Dedication, types of contributions and their appearance on the Journal website

The Virtual Journal of Speleogenesis and Evolution of Karst Aquifers is an online scientific journal dedicated to studies on the origin and development of solution caves and related aspects of hydrogeology and evolution of karst. It is jointly published by the Commission on Karst Hydrogeology and Speleogenesis of the Union International of Speleology and the Karst Commission of the International Geographic Union.

Access to the Virtual Journal and to facilities on the site is free.

The Journal publishes research articles, review papers, short viewpoints and book reviews related to speleogenesis, hydrogeology and evolution of karst, as well as articles on all aspects of physical speleology and karstology with a speleogenetic component.

Articles and papers posted on the Journal website come from three main sources and basic rules for them vary accordingly:

1. Contributions to the Journal submitted by authors at their own initiative. Such contributions pass through peer review before final acceptance in order to maintain high scientific standards. Both original articles and articles previously published elsewhere are accepted for consideration. Review works that summarise specific aspects, or illustrative case studies with "key" observations and results, or suggesting new approach or interpretations are particularly welcome. Posting original articles on the Journal website does not preclude their publication in the traditional disciplinary journals. Contributing authors should consult and follow "Guidelines for Authors" in preparation and submitting their articles.
   
2. Invited papers, prepared at the request of the Editors by the leading authorities in the field, which review and summarise major aspects or important problems of speleogenetic studies.
   
3. Papers selected by the editors and the members of the Editorial Board from symposium proceedings and more traditional, disciplinary (geology, hydrogeology, geomorphology, etc.) and speleological journals published world-wide. Selection of papers for posting is made on the basis of their potential to highlight important and interesting developments in the area of speleogenesis, karst hydrogeology and evolution. In case of reproduction of works from already published sources, the authors will be invited to make revisions or comments whenever they wish so.

Contributions to the Journal may be submitted for posting as Articles (normally up to 8000 words) and thematic Reviews (normally up to 12000 words). Larger articles and reviews may also be posted but the subject and size of these should be discussed first with the Editors. The Journal will maintain bibliography search facilities and provide for Reviews of traditionally published most important and interesting works.

The Journal website also provides a special informal Forum, where readers can post their Viewpoints (up to 2000 words) and short messages exchanging opinions and ideas, debating issues and rising questions. The readers can directly send their messages to the Forum, although the Editors retain the rights to delete messages with obvious off-topic content.

The Journal issues are released quarterly and announced to registered users and broad circles of cave and karst scientists via e-mail. Bibliographic descriptions of papers with their abstracts come on the "Current Issue" page, structured according to topic classification adopted for the Journal Archive. Full articles can be viewed as HTML files, or downloaded as PDF files that can be further read or printed by users through free-distributed Acrobat Reader application.

At the same time with their publication and announcement, all articles are also placed in the "Journal Archive", where they will form a structured and constantly growing collection of works on speleogenesis and, hydrogeology and evolution of karst. Facilities are provided on the "Journal Archive" page to search for articles by the author, year and keywords. All articles can be downloaded by users regardless of the date of their posting on the web.

A selection of the most important papers posted on the Journal website will be also organised to form a special part of "Principles of Speleogenesis". The inclusion of papers in this part is made upon recommendation of the Editorial Board members on the basis of their general significance and coverage of the fundamentals and key aspects of speleogenesis. The "Principles of Speleogenesis" part serves as a priority reading recommendation by the experts to those researchers who are relatively new in the field and want to acquire an adequate picture of the scope of the subject.

Updating, commenting and modification of previously published articles

In the online publication it is possible to update or revise articles previously posted on the Journal website, whenever the need arises to account for newly emerging facts, research results and ideas. This possibility can be specifically utilised for papers that review and summarise essential knowledge on major aspects and problems of the fields. Papers will not be modified in writing style and research results (except for corrections of errors detected in a previous publication), but modifications in discussion, references and conclusions are accepted. For referencing purposes a notice and date of modification will be indicated in the article and its bibliographic description, and the original version is kept linked and available. Updating or modification can be initiated by the author, or advised to the author by the Editors.

In cases of reproduction of selected works from already published sources, the authors will be invited to make revisions or comments whenever they wish so. At the author's discretion, the work can be published as a revised paper with changes incorporated in it, or as an original text with the later floating comments on it.

Copyright policy

Publishing of an original contribution in this Journal website does not require a full copyright transfer from the author, although it is required to send us a permission for the following use of the materials:

"Non-exclusive, one-time online and archival rights for publication on Speleogenesis and Evolution of Karst Aquifers (www.speleogenesis.net)".

Publication of materials that have appeared in print before is made upon permission releases obtained from the copyright holder (the author or the publisher). A citation to the source is provided when such materials are posted on this Journal website, and users are requested to make reference to the source (see "Citation Format").