Global Interdisciplinary Research and Publishing Collective (GIRPC) Journal

Copyright & Licensing Policy

The Global Interdisciplinary Research and Publishing Collective (GIRPC) recognizes that scholarly publications represent the intellectual contributions of their authors and is committed to protecting authors' copyright while facilitating the responsible dissemination and reuse of scholarly work.

GIRPC operates on the principle that publication should not unnecessarily require authors to surrender ownership of their intellectual property. Accordingly, authors retain copyright in their published work, subject to the publishing rights granted to GIRPC and the terms of the licence applied to the published article.

1. Copyright Ownership

Authors retain copyright ownership of their original scholarly work published by GIRPC, unless a different arrangement is required by applicable law or a legitimate third-party agreement. Publication with GIRPC does not, in itself, constitute a transfer of copyright ownership from the author(s) to the Journal or the Publisher. Authors remain responsible for ensuring that they possess the necessary rights to publish the manuscript and any material incorporated within it.

2. Rights Granted to GIRPC

Upon acceptance and publication, authors grant GIRPC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to publish, reproduce, distribute, archive, preserve, and make the article publicly accessible in electronic and, where applicable, print formats.

This licence also permits GIRPC to:

host the published article on its official publishing platforms;
reproduce the article for purposes of scholarly dissemination and preservation;
include publication metadata in indexing, abstracting, repository, and discovery services;
assign and display publication identifiers and bibliographic information where applicable;
digitally preserve the article and maintain the published version of record; and
identify GIRPC as the original publisher of the published work.

The publishing licence granted to GIRPC does not transfer copyright ownership to the Publisher.

3. Open Access Licensing

GIRPC is committed to making its scholarly publications accessible to the academic community and the wider public in accordance with its Open Access Policy.

Published articles shall be made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence, subject to the terms and conditions of that licence.

Under the applicable licence, users may access, share, and adapt published material for permitted non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given and the applicable licence conditions are respected.

4. Commercial Use

The CC BY-NC 4.0 licence does not grant automatic permission for commercial use of the published work.

Individuals, organizations, publishers, or other entities seeking to use a GIRPC-published article for a purpose that falls outside the permissions of the applicable licence must obtain the necessary authorization from the relevant copyright holder.

GIRPC may facilitate or direct permission requests where appropriate but does not automatically acquire ownership of authors' commercial rights through publication.

5. Author Rights

Subject to the applicable licence and the rights granted to GIRPC, authors retain the right to:

use their work for teaching and educational purposes;
include the work in a thesis or dissertation;
use the work in subsequent scholarly works authored or edited by them;
share the published work in accordance with the applicable licence;
deposit the article in appropriate institutional or subject repositories where permitted;
present the work at academic and professional conferences; and
receive appropriate recognition and attribution for their intellectual contribution.

Authors should acknowledge the original publication by GIRPC when required by the applicable licence or when reproducing the published version in another scholarly context.

6. Third-Party Material

Authors are responsible for identifying material within their manuscripts that is owned or controlled by third parties. Where permission is required, authors must obtain appropriate authorization before publication and provide proper acknowledgement of the source.

Third-party material may include, but is not limited to:

photographs and illustrations;
figures and tables;
substantial quotations;
maps;
datasets;
previously published material; and
other protected intellectual property.

Third-party material is not automatically covered by the Creative Commons licence applied to the article where the relevant rights belong to another copyright holder. Any applicable restrictions should therefore be clearly identified.

7. Author Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

the submitted work is original or that they possess the necessary rights to publish it;
all co-authors have agreed to publication;
third-party permissions have been obtained where required;
sources and reproduced material are appropriately acknowledged;
copyright and licensing information supplied to GIRPC is accurate; and
the manuscript does not knowingly infringe the intellectual-property rights of another person or organization.

8. Moral Rights and Attribution

GIRPC respects the moral and attribution rights of authors to the extent protected under applicable law.

Users of GIRPC publications are expected to provide appropriate attribution to the original author(s), identify the source of the published work, and comply with the conditions of the applicable Creative Commons licence.

9. Copyright Infringement

GIRPC takes allegations of copyright infringement seriously. Where the Journal receives a credible allegation that published material infringes the copyright or intellectual-property rights of a third party, the Editorial Office may investigate the matter and take appropriate action in accordance with the circumstances and relevant GIRPC policies. Such action may include requesting clarification or documentation, correcting the publication record, temporarily restricting access where appropriate, issuing an expression of concern, or retracting the article where the circumstances warrant such action.

10. Post-Publication Changes

Copyright ownership remains with the author(s) following publication; however, the published article forms part of the scholarly record maintained by GIRPC. Corrections, amendments, expressions of concern, withdrawals, and retractions shall be handled in accordance with the Journal's Retraction & Correction Policy and Publication Ethics. Copyright ownership does not prevent GIRPC from taking reasonable measures necessary to preserve the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the published scholarly record.

11. Copyright and Licensing Agreement

Authors whose manuscripts are accepted for publication may be required to complete the GIRPC Copyright & Licensing Form before publication. The form records the author's acknowledgement of copyright ownership, the publishing rights granted to GIRPC, the applicable public licence, and the author's responsibilities concerning third-party material. The terms of the signed agreement and the applicable licence shall govern the rights and permissions associated with the published article.

12. Policy Review Statement

GIRPC may periodically review and update this Copyright & Licensing Policy to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, copyright law, open-access practices, and the Journal's publishing framework.

Any substantive revision shall be appropriately documented and communicated through the Journal's official channels.