Medical Journal: IMJ Health Open Access License Policy

Medical Journal IMJ Health is committed to promoting the broadest possible access to published research by offering open access options that align with the needs of authors, readers, and institutions. Open access ensures that research articles are freely accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, enabling a wider dissemination of knowledge and fostering a greater impact for the work published in the journal.

Journal Policy for License:

1. Creative Commons Licenses:

Medical Journal IMJ Health offers a selection of Creative Commons licenses for authors publishing gold open access articles. These licenses provide authors with the flexibility to choose how their work can be used by others. The licenses available include:

• CC BY (Attribution): This license allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as proper credit is given to the original author.
• CC BY-NC (Attribution-NonCommercial): This license allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon the work non-commercially. Although new works must also acknowledge the author and be non-commercial, they don’t have to be licensed on the same terms.
• CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs): This license allows others to download the works and share them with others as long as they credit the author, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

2. Green Open Access:

Medical Journal IMJ Health also supports green open access, allowing authors to self-archive the accepted version of their articles in an institutional or subject repository. Authors choosing this route must attach a CC-BY-NC-ND license and follow the journal’s sharing guidelines to ensure compliance.

3. Archiving Policy:

Authors are encouraged to deposit a copy of their accepted manuscript (post-peer-review, but pre-typesetting) in an institutional repository, personal website, or non-commercial repository, ensuring compliance with the journal's archiving policy. This promotes the accessibility of the research while maintaining the integrity of the published version.

Choosing a License:

Selecting the appropriate Creative Commons license is an important decision for authors. Once a license is chosen, it cannot be revoked, ensuring that the terms of use remain consistent over time. Authors should consider the requirements of their funding bodies and the intended use of their work when choosing a license. For detailed information on Creative Commons licenses and to understand the implications of each, authors can visit the Creative Commons website.

Benefits of Open Access:

1. Increased Visibility and Impact:

Open access articles are more likely to be read, cited, and shared than those behind a paywall, leading to greater recognition of the author's work.

2. Global Reach:

By removing access barriers, open access ensures that researchers, practitioners, and policymakers around the world, regardless of their financial or institutional resources, can access the latest research findings.

3. Compliance with Funding Requirements:

Many research funders now require the work they support to be published under open access terms. Medical Journal IMJ Health’s flexible licensing options help authors meet these requirements.

Medical Journal IMJ Health is dedicated to maintaining high standards of ethical publishing while offering robust open access options that align with the evolving needs of the research community.