will be:

1. The correction of the paper
2. At the end of the corrected paper a note will be included with the link to the announcement of the correction.
3. The new document will be replaced in the compilation volume and a new DOI will be assigned

20.4. Retractions

They will be undertaken to correct the publication and alert readers to papers whose content or data are so seriously flawed or erroneous that their results and conclusions cannot be relied upon, and to papers that fail to comply with professional, ethical and/or legal codes. The main purpose of retraction is to correct the publication and ensure its integrity, rather than to punish the authors.

Retraction may be considered if it is found with:

• Clear evidence that the results are unreliable; as a result of misconduct (data fabrication or image manipulation); or for erroneous research praxis.
• Evidence of redundant or duplicate publication.
• Evidence of plagiarism.
• Fraudulent authorship.
• Manipulation of peer review.
• Unethical research or research that breaks ethical codes of the profession.
• Copyright infringement, defamation, privacy, illegality.
• Evidence of competing interests influencing research results.
• Request of the author(s).

Actions when retracting a paper will be:

1. Include in the paper document the word "Retracted".
2. Publish a statement of the reasons for the retraction, signed by the editor-in-chief, and with the names of those involved.
3. A DOI will be assigned to the retraction announcement.

20.5. Papers elimination

This will only occur:

• When the article is clearly defamatory or infringes other legal rights.
• When a article is subject to a court order.

When a article is removed, the metadata (authorship and title) will be retained and the text will be replaced by a document stating that the article has been removed, along with the reasons.

21. Certificate of Reservation of Rights to the Exclusive Use of Tecnología y ciencias del agua

Reservation number: 04-2021-080623573500-102.

22. ISSN

Electronic ISSN: 2007-2422.

23. Data and intellectual property policies, including copyright agreements and licenses

The authors sign the document titled “Permission to Publish”, which outlines both the rights the authors transfer to the journal to publish their article and the rights they retain over their article in accordance with Mexican copyright law and the journal's Creative Commons license type.

23.1. Comprehensive Privacy Notice

The Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua (IMTA), located at Paseo Cuauhnáhuac, No. 8532, Col. Progreso, Zip Code 62550, Jiutepec, Morelos, is responsible for processing the personal data you provide to us, which will be protected in accordance with the provisions of the General Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Obligated Entities and other applicable regulations.

23.1.1. What personal data do we collect, and for what purposes?

We will use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

• Include a list of authors who have contributed to the various issues of the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua.
• Identify the participating authors.
• Comply with the guidelines for submission to the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua.
• Publish the names of the participants.
• Publish the nationalities of the participants.
• Publish the participants' email addresses.
• Post the participants' photos.
• Give the permissions specified in the rules of participation.
• For visitors and registered users of the website, we share the aforementioned data with Contrimetric in order to provide recommendations for academic and scientific articles and to personalize content based on each user’s professional interests.

In addition, please be advised that the data collected will be used to generate statistics and reports on the results of the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua. However, it is important to note that the content of these statistics and reports will not be linked to the data owner, so it will not be possible to identify them, with the exception of the participants’ names. It is important to specify that the journal’s publication may include the participant’s name, nationality, email address, and photograph, thereby making them identifiable.

For the purposes described above, we will request the following personal information: the participant’s full name, email address, landline or cell phone number; as well as the information contained in one of the following documents: official identification or, if applicable, a legal document proving the participant’s identity.

23.1.2. Legal basis for the processing of personal data

The Water Governance and Capacity Building Coordination, through the Sub-Coordination for Communication, Outreach, and Water Culture—both part of the IMTA—collaborate on and edit the content published in the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua.

Pursuant to Article 3 of the Decree of Establishment, Article 18 of the IMTA Organic Statute, and Articles 17, 18, 19, 20, and 25 of the General Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Obligated Entities of the Mexican State, and within the framework of the organization, production, and publication of the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua, personal data is collected for the aforementioned purposes.

23.1.3. Where can I exercise my ARCO rights?

You may exercise your rights of access, rectification, erasure, or objection regarding your personal data (ARCO rights) directly with this Institute’s Transparency Unit, located at Paseo Cuauhnáhuac No. 8532, Col. Progreso, Zip Code 62550, Jiutepec, Morelos, or via email unidad_enlace@tlaloc.imta.mx.

If you would like to know the procedure for exercising these rights, you may visit the Transparency Unit, send an email to the address listed above, or call (+52-777) 329 3600, ext. 880.

23.1.4. Data transfer

In accordance with the publication guidelines of the journal Tecnología y ciencias del agua, the names, nationalities, email addresses, and photographs of the participants will be made public in that publication.

No additional transfers will be made, except those necessary to comply with duly substantiated and justified requests for information from a competent authority.

Modification date: 20/03/2026