Copy Right Policy

Licensing

Al-Marjān Research Center supports the use of Creative Commons licenses to inform users about how published content can be utilized. While we do not mandate a specific license, authors are encouraged to choose the Creative Commons license that best meets their journal's needs or provide options for licensing their work.

It is essential to understand that you cannot modify the terms of a Creative Commons license. Additional restrictions on authors or users that conflict with the license provisions are not permissible. Creative Commons licenses clearly state that "For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply." In certain cases, we may accept a publisher's proprietary license if it aligns closely with a Creative Commons license.

Copyright

The initial copyright of an article is held by the authors (or their employer, in some instances). When publishing, the copyright may remain with the author or be licensed or transferred to the publisher. Al-Marjān Research Center recommends that journals allow authors to retain copyright without restrictions. Authors would then grant the publisher the right of first publication and other non-exclusive publishing rights.

Even when authors retain copyright, publishers may impose certain conditions:

• Exclusive Publishing Rights: This means the author loses copyright without restrictions.
• Transfer or Exclusive License of Commercial Rights: This leads to the author no longer holding copyright without limitations.

It is vital that copyright terms do not contradict the licensing terms or the open access policy. The phrase “All rights reserved” is never suitable for open access content, and "fair use" is not considered open access; therefore, we do not accept journals with these restrictions.

Author Rights

The terms of the Creative Commons (or other) license do not apply to the copyright holder. This means that when the author retains copyright without restrictions, the license applies to the readers and the publisher. However, the license applies to both readers and the author when:

• Copyright has been transferred to the publisher.
• The author retains copyright and grants exclusive publishing rights to the publisher.
• The author retains copyright, transfers, or grants exclusive commercial rights to the publisher, and a non-commercial license is used.

For more information and examples, please refer to our downloadable presentation.

Available in Other Languages

French - hosted by Érudit.

Version History

This is Version 1 of the Al-Marjān Research Center Copyright and Licensing Policy.

Copyright: Al-Marjān Research Center,
All Rights Reserved © 2023. This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License