1. General Copyright Statement

The journal supports responsible open access publishing and the wide dissemination of scholarly knowledge. Authors retain the copyright of their published work, while granting the journal the right to publish, distribute, archive, and identify the article as part of the official scholarly record of the journal.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that the work is original, that they have the necessary rights to all content included in the manuscript, and that the publication of the work does not infringe the copyright, intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other legal rights of any third party.

2. Author Rights

Authors retain copyright over their published articles. This means that authors remain the owners of their scholarly work and may use, share, deposit, and promote their published article in accordance with the journal’s licensing terms.

Authors may normally share the published article with colleagues and academic networks; deposit the published version in institutional or subject repositories; use the article in teaching, lectures, and academic presentations; include the article in future books, theses, or collected works, with proper citation; share the article through personal, institutional, or professional webpages; and promote the article through scholarly communication channels.

All reuse must include proper acknowledgement of the original publication in the journal, including the article title, journal title, authors, year of publication, DOI where available, and applicable license information.

3. License for Published Articles

Published articles are made available under a Creative Commons license, where indicated on the article page and in the article PDF. The journal recommends the use of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) as the standard open access license, unless a different license is explicitly stated.

Under CC BY 4.0, users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to, share, adapt, and build upon the published work, including for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), the journal, and the source of publication.

Proper attribution should include author name(s), article title, journal title, year of publication, DOI or permanent URL where available, and reference to the applicable Creative Commons license.

4. Journal Publishing Rights

By submitting and publishing an accepted manuscript, authors grant the journal a non-exclusive right to publish the article as part of the journal; make the article available online as open access content; distribute the article through the journal website and related publishing platforms; register and deposit article metadata with DOI and indexing-related services; archive the article for long-term preservation; include the article in journal issues, collections, catalogues, databases, and scholarly discovery systems; and identify the journal as the original place of publication.

This publishing right allows the journal to maintain the integrity, visibility, and long-term accessibility of the scholarly record.

5. Third-Party Material

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use any third-party material included in their manuscript, unless such material is already in the public domain or is available under a license that permits the intended use.

Third-party material may include, but is not limited to, figures, tables, photographs, maps, diagrams, artworks, archival materials, survey instruments, datasets, copyrighted text excerpts, translations, screenshots, and multimedia content.

Authors must clearly identify third-party material in the manuscript and provide appropriate credit, citation, permission statement, or license information. If permission is required, it must be obtained before publication.

6. Responsibility for Permissions

The responsibility for securing copyright permissions rests with the authors. The journal may request evidence of permission before publication where necessary.

If authors use material under a Creative Commons or other open license, they must comply with the exact license terms. This may include attribution, indication of changes, non-commercial restrictions, no-derivatives restrictions, or share-alike requirements.

If permission cannot be obtained, authors must remove or replace the material before final publication.

7. Preprints and Prior Dissemination

Authors may share preprints or earlier versions of their manuscript, provided that this does not conflict with the journal’s editorial policies, ethical standards, or any third-party rights. Authors should disclose any prior public dissemination of the manuscript during submission.

After publication, authors should update preprint records or repositories with the full citation and DOI of the final published version.

8. Repository and Self-Archiving Policy

Authors may deposit the published version of their article in institutional repositories, subject repositories, personal websites, academic profiles, and other scholarly platforms, provided that the original journal publication is properly cited.

The deposited version should include full bibliographic citation, DOI or permanent article link, journal title, publication year, and copyright and license statement. This supports long-term accessibility, author visibility, and responsible scholarly dissemination.

9. Use of Published Content by Readers

Readers may use published articles according to the license stated on the article page and in the article PDF. Where articles are published under CC BY 4.0, readers may reuse and adapt the content provided that proper attribution is given.

Users must not misrepresent the authors’ work, remove attribution, falsify citation information, or use published content in a misleading, unethical, or unlawful manner.

10. Copyright Infringement and Concerns

If a copyright concern is raised regarding published or submitted material, the journal will review the matter carefully. The editorial office may request clarification from the authors, supporting documentation, permission records, or replacement materials.

If copyright infringement is confirmed, the journal may take appropriate action, including correction, removal of infringing material, publication of a notice, article withdrawal, or retraction, depending on the seriousness and timing of the issue.

11. Copyright and Licensing Transparency

The journal is committed to transparency in copyright and licensing. The applicable license should be clearly stated on the article page, in the PDF, and, where possible, in article metadata.

Authors are encouraged to contact the editorial office before submission if they are unsure about permissions, reuse of third-party material, repository deposit, licensing terms, or copyright responsibilities.