Open Access Statement

Our Open Access Model

ASCR operates a gold open-access model: the version of record is published online with permissive licensing and is free to read and reuse worldwide. We chose this model to accelerate surgical knowledge transfer and to support equitable access in all health-system settings. The legacy site states that ASCR is an open-access journal and displays Creative Commons licensing on article pages and PDFs. Our policy pages describe reader and author rights in plain language and confirm that authors retain copyright while granting the journal a license to publish.

License & Attribution

ASCR articles are typically published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). CC BY permits sharing and adaptation, even for commercial uses, provided that appropriate credit is given, a link to the license is included, and changes are indicated. This license is prominently displayed on article landing pages and PDFs. Unless otherwise noted in a credit line, all textual and graphical content within an article is covered by the article’s license.

Activity Allowed under CC BY Requirements
Share (download, print, distribute) Yes Credit the authors and journal; link the license; note changes if any.
Adapt (translate, remix, build upon) Yes Credit + license link + change notice.
Commercial reuse Yes Same as above.
TDM (text-and-data mining) Yes Respect privacy/ethics; retain attribution and license notices.

Authors retain copyright for their work. By submitting to ASCR, authors grant the publisher a non-exclusive license to publish, archive, and disseminate the version of record. Our “Copyright & Publishing Rights” page explains author and reader rights and clarifies that open access applies to all ASCR articles. The license information appears on article pages and PDFs.

Note: If an article includes third-party materials (e.g., images, scales, or datasets) that are not owned by the authors, the article must include a specific credit line with any differing license or restrictions.

Third-Party Material & Credit Lines

Authors are responsible for obtaining permissions to reuse third-party material not covered by the article’s Creative Commons license. Such materials must carry clear credit lines (e.g., “© 2023 Organization X, used with permission; not covered by CC BY”). For clinical photographs or videos, authors must ensure informed consent and de-identification. If a figure or table must remain under a more restrictive license, include a credit line indicating the applicable terms; all other article content remains under CC BY.

Self-Archiving & Repositories

ASCR supports self-archiving to maximize reach and compliance. Authors may deposit the submitted manuscript (preprint), the accepted manuscript (post-peer-review, pre-typeset), and the version of record (publisher PDF/HTML), provided that:

  • The version is labeled clearly (e.g., “Author Accepted Manuscript”).
  • A link to the version of record (DOI) is included upon publication.
  • The article license is displayed and preserved.

Institutional and subject repositories are both welcome. If your funder requires a specific repository (e.g., PubMed Central where applicable), indicate the identifier in your submission and we will register license information in our metadata to support compliance.

Funder Compliance

Many research funders mandate immediate open access with permissive licensing. Publishing with ASCR under CC BY typically satisfies such mandates. Where specific deposit or metadata requirements apply, our production team includes license URLs and funding data in Crossref deposits to enable discovery and reporting. Authors should provide funder names, grant numbers, and any required data availability statements during submission.

Text-and-Data Mining (TDM)

ASCR content published under CC BY may be mined and analyzed by researchers and automated agents, provided that use is lawful and respects privacy and ethical standards. Please maintain attribution and do not remove embedded identifiers (e.g., DOIs). If rate limits are encountered, contact the editorial office for bulk access options consistent with our preservation and platform policies.

Fees, Waivers & Independence

ASCR does not charge submission fees. If a manuscript is accepted after peer review, an Article Processing Charge (APC) is levied to cover editorial management, production, hosting, indexing, and preservation. Waivers or discounts—often up to a defined percentage—are considered for authors with demonstrated need, including those from under-resourced settings, when requested at submission or acceptance communication. Editorial decisions are strictly independent of fee status.

How We Display Licenses & Persistent Identifiers

Each article page and PDF displays:

  • The article’s DOI in canonical form (https://doi.org/…)
  • The Creative Commons license name and link (typically CC BY 4.0)
  • The journal title, ISSN, and publisher imprint

We also embed machine-readable metadata (e.g., schema.org/ScholarlyArticle in JSON-LD) and register license URLs with Crossref. These practices improve indexing, legal clarity for reuse, and compliance reporting for authors and institutions.

License Exceptions & Special Cases

On rare occasions, alternative Creative Commons licenses may be used (e.g., where an author’s funder or third-party content requires a different license). Any exception will be stated on the article page and in the PDF. If an article includes content under different terms, the credit line governs that element while the remainder of the article remains under CC BY.

Post-Publication Updates Under Open Access

Open access status continues for corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern. Notices receive DOIs and are interlinked with the affected article. Where factual updates are necessary, change logs or correction notices describe the reason and scope of the update. All versions remain citable via persistent identifiers.

Author Responsibilities

  • Confirm that the chosen license is suitable for your reuse needs and funder mandates.
  • Ensure third-party materials have compatible permissions and clear credit lines.
  • Provide accurate funding and disclosure information for metadata deposits.
  • Include a data and code availability statement; deposit materials in trusted repositories with persistent identifiers where feasible.
  • Use the DOI link (version of record) when sharing your article on websites, social networks, or repositories.

Reader Responsibilities

  • Retain author and journal attribution and the Creative Commons license notice.
  • Indicate if changes were made when adapting or translating content.
  • Respect any specific credit lines or restrictions on third-party materials.
  • Avoid implying endorsement by authors or the journal when reusing content.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I reuse a figure from an ASCR article in a lecture or course pack?

Yes—include author and journal attribution, the DOI link, and the CC BY 4.0 notice. If a figure carries a different credit line, follow the terms stated there.

May I translate an ASCR article?

Yes—translations are allowed under CC BY with attribution and a notice that the text is a translation; link to the version of record.

What about commercial reuse?

CC BY permits commercial reuse with attribution and license retention. Do not misrepresent endorsement and respect third-party credit lines.

Can I deposit the publisher PDF in my university repository?

Yes—ASCR supports deposit of the version of record. Please include the DOI and license link.

Does open access apply to supplementary files?

Yes, unless a specific file lists a different license or restriction in its caption or credit line. For datasets and code, we encourage repository-appropriate licenses that enable reuse (e.g., CC0, MIT, or Apache-2.0), subject to ethics and legal constraints.

Contact

For licensing questions, reuse permissions for third-party materials, or TDM access, contact: [email protected] · [email protected]