Open Access Policy

Open Access, Copyright, and Licensing Policy

1. Open Access Statement

The Andalasian International Journal of Agricultural and Natural Sciences (AIJANS) is committed to the principles of open access, scholarly transparency, and the unrestricted dissemination of scientific knowledge.

AIJANS provides immediate and free access to its published scholarly content. The journal believes that making research freely available supports the advancement of knowledge, international research collaboration, and the broader application of scientific findings, particularly in agriculture, environmental sciences, and natural sciences.

AIJANS operates under an open-access publishing model. All published articles are available to readers worldwide without subscription fees, pay-per-view charges, or mandatory registration.

Readers may access, read, download, copy, distribute, and reuse published articles in accordance with the applicable Creative Commons licence.

There is no embargo period for accessing published articles. The full text becomes freely available immediately upon publication.

2. Open Access Licence

AIJANS publishes scholarly articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The complete licence terms are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ .

Under this licence, users are permitted to:

  • Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
  • Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose.
  • Commercial reuse: Use the material for commercial as well as non-commercial purposes, subject to the licence conditions.

These permissions apply provided that users comply with the conditions of the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

3. Conditions of Reuse

3.1 Attribution

Users must provide appropriate credit to the original author or authors, include a reference to the source, provide a link to the applicable Creative Commons licence, and indicate whether changes have been made.

Attribution must be given in a reasonable manner appropriate to the medium and context of reuse. It must not suggest that the original authors, AIJANS, or Universitas Andalas endorse the user or the subsequent use of the material.

3.2 ShareAlike

If users remix, transform, or build upon material licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, they must distribute their adapted material under the same licence or a licence designated as compatible by Creative Commons.

3.3 No Additional Restrictions

Users must not impose additional legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from exercising rights granted by the applicable Creative Commons licence.

3.4 Third-Party Materials

The Creative Commons licence applies only to material for which the relevant rights holder has authorized distribution under that licence.

Images, figures, datasets, photographs, maps, or other third-party materials included in an article may be subject to separate copyright or licensing conditions.

Where such exceptions apply, they should be identified in the relevant article, caption, acknowledgment, or credit line.

Users are responsible for verifying whether additional permission is required before reusing material excluded from the article's Creative Commons licence.

4. Copyright Ownership

4.1 Copyright of Published Articles

Authors retain copyright in their original scholarly contributions published by AIJANS.

Publication in AIJANS does not require authors to transfer ownership of their article copyright to the journal or publisher.

Authors grant AIJANS the non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, preserve, and identify the work as its original place of publication.

Authors also authorize publication of the article under the applicable Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Subject to applicable third-party rights, authors remain free to reuse their own published work in accordance with the licence and other applicable legal requirements.

4.2 Copyright Information in Published Articles

Each published article must clearly identify its copyright holder and applicable licence.

The following copyright and licensing statement is recommended for AIJANS articles:

Copyright © [Year] The Author(s).

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Copyright and licensing information should appear on the article landing page and in all published full-text formats, including PDF and HTML where applicable.

4.3 Copyright of the Journal Website

Copyright in original website materials, journal branding, logos, editorial information, and other content created for the journal is distinct from copyright in individual scholarly articles.

Such website materials remain subject to the rights of their respective copyright holders and are not automatically covered by the Creative Commons licence applied to scholarly articles.

Third-party software, platform components, images, and other externally sourced materials remain subject to their respective licences.

5. Author Rights and Self-Archiving

AIJANS supports the dissemination and long-term accessibility of scholarly research through institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, and other legitimate scholarly platforms.

Authors are permitted to deposit and share their work as described below, subject to applicable third-party rights, ethical obligations, and confidentiality requirements.

5.1 Submitted Manuscript (Preprint)

Authors may share the version of a manuscript that has not yet undergone peer review through institutional or disciplinary repositories and recognized preprint servers.

Where a preprint exists, authors must disclose its availability during submission to AIJANS, including its URL or DOI where available.

Preprint posting does not itself constitute a transfer of copyright to AIJANS.

Authors are encouraged to update the preprint record after journal publication by adding a link to the final published article.

5.2 Accepted Manuscript

Authors may deposit the accepted manuscript, which incorporates revisions made during peer review but precedes final journal typesetting, in institutional or disciplinary repositories.

No embargo is imposed by AIJANS on the deposit of accepted manuscripts.

Authors should identify the manuscript as an accepted version and provide a citation and link to the final published article when available.

5.3 Published Version of Record

Authors may deposit, distribute, and share the final published version of their article in institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, personal academic websites, and other scholarly platforms.

No embargo is imposed by AIJANS on sharing the published version of record.

The deposited version should retain:

  • The original article title and author information.
  • The journal name and complete bibliographic citation.
  • The article DOI and a link to the original publication.
  • The applicable copyright and licensing statement.
  • Any correction, expression of concern, or retraction information relevant to the published article.

