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Editorial Policy: Discussions
Purpose and Scope
The Discussions section of Pollution and Diseases is dedicated to structured scholarly dialogue on scientifically, environmentally, and socially significant issues related to pollution and disease. This section provides a curated space for the critical examination of unresolved, emerging, or controversial topics where interdisciplinary exchange is essential.Discussions are organized around clearly defined thematic frameworks and evolve through a sequence of peer-reviewed contributions, commentaries, and responses.
Types of ContributionsThe Discussions section may include the following types of contributions:1. Core ArticlesSubstantive research or conceptual papers that initiate or substantially advance a specific discussion topic.2. CommentariesShorter analytical or critical responses addressing specific arguments, data interpretations, or conceptual frameworks presented in core articles.3. Responses / RepliesAuthor responses to commentaries, aimed at clarification, rebuttal, or further development of the discussion.4. Editorial IntroductionsFraming texts prepared by the editorial team or guest editors to contextualize the discussion and outline key questions.All contributions must maintain a scholarly tone and adhere to the journal’s ethical and academic standards.
Submission and Review ProcessAll submissions to the Discussions section are subject to editorial screening and peer review.• Core Articles undergo standard double-blind peer review.• Commentaries and Responses are reviewed by at least one subject editor and, where appropriate, by external reviewers.• Editorial Introductions are commissioned and reviewed internally.The editorial board reserves the right to invite contributions or to decline submissions that do not align with the thematic focus or scholarly standards of the section.
Editorial Oversight and ModerationEach discussion is overseen by a designated Discussion Editor or Guest Editor, responsible for:• Defining the thematic scope of the discussion• Ensuring academic coherence and balance of perspectives• Moderating scholarly exchange and preventing personal, political, or non-scientific discourseThe editorial team may limit the number of contributions to a discussion or formally close a discussion when editorial objectives have been met.
Ethical Standards and ConductThe Discussions section adheres strictly to the journal’s ethical guidelines and follows the principles of COPE.Submissions must:• Engage critically with ideas, data, and interpretations rather than individuals• Avoid ad hominem arguments, defamatory statements, or unsubstantiated allegations• Clearly distinguish between empirical evidence, interpretation, and opinionThe editorial board reserves the right to reject or retract contributions that violate ethical standards or compromise scholarly integrity.
Transparency and DisclosureAuthors must disclose all relevant conflicts of interest.All sources of funding, institutional affiliations, and potential competing interests must be clearly stated.Where applicable, data availability statements should accompany discussion-related articles.
Indexing and CitationContributions published in the Discussions section are citable scholarly outputs and are indexed in the same manner as other journal content.Each article is assigned a DOI and forms part of the permanent scholarly record.
Editorial IndependenceThe Discussions section reflects the views of the contributing authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the editorial board or publisher.Editorial decisions are made independently and are not influenced by external political, institutional, or commercial interests.
Freshwater
… freshwater degradation should be understood not as a linear decline in “quality,” but as a restructuring of environments, where new and insufficiently studied states can arise, including states with unexpected infectious properties.
Problems related to freshwater are clearly intensifying. They manifest in multiple forms and are often region-specific, shaped by local geochemistry, infrastructure histories, climatic regimes, and patterns of industrial and agricultural pressure. Nature seems to be improvising its own kind of jazz, producing novel responses to decades of anthropogenic pollution. In the United States, freshwater-related challenges take one form; in southern Africa, they may be entirely different. Yet even this comparison is incomplete: in many regions the same stressors generate divergent outcomes because freshwater systems are not merely conduits of water, but complex ecological media with their own internal dynamics, thresholds, and feedbacks. The full geographical diversity of emerging freshwater problems has yet to be comprehensively understood, and the scientific vocabulary for describing these emerging configurations remains, in many respects, underdeveloped.
Much remains to be discovered in the study of this topic. The issue is no longer limited to the stable provision of populations with high-quality drinking water—this stage has already been passed. Freshwater now appears as an arena in which multiple crises converge: chemical contamination, microbial transformations, sediment remobilization, infrastructure aging, climate-driven hydrological volatility, and governance failures that are often invisible until their biological consequences become irreversible. The situation with freshwater is far worse and far more complex. What has occurred is an intrusion into a natural system of extraordinary complexity—one that functions through multi-scale interactions among chemical signals, biological adaptation, and ecological regulation. In this sense, freshwater degradation should be understood not as a linear decline in “quality,” but as a restructuring of environments, where new and insufficiently studied states can arise, including states with unexpected infectious properties.
Military Activity and Soils: Long-Term Environmental Consequences
War & Soil
The Discussions section provides a space for analytical and conceptual exchange on complex, long-duration environmental processes related to pollution and disease. It encourages critical reflection on how human activities—including militarized actions—interact with natural systems such as soils, shaping ecological trajectories over decades and centuries. Contributions may address empirical observations, theoretical perspectives, historical interpretations, or methodological challenges. The section is intended to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue without political positioning, focusing instead on natural processes, cumulative impacts, and the broader implications of environmental disturbance for ecosystems and human societies.