Open Access Policy
Scholarly Open is committed to open access publishing. We believe that scientific knowledge should be freely available to everyone, everywhere, to accelerate research and benefit society.
Knowledge Without Barriers
Open access (OA) means that research outputs are distributed online, free of cost and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of these articles.
We support the principles of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002) and believe that removing access barriers to scholarly literature accelerates research, enriches education, and enables new forms of collaboration.
Free to Read
Free to Reuse
Free to Share
Benefits of Open Access
Open access publishing offers significant advantages for authors, readers, and society.
Global Reach
Open access articles reach a wider audience, including researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and the general public worldwide.
Increased Citations
Studies show that open access articles receive more citations and have greater research impact than subscription-only content.
Immediate Access
Research is available immediately upon publication with no embargo period, accelerating the pace of scientific discovery.
Public Benefit
Publicly funded research becomes publicly available, maximizing the societal return on investment in science.
Our Open Access Model
All Scholarly Open journals publish using a Gold open access model, ensuring every article is freely available from the moment it is published.
- Immediate open access upon publication
- CC BY 4.0 license by default
- Full copyright retained by authors
- Indexed in major databases
- Permanent free access
Licensing
We use Creative Commons licenses to define how published content can be reused, ensuring clarity for both authors and readers.
CC BY 4.0 (Default)
This license allows others to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating license offered and is recommended for maximum dissemination.
CC BY-NC 4.0
Similar to CC BY, but limits reuse to non-commercial purposes. Available upon request in specific circumstances.
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
The most restrictive license, allowing only non-commercial redistribution with no derivatives. Available in exceptional cases.
Author Rights
At Scholarly Open, authors retain copyright of their work. Here's what this means for you:
Copyright Retention
Authors retain full copyright ownership of their work. We only request a license to publish.
Self-Archiving
Authors may deposit the published version in institutional repositories and other platforms immediately upon publication.
Reuse
Authors may reuse their work in future publications, presentations, and teaching materials without seeking permission.
Third-Party Permissions
For figures or text from third-party sources, authors are responsible for obtaining appropriate permissions.
Funder Compliance
Our open access policies are designed to comply with the requirements of major research funders.
Plan S
cOAlition S
Horizon Europe
European Commission
DFG
German Research Foundation
Wellcome Trust
UK Funder
If your funder has specific requirements not listed here, please contact us to discuss compliance options.
Publish Open Access With Us
Join the open access movement and make your research freely available to the world.