Copyright License
Clear licensing terms ensuring open access to water research while protecting author rights.
Open Access Licensing
Water publishes all articles under Creative Commons licensing, ensuring maximum accessibility and reuse of water science research while maintaining appropriate author protections.
Our licensing framework balances open science principles with recognition of author contributions to hydrology advancement.
All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This widely-adopted license enables broad use of water research while requiring proper attribution to original authors.
Sharing Rights
Anyone may copy and redistribute water research in any medium or format for any purpose, including practical applications, with proper attribution.
Adaptation Rights
Water research may be transformed, remixed, or built upon for any purpose. Derivatives must credit the original work and indicate changes made.
Attribution Requirement
Users must give appropriate credit, provide a license link, and indicate if water content was modified when reusing published work.
No Additional Restrictions
Licensors cannot impose additional legal terms or technological measures that restrict others from exercising permitted uses.
Authors publishing in Water retain significant rights to their research work. Understanding these rights helps authors maximize the value of their water science publications.
- Copyright remains with the author(s), not transferred to the journal for water publications
- Authors may reuse their water research content in subsequent publications with proper citation
- Educational use of your own material requires no additional permission
- Inclusion in edited water textbooks or collections is permitted with attribution
- Commercial reuse rights are retained under the CC BY license
Funder compliance: CC BY 4.0 licensing satisfies open access requirements from major research funders including NSF, EPA, and similar organizations supporting water research.
Authors must ensure they have rights to publish all content included in water manuscripts. Third-party images, figures, or data require appropriate permissions. Satellite imagery and mapping data may have specific licensing requirements.
For questions about licensing terms, reuse permissions, or specific situations not addressed here, contact the editorial office. We provide guidance helping authors and users understand rights and responsibilities for water content.
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