Copyright and Licensing

1. Copyright Policy

Scholarly works published through journals managed or supported by FEP Foundation are protected by applicable copyright and intellectual property laws.

Copyright protects the original expression of scholarly work, including the way research, analysis, arguments, findings, data interpretation, figures, tables, and other original content are presented.

Unless otherwise stated by the specific journal, authors should retain copyright in their work while granting the journal the rights necessary to publish, distribute, preserve, index, and make the article available under the journal's stated licensing conditions.

2. Creative Commons Licensing

FEP Foundation supports the use of recognized open licenses, including Creative Commons licenses, where appropriate.

A journal may choose to publish articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) or another Creative Commons license that is clearly identified by the journal.

Under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, users may share and adapt the material, including for commercial purposes, provided that the license conditions are followed.

Users must:

1. Give appropriate credit to the original author or authors.
2. Provide appropriate acknowledgment of the original publication.
3. Provide a link to the applicable Creative Commons license.
4. Indicate whether changes were made.
5. Avoid suggesting that the original author, journal, or publisher endorses the user or the user's adaptation.
6. If the work is remixed, transformed, or built upon under a ShareAlike license, distribute the resulting contribution under the same or a compatible license.

3. Re-Use and Permissions

Readers may access, read, download, share, reproduce, or otherwise use published material in accordance with the terms of the applicable copyright and open license.

Openly licensed scholarly material may generally be redistributed in any medium or format, provided that appropriate attribution is given and all applicable license conditions are respected.

Permission may be required for uses that fall outside the scope of the applicable license, particularly where material includes third-party copyrighted content, confidential information, photographs, datasets, trademarks, or other protected material.

4. Protecting Authors' Rights

FEP Foundation recognizes the importance of protecting the intellectual work, reputation, and legitimate rights of authors.

Allegations of copyright infringement, plagiarism, unethical re-use, fraudulent publication, misrepresentation of authorship, or other misuse of published work should be taken seriously and reviewed in accordance with the relevant journal's publication ethics policies.

Authors who become aware of possible plagiarism, unauthorized reproduction, fraudulent use, or other potential infringement involving their work are encouraged to contact the relevant journal editor.

Authors should also recognize that open licenses may permit broad forms of lawful re-use. A use that would otherwise require specific permission may be permitted when it complies with the terms of the applicable Creative Commons license.

5. Copyright Notice

Unless a journal states otherwise, authors publishing through journals managed or supported by FEP Foundation may be subject to the following general terms:

1. Authors retain copyright in their scholarly work.
2. Authors grant the journal the right of first publication and the permissions necessary to publish and distribute the article.
3. Published work may be made available under a Creative Commons or equivalent open license as specified by the journal.
4. Authors may enter into additional non-exclusive arrangements for distribution of the published work, such as deposit in institutional repositories, inclusion in books, academic profiles, or other scholarly platforms, where permitted by the applicable license.
5. Any subsequent distribution should acknowledge the article's original publication in the journal.
6. Authors are encouraged to preserve and disseminate their work through legitimate scholarly repositories and academic networks where permitted.

6. Information for Authors

Authors should review the copyright and licensing policy of the relevant journal before submission and publication.

Where authors retain copyright, they may generally deposit or share their work according to the journal's repository, self-archiving, and Creative Commons policies.

Authors are encouraged to appropriately disseminate their research through institutional repositories, personal academic websites, scholarly profiles, or other legitimate platforms where permitted.

When sharing published work, authors should provide complete bibliographic information and acknowledge the journal as the place of original publication.

7. Information for Readers

Readers are encouraged to access, read, cite, discuss, and responsibly share scholarly work published through FEP Foundation journals according to the applicable license.

While reasonable efforts are made to support the accuracy, quality, and integrity of published content, scholarly publications represent the work and views of their respective authors.

Authors, editors, and publishers should not be assumed to provide legal, medical, financial, or other professional guarantees through the publication of scholarly content.

Readers remain responsible for evaluating the relevance and appropriate use of published information.

8. Information for Librarians

Libraries and information professionals are encouraged to include journals managed or supported by FEP Foundation in electronic journal collections, institutional discovery systems, academic guides, repositories, and other scholarly information services where appropriate.

FEP Foundation supports improved discoverability and long-term access to scholarly publications through academic libraries, institutional repositories, scholarly indexing systems, and other legitimate research infrastructure.

Libraries may provide links to journal websites and published articles and may preserve or distribute material according to the applicable open access and copyright licenses.

9. Contact Information

Questions regarding copyright, Creative Commons licensing, permissions, re-use, author rights, or potential copyright infringement should normally be directed to the editor of the relevant journal.

General publishing inquiries may also be sent to: info@fepfoundation.org.