The Journal of Community Medicine and Health Sciences (JCMHS) operates under a transparent copyright and licensing framework that safeguards authors’ intellectual property while ensuring unrestricted dissemination of scientific knowledge. Our policies comply with the best practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), DOAJ, and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

All articles published in JCMHS are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means anyone may share and adapt the work for any purpose, even commercially, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s).

1. Author Copyright Ownership

Authors retain full copyright of their published work. Upon submission, authors grant JCMHS a non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, and archive the article in all formats and media, worldwide. This ensures that authors maintain ownership while allowing broad dissemination and indexing of their research.

2. Licensing Framework

All published content is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license facilitates free access, redistribution, and reuse of scholarly works with appropriate acknowledgment. Under CC BY 4.0, users are free to:

Share: copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Attribution Requirement: users must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.

3. Rights Granted to JCMHS

Authors grant the journal a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive license to:

Publish and distribute the work in print and electronic formats.
Translate, index, and archive the article in recognized repositories.
Permit third-party aggregators to include the article for indexing or archiving.
Use figures, tables, or abstracts for promotional or educational purposes with full credit to the author.

4. Third-Party Material

If the submitted manuscript includes copyrighted figures, tables, or text excerpts owned by others, the author must obtain written permission for reuse. Authors should clearly identify such content and provide appropriate credit statements. Failure to secure necessary permissions may delay publication.

5. Author’s Self-Archiving Rights

JCMHS supports self-archiving (green open access) and complies with SHERPA/RoMEO standards. Authors may deposit any version of their article — preprint, accepted manuscript, or published version — in institutional or subject repositories, subject to the following conditions:

Provide full bibliographic citation and DOI link to the version of record on the JCMHS website.
Preserve the CC BY 4.0 license notice.
Do not alter or misrepresent the published version.

6. Reuse by Authors

Authors are free to reuse their own published content without seeking permission. This includes incorporating the material into theses, derivative works, book chapters, or future research projects, provided the original publication in JCMHS is properly acknowledged.

7. Rights of Readers and Users

Readers are entitled to freely access and reuse JCMHS content. Under CC BY 4.0, users may:

Share or repost entire articles for educational or non-commercial purposes.
Translate or adapt materials with citation to the original author(s).
Integrate content into teaching materials, data repositories, and policy documents.
Use figures and data in derivative works with attribution.

8. License Display

Each article includes a licensing statement at the bottom of its first page, for example:

“This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.”

9. Journal Copyright Policy Summary

Aspect	Policy Description
Ownership	Authors retain copyright to their published work.
License	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Reuse Rights	Anyone may share and adapt content with attribution.
Self-Archiving	Permitted immediately; no embargo period.
Commercial Use	Allowed under CC BY 4.0 terms.
Attribution Requirement	Cite author(s), article title, journal name, volume, issue, page, DOI.
Third-Party Content	Authors must obtain reuse permissions where necessary.

10. Moral Rights of Authors

JCMHS recognizes the authors’ moral rights to integrity and proper attribution of their work. The journal ensures that the authors’ names remain visibly associated with their publications, and that their works are not misrepresented or used in derogatory contexts.

11. Licensing for Data and Multimedia

Datasets, audio, video, and supplementary files submitted to JCMHS are also covered by CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise specified. Authors wishing to apply a different license (e.g., CC BY-NC or CC BY-ND) must indicate this clearly at submission.

12. Institutional and Funder Mandates

JCMHS complies with open-access requirements of major funders and institutions, including:

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
European Research Council (ERC)
UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)
Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
World Health Organization (WHO) Open Access Policy

13. Commercial Reuse and Distribution

Commercial entities may reuse JCMHS content under CC BY 4.0, provided proper attribution is given. Any reuse for promotional, advertising, or branding purposes must not imply journal endorsement.

14. Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism

JCMHS uses plagiarism-detection tools such as iThenticate to ensure originality. If copyright infringement or plagiarism is discovered after publication, corrective actions—including article retraction—will be taken following COPE retraction guidelines.

15. Responsibilities of Authors

Ensure submitted manuscripts do not infringe on others’ copyrights.
Obtain permissions for third-party materials prior to submission.
Provide accurate credit statements for reused content.
Sign the author declaration confirming originality and license acceptance.

16. Responsibilities of the Journal

JCMHS commits to:

Maintain transparency in copyright and reuse policies.
Display license information clearly on every article webpage and PDF.
Register DOIs through CrossRef for persistent citation tracking.
Archive all licensed content in Portico and LOCKSS.

17. Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA)

JCMHS does not require a copyright transfer; instead, authors sign a Publishing License Agreement (PLA) confirming that:

The article is original and not under review elsewhere.
All co-authors have approved the submission.
Authors grant JCMHS permission to publish under CC BY 4.0.

18. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

If AI or machine-learning tools were used in preparing figures, translations, or analyses, authors must disclose this transparently. Such content remains subject to the same CC BY 4.0 licensing as the main article text.

19. Copyright Duration and Termination

Author rights are perpetual. The license granted to JCMHS is irrevocable but non-exclusive, ensuring that authors may republish or distribute their work elsewhere without restriction.

20. Compliance with Global Standards

This policy aligns with global open-access and copyright frameworks including:

21. Citation Format for Reuse

When reusing JCMHS content, users must cite as follows:

Author(s). Year. Title of the article. Journal of Community Medicine and Health Sciences. Volume(Issue): Pages. DOI: https://doi.org/xxxx

22. Licensing Disputes

Any concerns regarding license misuse, attribution errors, or unauthorized reproductions should be reported to the editorial office at [email protected]. The journal will review such reports and act in accordance with COPE guidelines.

23. Policy Updates

This Copyright and Licensing Policy is reviewed annually to reflect updates in international copyright law and Creative Commons revisions. The latest version is always available on the journal’s website.

“At JCMHS, open licensing protects both innovation and integrity — empowering authors while ensuring that scientific knowledge remains a shared global resource.”