Open Access Policy

1. Open Access Definition

ABSE defines Open Access as the unrestricted online availability of scholarly articles, allowing users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to full texts, and to use them for any lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical restrictions, provided the authors and the source are properly acknowledged.

2. Licensing Framework

All published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits anyone to reuse, share, and adapt the content, even for commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.

• Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
• Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose.
• Attribution: Give appropriate credit and provide a link to the license.

3. Author Rights

Authors retain full copyright and publishing rights without restrictions. They are free to:

• Deposit any version of their work in institutional or subject repositories.
• Share their articles via personal or academic networks such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu.
• Reuse figures, data, or text for future research, educational, or commercial use with citation.

4. Access Fees and Publication Charges

Readers have free access to all journal content. To maintain Open Access infrastructure, authors may be required to pay Article Processing Charges (APC) after manuscript acceptance. Waivers or partial discounts are available as per the Waiver Policy for authors from low-income regions or special cases.

5. Repository and Self-Archiving Policy

ABSE encourages authors to self-archive all versions of their manuscripts:

• Preprint (Submitted Version): May be shared anytime.
• Accepted Manuscript (Postprint): May be deposited in repositories immediately upon acceptance.
• Published Version (PDF): May be freely distributed with citation and DOI link.

These policies comply with SHERPA/RoMEO green open-access standards.

6. Compliance with Funders and Institutions

ABSE meets the open-access requirements of major funding agencies, including:

• European Commission’s Horizon Europe and ERC mandates.
• NIH Public Access Policy (U.S.).
• UKRI and Wellcome Trust Open Access mandates.
• Plan S and cOAlition S principles.

Articles published in ABSE are deposited and indexed in repositories compliant with these funders’ requirements.

7. Digital Archiving and Preservation

ABSE ensures long-term digital preservation through trusted partners such as:

• Portico — for long-term archiving and preservation.
• LOCKSS and CLOCKSS — for distributed and secure backups.
• SHERPA/RoMEO — for repository transparency.

All articles are assigned a DOI through CrossRef for permanent identification and linking.

8. Ethical and Legal Considerations

ABSE adheres to COPE and ICMJE standards for responsible research dissemination. The Open Access Policy is consistent with international intellectual property laws, ensuring that author rights and research integrity remain protected while enabling open knowledge sharing.

9. Benefits of Open Access Publishing

• Enhanced global visibility and citation impact.
• Immediate availability and accessibility of research.
• Improved interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Public access to taxpayer-funded research outcomes.

“Open Access empowers both researchers and society by removing barriers to knowledge, accelerating scientific progress, and encouraging innovation.”

10. Policy Review and Revision

This Open Access Policy is reviewed annually by the editorial board to ensure alignment with evolving global frameworks such as Plan S, cOAlition S, and the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. Updates are communicated through official journal announcements.

11. Contact Information

For any queries or licensing clarifications, please contact:

• Email: [email protected]
• Editorial Office: Annals of Biomedical Science and Engineering (ABSE), USA