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Open Access Policy | Archives of Surgery and Clinical Research

Overview & Rationale

ASCR’s open access model advances surgical knowledge by removing price and permission barriers. Readers anywhere—clinicians, trainees, researchers, and the public—can read and reuse articles immediately. Authors keep their copyright and benefit from wider visibility, citations, and translation into practice. This policy consolidates how open access works at ASCR and clarifies rights for readers and authors, with clear links to licensing, copyright, and processing-charge pages on the legacy site.

License & Attribution

Unless stated otherwise on a specific article, ASCR publishes under CC BY 4.0. This license authorizes sharing and adaptation—even for commercial uses—provided attribution is given, a link to the license is included, and changes are indicated. The license is displayed on article landing pages and PDFs, and we register the license URL in article metadata so that indexers and repositories can detect reuse permissions automatically.

Activity Allowed? Requirements
Share (download, print, distribute) Yes Credit authors & journal; link license; note changes.
Adapt/translate Yes Credit; link license; note translation/changes.
Commercial reuse Yes Credit; link license; avoid implying endorsement.
Text-and-data mining Yes Respect privacy/ethics; retain DOIs and license notices.

Exceptions: Credit lines may specify alternative terms for third-party materials (e.g., images, scales, maps). In those cases, the credit line governs that element; the rest of the article remains under CC BY.

Authors retain copyright. Upon acceptance, authors grant ASCR a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, and archive the version of record in all media and identify itself as the original publisher. This enables indexing, preservation, and lawful reuse while allowing authors to reuse their work with a citation to the version of record. Author rights and reuse permissions are reflected on the journal’s copyright and licensing pages.

Self-Archiving & Repository Use

ASCR supports sharing of all common versions to maximize access and compliance:

  • Preprint (submitted manuscript): May be posted anywhere, any time. Include a citation to the version of record when available.
  • Accepted manuscript (AAM): May be deposited in institutional/subject repositories upon acceptance. Label clearly as “Author Accepted Manuscript”.
  • Version of record (VoR): May be deposited in repositories and personal/departmental websites immediately upon publication. Always include the DOI, license link, and full citation.
Good practice: Keep repository metadata synchronized with the version of record (title, authors, DOI, license, funding, and acknowledgments). Retain the CC BY notice in file headers and captions.

Third-Party Material & Credit Lines

Authors must secure permissions for materials not owned by them or confirm that those materials are available under compatible licenses. Each such item must include a clear credit line indicating the rights holder, license, and any reuse restrictions. Ethical considerations apply to clinical images: obtain documented consent and de-identify images to prevent re-identification.

Item Credit line format Notes
Repository image under CC BY “© Contributor, CC BY 4.0 (link).” Retain original attribution text and license link.
Reused figure (publisher permission) “Reproduced from [citation] with permission; © Publisher; not covered by CC BY.” Attach permission letter and original DOI/citation.
Clinical photo “Used with written informed consent; identifying features removed.” Consent and de-identification required.

Preprints & Prior Dissemination

ASCR accepts submissions previously posted as preprints. Authors should disclose the server, link the preprint DOI, and summarize substantive changes made during peer review. Conference abstracts, theses, and media coverage do not preclude submission; disclose prior dissemination in the cover letter and manuscript.

Article Processing Charges (APCs) & Waivers

ASCR does not charge submission fees. If a manuscript is accepted, an Article Processing Charge (APC) covers editorial management, production, hosting, indexing, and preservation. There are no hidden charges; invoices are issued only after acceptance. Waivers or discounts are available for authors with demonstrated need and are considered independently of editorial decisions.

Text-and-Data Mining (TDM)

ASCR content under CC BY may be mined by researchers and automated agents for lawful purposes. Maintain attribution, do not strip embedded identifiers (e.g., DOIs), and respect privacy/ethics for any personal data contained in case reports or images. For bulk access, contact the editorial office to coordinate responsible crawling consistent with platform performance.

How We Display Licenses, DOIs & Metadata

Each article page and PDF displays: the DOI in canonical form (https://doi.org/…), the CC BY 4.0 license name and link, the journal title and ISSN, and a copyright line naming the authors. We embed machine-readable metadata (e.g., schema.org/ScholarlyArticle in JSON-LD) and deposit license URLs, funding data, and relation links (corrections/retractions) with DOI registration services. These practices improve discoverability and ensure legal clarity for reuse.

Compliance with Funder & Institutional Policies

Publishing under CC BY typically satisfies immediate-OA mandates. If specific deposit targets apply (e.g., PubMed Central for eligible work), our production workflow captures funder names, grant numbers, and license information to support compliance. Authors should provide accurate funder details and any required data availability statements in their submission.

Data, Code & Supplementary Materials

We encourage authors to deposit de-identified datasets and analysis code in trusted repositories with persistent identifiers. Choose licenses appropriate to reuse goals: CC0 or CC BY for data; MIT/Apache-2.0/GPL-3.0 for code. Cite repositories in the reference list where possible, include accession numbers, and ensure that clinical and personal data are shared only in line with consent and law.

Responsibilities

Scenarios & How We Handle Them

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you allow commercial reuse?

Yes, CC BY permits commercial reuse with attribution and license retention. Do not imply endorsement by the authors or ASCR.

Can I post the accepted manuscript before publication?

Yes. You may deposit the AAM upon acceptance. Label the file clearly and add the DOI link once the version of record is available.

Are supplementary files also open access?

Yes, unless a file explicitly states a different license in its caption or credit line. For datasets and code, choose repository-appropriate open licenses while honoring privacy and consent.

How do waivers work?

Submit a request with your manuscript ID and justification at submission or upon acceptance when payment is requested. Waivers/discounts are considered independently of editorial decisions.

What if my funder requires a different license?

Contact the editorial office before acceptance. Alternative CC licenses may be considered when required; any exception will be stated on the article page and PDF.

Contact

Licensing and reuse: editorial@clinsurgeryjournal.com · Production and metadata: production@clinsurgeryjournal.com