Authors and repository managers are encouraged to maintain links to the authoritative version of record published by AIJANS.

6. Text and Data Mining

AIJANS recognizes the importance of text and data mining (TDM) for research discovery, scientific analysis, knowledge organization, and the development of computational research methods.

Published articles licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 may be accessed, copied, analyzed, and reused for text and data mining in accordance with the permissions and conditions of that licence.

These activities may include:

  • Bibliometric and scientometric analysis.
  • Text classification and information extraction.
  • Natural language processing.
  • Research synthesis and evidence mapping.
  • Machine-learning analysis of scholarly content.
  • Other legitimate computational research activities.

Where a mining activity involves the creation or distribution of adapted copyrighted material, the applicable attribution and ShareAlike requirements must be observed.

Facts, individual data points, and other elements that are not protected by copyright may be subject to different legal treatment. The Creative Commons licence does not create copyright protection over material that is otherwise unprotected.

7. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

7.1 Use of Published Content for AI-Related Activities

AIJANS recognizes that published scholarly content may be used in artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, and related computational activities.

Content published under CC BY-SA 4.0 may be used by researchers, institutions, commercial organizations, and AI companies to the extent permitted by the licence and applicable law.

AIJANS does not impose an additional blanket prohibition on activities that are otherwise authorized by the applicable Creative Commons licence.

Whether a particular AI training activity, dataset, or output constitutes reproduction or adaptation of protected material, and what obligations apply, depends on the activity and the relevant legal circumstances.

Users remain responsible for complying with applicable attribution, ShareAlike, copyright, privacy, and other legal obligations.

7.2 Licensing Arrangements with AI Companies

The publication of articles under CC BY-SA 4.0 does not automatically grant AIJANS ownership of the authors' copyright or exclusive commercial rights over published content.

Any separate licensing arrangement involving journal content must respect existing author rights, applicable Creative Commons permissions, and third-party intellectual property rights.

Where AIJANS or its publisher enters into a separate revenue-generating content-licensing arrangement, the nature of that arrangement and its relevance to the journal's business model should be disclosed transparently.

A separate agreement must not be represented as necessary for uses already permitted under CC BY-SA 4.0.

7.3 Responsible Use and Research Integrity

The availability of journal content for computational analysis does not authorize plagiarism, research misrepresentation, fabricated citations, or misleading attribution.

Users of AI-generated outputs based on scholarly content remain responsible for verifying their accuracy, provenance, and appropriate attribution.

The use of generative AI by authors submitting manuscripts to AIJANS is governed separately by the journal's authorship and publication ethics policies.

8. Digital Preservation and Long-Term Access

AIJANS is committed to preserving published scholarly content and maintaining its accessibility over the long term.

The journal's digital preservation arrangements are described in its Archiving Policy.

Authors are encouraged to deposit their published work in trusted institutional or disciplinary repositories as an additional measure supporting long-term access.

Repository deposits must respect the applicable licence and should maintain links to any subsequent corrections or changes in publication status.

9. Corrections, Retractions, and Reuse of Published Content

Open access does not eliminate the journal's responsibility to maintain an accurate scholarly record.

When a published article is corrected, retracted, or becomes the subject of an expression of concern, AIJANS will provide appropriate public notices and links to the affected article.

Authors, repository managers, and other parties redistributing AIJANS content are encouraged to retain relevant information about subsequent changes to the publication record.

Editorial actions concerning published articles are governed by the journal's Corrections and Retractions Policy.

10. Article Processing Charges and Open Access

AIJANS uses an Article Processing Charge (APC) model to support its publishing operations.

Publication charges are paid by authors or their supporting institutions according to the journal's applicable fee policy.

Reader access to published articles is not dependent on payment of subscription or access fees.

The current APC amount, payment arrangements, and available fee policies are described in the Author Fees and Business Model Policy.

Editorial assessment and decisions must remain independent of authors' financial circumstances or ability to pay publication charges.

11. Accessibility and Equitable Access

AIJANS supports equitable access to scholarly knowledge regardless of a reader's geographic location, institutional affiliation, or financial resources.

The journal aims to maintain an accessible and usable publishing platform, including clear navigation, readable content, and appropriately structured electronic publications.

The journal recognizes the importance of accessibility for individuals with disabilities and will consider accessibility in the development and maintenance of its publishing services.

12. Policy Application and Review

This policy applies to scholarly articles published by AIJANS under the stated open-access and licensing arrangements.

The licence applicable to an individual article is the licence identified in that article's publication record.

Changes to the journal's licensing policy will not retroactively replace the licensing terms of previously published articles without the necessary legal authority and agreement of the relevant rights holders.

AIJANS will periodically review this policy to maintain consistency with applicable Creative Commons licences, developments in open-access publishing, and relevant international publishing standards.

13. References

  1. COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME. Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, Version 5.0 (2026).
  2. Creative Commons. Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).
  3. Creative Commons. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License: Legal Code.
  4. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Publication Ethics Guidance and Resources.